Seventeen-year-old surfer Matt Hewitt of Mount Maunganui has won the senior men's title at the National Surfing Championships at Piha Beach in Auckland.
Hewitt held off his competitors including defending champion Jay Quinn of Gisborne and the 2007 champion, Raglan's Daniel Kereopa.
Angie Koops of Kaikoura also couldn't defend her senior women's title, the win going the way of Christchurch's Daisy Thomas.
The final throws of the eight-day event took place in small one-metre waves that were affected by onshore wind conditions.
However the average conditions were no hindrance to the storming run of Hewitt - the form surfer of the event who posted a total heat score of 15.0 - nearly a point clear of his three opponents.
