It was like victory at sea in Piha today, with the second day of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship getting underway in stormy 10 foot faces (2.5-3m) plus waves in New Zealand.
Earlier in the day, contest organizers opted to put the day's action on hold for three hours with wild weather lashing the main contest site.
After the delayed start, the Under 18 boy's qualifying round two competitors' battled large seas and strong winds in the race for all-important round three berths.
Local star Alex Dive (Mt Maunganui) kept his country's hope of a gold medal alive in the third heat of the day, finishing behind Brazilian star Gabriel Medina to book a spot in round three. In a see-sawing affair, Medina took an early lead with a 6.67 wave. Dive hit back netting two scoring waves (4.83 and 6.17) to take over the lead.
