By David Di Somma
There has been high drama in the waves at Piha this afternoon as the national surfing championships drew to a close.
The women's final was decided on the last wave of the competition while the men's title was won by a 22-year-old who last year beat Kelly Slater.
Conditions at Piha were far from ideal, the waves were messy and erratic but that didn’t stop men’s winner Billy Stairmand scoring a 8.9 as he dominated the 25 minute final.
Ranked 79th in the world he made a huge name for himself last year when he downed 10-time world champion Kelly Slater in Western Australia and now he has added to the first national title he won in 2010.
In the women’s final Taranaki's Thandi Durham-Tipene win essentially came down to the last wave of the competition and even afterwards as the judges tallied up the scores she didn't know she had won.
The competition had extra significance this year as it is the 50th anniversary of Surfing New Zealand.
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