A competitor warming up after the shift to Pipe

O'Neill Team rider Nick White making the most of waves on offer

The internationals were frothing on Young Nicks head as the backdrop

Local lad Richard Christie got knocked but kept the crowd entertained

In the last heat of the day Tim Occonor kept the Kiwi chances alive

With Northerlies called for the morn Pipe could be the option but lets wait and see.

Today the big guns came out to play and once the seeded surfers hit the water the action was all go. There were some huge moves going down and Kiwi lads Maz Quinn and Billy Stairmand progressed with style into round 3. Jay Quinn and Richard Christie still have to surf later in the round which wasnt completed today. In earlier heats of round one that was completed early morn, Tane Wallis and Luke Hughes went down fighting with Tane coming narrowly close on his last wave.  Alex Dive dream run also came to an end later in the day in round 2.

By mid afternoon with a dropping tide and rising swell the lineup became all ripped up so a halt to the day was called.

The Maz Quinn power hack got him through on this last wave, have power, catch wave will progress, simple as that.

Wildcard Nick White was another Kiwi in action and put up a good fight, though unfortunately going down

Billy Stairmand flicked the action switch in his heat going crazy.

Next call at 7AM Friday morn. This evening teh swell was lining up better and the wind is forecast to go the northeast which may offer some other arenas.

The Kiwi lads all put in good performances throughtout the day holding their own in some very competitive heats. Alex Dive, Maz Quinn and Matt Hewitt all moved through to round 2 where they will meet the top seeds possibly tomorrow.

Unfortunately Buck Woods, Johhny Hicks, Zen Wallis and Morehu Roberts were eliminated but put in very good performances taking the more experienced opponents to the wire.

ALex Dive of Mt Maunganui

Oneill NZ team manager Scott Bell was a late ring in for Braedon Williams and led teh heat for the first ten minutes before being narrowly taken, nice work boss

Matt Hewitt is following the WQS this year full time.

Buck Woods needed a big score in the last few seconds and instead ran over the camerman.

THe Swell looks like it will build for day 2 with winds from the east

Blair Stewart on his second cover in a year. Gotta say teh guy knows the business of riding tubes. Here he is slotted down Dunedin.

The 64th Primo Roady- Blessed by a Karakia we break the exodus north and head south, driving non-stop with Richard christie and Ryan Hawker for some southern hospitality Kaikoura style.

The Primo Roady goes massive with a drive from North Cape to Dunedin and back.

Where? Here and Gone- The Cyclone Wilma Story: The thought of a cyclone to a surfer brings dream like memories of perfect barrels, but more often than not they don’t deliver! NZ Surfing was on hand to capture the best of Wilma’s wares, short lived, yet epic and also feature other cyclones that delivered amazing surf.

Scott Bell slotted inside Wilmas womb

Southern Wanderings- When Surfing NZ announced the National Champs would take place in Dunedin, it ensured a gathering of the best surfers available. Not because of the contest, but as they knew, that at some stage during the week, somewhere around this wave rich coast they would score. And score they did.

Local lad Leroy Rust scored the waves of the day schooling the country's best at his local

The 49th New Zealand National Surfing Champs- The champs head south to Dunedin, drawing the best talent the country can offer, to all go head to head in search of the title of Champ.

All the action from the National Champs.

And much much more!

After much hype all week of a pending swell hitting Hawaii that was forecast to be one of the largest ever, the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational was called a “NO GO” this morning.

Waimea Bay, Oahu, HAWAII — January 20, 2011 — The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau, Fueled by Monster Energy,  was a “NO GO” for competition at Waimea Bay today, based upon the inconsistency of the swell. While there were definitely 20-foot-plus waves sporadically throughout the morning, the consistency of those large waves was deemed to be insufficient to run the two rounds of competition. The event still has until February 28 to run.

It was big but not big enough!

The people were ready as was the contest.

“What we see in conditions like this is just one or two true ‘Eddie’ size waves in the period of a heat,” said Downing. “With seven surfers in the water per heat, that is not the kind of playing field we need for quality, fair competition.
“It’s very easy to get caught up in the excitement when those huge waves come through and after all of the efforts of the crew and the spectators to be ready for this day. But what keeps this event the greatest big wave event in the world is never relaxing those standards. Eddie never did.
“We will continue to wait. The holding period runs through February 28 and we know that there is definite potential in the coming weeks for more extra large surf to arise. If that day comes, we will be ready to go again.”
The 15,000-strong crowd that had gathered under moonlight since the very early hours of the morning understood the call and settled in for the day, regardless. With the world’s best big wave riders making the most of the opportunity to put some time in at Waimea, they will be treated to spectacular rides throughout the day, without question.

Drop in over the ledge and hold on.

2002 Eddie winner and 10X world champion Kelly Slater was in firm agreement with the decision: “It’s a good call,” said Slater. “There are big waves out there, but there’s not that many of them. It’s not what we need.”