Two Kiwi surfers survived another hard-hitting day of action at the 2014 Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Ecuador, with young Kehu Butler (Mnt) and Jasmine Smith (Gis) progressing to the penultimate day of the event.

The forecasted increase in swell is yet to materialise with conditions remaining in the 1.0m range today.

Kehu Butler.

It was again a juggling act with the massive tides determining whether heats would be contested on the point break or on the shore break.

Mount Maunganui's Kehu Butler was the star of the day winning each of the three match ups he contested.

The diminutive surfer now finds himself amongst the top 10 surfers in the Under 16 Boys Division after today's results.

In his final heat of the day, Butler posted a 10.54 point heat total slightly out scoring French surfer Titouan Boyer (10.40) for the win, the two surfers eliminating Barron Mamiya (HAW).

Butler had found himself trailing in third place early in the heat.

'It was pretty hard to get a slow start like that in a 15 minute heat,” says Butler.

'I watched the other guys get scores and thought I might get left behind but I tried hard to make something happen and never gave up and then I got that left and scored a 6.67 point ride and that gave me heaps of confidence and I went on from there to win the heat.”

Butler will go into tomorrow waiting for one of his competitors to be confirmed via the qualifying rounds and will also be up against Zac Wightman (AUS) who he beat earlier today.

Under 18 Girls Division surfer Jasmine Smith (Gis) was the other Kiwi to advance today after surfing just the one heat.

Smith again found herself having to put up with surfing the inside shorebreak on the full tide.

The conditions only allowed for small scores, Smith finishing in second place behind Lucia Cosoleto on a 5.17 point heat total out of a possible 20 points.

'Today my heat was pretty bad, I haven't surfed the point at this event yet,” says Smith.

'Today I think I took the wrong board out too because it was real bumpy and my board couldn't really handle the chop.”

Smith is yet to have all her opponents confirmed but will go up against Bailey Nagy (HAW) as one of her competitors.

Missing out on progressing further today was Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha) in the Under 18 Boys Division.

After progressing through Repechage Round 5 during the morning, Paerata – Reid opted to surf the outside point again in the hope of getting a couple of set waves before the tide pushed in.

Unfortunately the ocean did not cooperate and Paerata – Reid ended up fourth in his heat against a star studded line-up that included winner Kanoa Igarashi (USA), second placed Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) and Nomme Mignot (FRA).

'I took a gamble in my last heat today and it didn't pay off,” says Paerata – Reid.

'I am extremely disappointed but I want to say a big thank you to everyone at Piha and in New Zealand who have supported me throughout the event.

Also a big thanks to our coach Matt Scorringe and Khan Butler and David Farr and the whole New Zealand Team.

Let's go Kehu and Jasmine.” Paerata – Reid finished the event placed equal 16^th.

The team now sits in eighth place with a cluster of six teams jostling for positions 6 – 11 on the team rankings.

Australia now leads the rankings ahead of Hawaii, France and the USA. The schedule for day seven is below starting at 1am (NZT)

Main podium 1:00am - Under 18 Boys Qualifying Round 5 1:40am - Under 16 Boys Qualifying Round 5 2:20am - Under 16 Girls Qualifying Round 4 3:00am - Under 18 Girls Qualifying Round 4 3:40am - Under 18 Boys Repechage Round 8 4:10am - Under 16 Boys Repechage Round 8 – Kehu Butler 4:40am - Under 16 Girls Repechage Round 6 5:10am - Under 18 Girls Repechage Round 6 – Jasmine Smith 5:40am - Under 18 Boys Repechage Round 9 5:55am - Under 16 Boys Repechage Round 9 6:10am - Under 16 Girls Repechage Round 7 6:25am - Under 18 Girls Repechage Round 7 7:00am - Aloha Cup Final

Please see below for results from day fix of the 2014 Vissla ISA World Junior Championships held at La Fae Beach, Salinas, Ecuador held today (Saturday 11^th April 2014). Under 18 Boys Repechage Round 5 Heat 3 1, Luke Hynd, AUS, 12.50, 2, Elliot Paerata-Reid, NZL, 11.40, 3, Facundo Arrreyes, ARG, 8.70, 4, Tomas Ferreira, POR, 4.00 Under 18 Boys Repechage Round 6 Heat 3 1, Kanoa Igarashi, USA, 13.24, 2, Leonardo Fioravanti, ITA, 12.17, 3, Nomme Mignot, FRA, 9.67, 4, Elliot Paerata-Reid, NZL, 5.17 Under 16 Boys Repechage Round 5 Heat 3 1, Kehu Butler, NZL, 12.33, 2, Zac Wightman, AUS, 10.03, 3, Mauiki Raioha, TAH, 8.17, 4, Lens Aranchibia, FRA, 1.96 Under 16 Boys Repechage Round 6 Heat 2 1, Kehu Butler, NZL, 8.80, 2, Quinn Bruce, AUS, 8.33, 3, Cody Young, HAW, 3.00, 4, Mathis Corzon, FRA, 0.57 Under 16 Boys Repechage Round 7 Heat 2 1, Kehu Butler, NZL, 10.54, 2, Titouan Boyer, FRA, 10.40, 3, Barron Mamiya, HAW, 5.87 Under 18 Girls Repechage Round 5 1, Lucia Cosoleto, ARG, 8.27, 2, Jasmine Smith, NZL, 5.17, 3, Nagisa Tashiro, JPN, 3.17