![](\"http:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/uploads\/76ad5271-a743-4197.jpg\")
![](\"http:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/uploads\/76ad5271-a767-7b10.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe inaugural 2009 Surfing Hainan Open
\n[color=0033CC][size=x-small]A bit late on posting this story but good to see what’s going on in China[\/size][\/color]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nThe inaugural 2009 Surfing Hainan Open took
\nplace on January 10thand 11that Shimei, on
\nChina\u2019s beautiful Hainan island. With reports of
\na peaking swell for the Saturday, competitors
\nwere in high spirits in the lead up to the contest.
\nAs the first surfing contest in mainland China in
\nseveral years and the first ever to have
\nBodyboardand Longboarddivisions the event
\nattracted around 20 competitors across three
\ndivisions, attracting riders from South China,
\nHong Kong and even as far afield as Korea, all
\nvying for top honors, and prizes from the event
\nsponsors.With competitors staying in Riyuebay, the morning greeted them
\nwith sunny skies and an offshore breeze, meaning conditions
\nwere excellent for entrants. After a short drive to the contest site
\nat Nanyanbay, mechanical 2-3 foot left handerswith a brisk
\noffshore winds were on offer for the day.<\/p>\n
The preliminary rounds made the most of the lower tide
\nconditions linking up some long rides and working the peeling
\nwalls to their advantage. With a slight push in swell as the tide
\nbegan moving in, set waves drew hoots and screams from the
\ncrowd of around 70 who were enjoying the spectacle in the water
\nas well the Hainan scenery.<\/p>\n
Early standouts included Rose Speers, who had
\ntravelled from Guangzhou to compete, showing
\ngood wave selection and smooth style in the
\nLongboarddivision. Nathan Mettlerand Craig
\nColbran also put on a great performance in the
\nShortboardwaiting further out for the set
\nwaves and riding through a surgytake off to get
\nthe maximum rides and scores they could.<\/p>\n
However the early rounds were overshadowed
\nby Todd Moore\u2019s mammoth ride in the
\nLongboard, riding from the take off on the
\npoint, weaving his way down the line, finally
\npulling off almost 100meters down the beach,
\nwhich had the crowd on their feet shouting in
\ndisbelief. Todd would eventually take \u201cWave of
\nthe Day\u201d for his ride that showed the true
\npotential of the break, and had longtime surfers
\nand first time spectators amazed.<\/p>\n
A lunch break was taken to allow competitors and spectators a chance to head to the local restaurant up the beach to
\nsample local cuisine, however many opted to head out for a free surf and sample the waves instead. <\/p>\n
As finals time rolled around the high tide had made tricky conditions for competitors with less consistent sets coming
\nin at the point, but with all reports saying the swell was to peak on Saturday, contest organizers opted to finish up the
\nfinals.<\/p>\n
The bodyboardwas out first, with a two man final. Cameron Hirst took an early good ride on a set wave with Daniel
\nJeffery waiting for further waves to match it. A few sets pushed in late in the heat but the riders were inside
\npaddling out from early rides, and with the heat coming to a close Daniel couldn’t catch up allowing Cameron to
\ntake the title and Daniel coming in 2nd.<\/p>\n
The Longboardfinal was highly
\nanticipated by many on the beach
\nwith some great rides early on and
\nperfect conditions for the longer
\nboards. All riders waited and picked
\noff several good rides, Todd Moore
\nagain taking a few long ones, but with
\nless size and scoring potential. As the
\nheat moved on Nathan Mettlershowed some good ability, but
\ncouldn’t quite get the ride length
\nneeded to score highly. It looked like it
\nwas down to Rose Speers and Craig
\nColbran who both scored set waves
\nand performed several nice turns on
\neach, giving the judges plenty to think
\nabout. <\/p>\n
With the heat drawing to a close, all contestants except Craig had paddled in, and right on the buzzer a set came
\nthrough. Time was up but Craig was paddling into a wave which he worked well, cranking out turns and riding
\nsmoothly. The wave was a heat winner but there was debate as to whether the wave was after the buzzer, but
\nthe judges had scored it and it seemed Craig had taken out the title with the ride.<\/p>\n
In the shortboardfinal all 4
\nfinalists had shown they had the
\ngoods to take it out, but as the
\nheat progressed Nathan Mettlerand Craig Colbran were showing
\ngood patience picking off the
\nbigger waves, and taking off as
\ndeep as possible. Vaughn Hill
\nmanaged to take few good rides,
\nbut with wave selection
\nbecoming tough he couldn’t get
\nenough of the bigger sets and
\nhad to settle for 4th. <\/p>\n
Todd Moore was in contention early on and was a
\ncrowd favorite after his wave of the day ride in the
\nLongboard, but couldn’t get the rides to back up his
\nscores and finally came in 3rd. Craig and Nathan
\nbattled it out waiting out for the biggest sets, which
\neventually paid off and when the heat came to a close
\nit was anyone\u2019s call who had won, and with one day to
\ngo before the prize giving, the riders were left in
\nsuspense.<\/p>\n
Sunday dawned perfect, with blue skies and a light offshore, and to the contest organizers disbelief an increase
\nin swell. With amazing waves on offer, and perfect conditions, all on hand took the opportunity free surf
\nthroughout the day at the Riyuebay point. As the time drew near to pack the bus and head back to Sanyafor
\nthe prize giving at Fat Daddy\u2019s restaurant, the group were buzzing from the great weekend and unexpected
\npumping surf they had experienced.<\/p>\n
As the day packed up, contestants travelled back to Riyuebay, where \u201cMamas\u201d local restaurant was set for the
\nSaturday night bash, with the restaurant right on the beach overlooking the surf and a full moon in the night sky it
\nwas the perfect evening after a full days competing. Contestants and spectators feasted on the local food and beer,
\nwith local DJ Pablo working the turntables, giving everyone tunes to enjoy the night. As the food finished up, DaHaifrom Surfing Hainan had prepared a huge bonfire, and everyone made their way onto the sand to relax and chat
\nabout the great day it had been.<\/p>\n
On arriving at Fat Daddy\u2019s contestants
\nand spectators enjoyed the food and
\ndrinks provided, in the relaxing outdoor
\narea. As the presentations began the
\ncrowd was in high spirits, and with the
\npresentation of the LongboardCraig
\nColbran showed true sportsmanship
\nhanding his 1stplace prize over to Rose
\nSpeers, accepting his final wave
\nshouldn’t have been counted. The
\nmoment was a great representation of
\nthe camaraderie and caring shown by
\nall throughout the weekend. <\/p>\n
The Shortboardfinal was a tight race, with 1stand
\n2ndgoing to a countback. Finally it was Nathan
\nMettlerwho took the honors for 1st, with Craig
\nColbran coming in 2ndas the crowd on hand
\nhooted for all finalists.<\/p>\n
As the prize giving came to a close, and many
\nheading back to the airport for flights that night,
\nmany took the chance to farewell new friends and
\nchat about the fantastic weekend. With next
\nyear\u2019s event slated to be bigger and better, many
\nvowed they would return.<\/p>\n
Final placings:<\/p>\n
Bodyboard<\/p>\n
1. Cameron Hirst<\/p>\n
2. Daniel Jeffery<\/p>\n
3. Luke Hawkins<\/p>\n
Longboard<\/p>\n
1. Rose Speers (*)<\/p>\n
2. Craig Colbran(*)<\/p>\n
3. Nathan Mettler<\/p>\n
4. Todd Moore<\/p>\n
Shortboard<\/p>\n
1. Nathan Mettler<\/p>\n
2. Craig Colbran<\/p>\n
3. Todd Moore<\/p>\n
4. Vaughn Hill<\/p>\n
www.surfinghainan.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The inaugural 2009 Surfing Hainan Open [color=0033CC][size=x-small]A bit late on posting this story but good to see what’s going on in China[\/size][\/color] The inaugural 2009 Surfing Hainan Open took place on January 10thand 11that Shimei, on China\u2019s beautiful Hainan island. With reports of a peaking swell for the Saturday, competitors were in high spirits in … Continue reading “The inaugural 2009 Surfing Hainan Open”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-surfing-news-archive","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}