Open Men’s
The Open Men’s semi final was the last round held on Day two and was the climax of the day’s action. With conditions cleaning up in the evening, the large crowd witnessed some of the most explosive surfing seen at a Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour event. In semi-final one, the 2009 Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour Champion, Michael Burling (Hawkes Bay) picked off some great left handers and belted some vertical turns and on rail cutbacks. Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) scored the wave of the heat pulling a critical ‘hang ten’ followed up by a number of sharp re-entries to secure his spot in the final.

The heat of the day was semi-final two featuring former World Champion (2006) Josh Constable (Noosa, AUS) and USA Cham pion Taylor Jensen (Oceanside, CA). Constable surfed a perfect ten point ride and had the crowd on their feet. A punchy right hander delivered itself to Constable and he started the wave by smashing a vertical re-entry followed by a free fall drop, and a sequence of big turns to the shore. Jensen (CA) also surfed some solid waves linking critical nose rides with big sharp turns.

The final saw two of New Zealand’s best longboarders face off against two of the world’s top professional longboarders. The heat started off with an exchange between Barnfield (Ohope) and Burling (Hawkes Bay). Both surfers locked in long high scoring waves but it was Jensen who dominated the entire final and in the closing minutes he had all surfers combo’d with a total heat score of 19.35 out of a possible 20.

Jensen demolished every wave he surfed, and showed why he has been US Champion three times. Fins free surfing and long nose rides pushed him out in the lead w ith all surfers requiring complete new wave scores to be in contention. Constable (AUS) had a late charge surfing a perfect ten point ride, linking a perfect hang ten with a fins free waft on the end section. But even with his perfect ten Constable was unable to catch Jensen in the final moments, and as the ocean went flat, the final hooter sounded on what has to be one of the closest finals in Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour history.

This is Jensen’s second Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour victory, winning the 2009 Christchurch event. Constable finished in second place, Burling in third and Barnfield in fourth.

Open Men
1st Taylor Jensen (USA), 2nd Josh Constable(AUS), 3rd Michael Burling (HBAY), 4th Dylan Barnfield