George Haynes had to wipe the tears out of his eyes before lining up in the ironman at the Eastern Region championships on Sunday, although tears of pride quickly gave way to tears of joy as he held on for a tenacious win.

George Haynes on his way to the ironman title. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services.

It was a landmark day for the Waihi Beach club, where the 24-year-old Great Britain representative is now coaching, with the ironman win the first for the club in decades.

It also capped a great carnival for the Haynes family; younger brother Charlie won the under-19 ironman for the Mount Maunganui club in the previous race.

"I was crying and had to pull myself together before the start," George Haynes says. "I'm just so proud of him – he's just 17-year-old old and to come over here without mum and dad and do so well is just so cool."

The older sibling led early in his race but was reeled in on the final board leg by Piha's Ben Gillies and Mount Maunganui's Julien Lalanne, needing a sprint to get him home.

His younger brother, however, had more success with his Mount Maunganui team spectacularly dominant and comfortable defending their overall ERC club title.

Mount finished on 223 points, with Piha second on 90. The host club's dominance was widespread, although club coach John Bryant gained plenty of satisfaction from the open ironwoman win by Jess Miller.

The 19-year-old recently moved to Australia to train with the Northcliffe club, although she was particularly proud of winning her first open ironman title on home sand, especially after several other results didn't go her way.

"I was leading the run-swim-run by quite a bit and turned around to see four girls come down a wave and catch me," Miller says.

"That was pretty gutting – then I had a terrible start in the under-19 ironwoman. But training with the Northcliffe girls has been amazing - they're the best in Australia and probably the world so it's really good to compare myself against them.

Jess Miller heads to the finish line. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services.

"My swimming is going really well against them and my ski and board has improved heaps, especially in waves, because every day the waves are huge."

The annual two-day Auckland Anniversary weekend carnival was held in sublime conditions, with 1.5m surf and light winds, attracting nearly 1000 surf athletes from all over the country.

Other notable performers included world champion kayaker Teneale Hatton (Piha), who dominated the women's ski race, paired with Brita Camplin to win the women's double ski and with Steve Ferguson to claim silver in the mixed double ski.

Another New Zealand kayaking star Scott Bicknell (Ocean Beach Kiwi) won the men's ski race, Midway's Sam Newlands and Phillip Mills won the double and Mairangi Bay's Madison Boon and Travis Mitchell the mixed double.

Waikanae kayaker and Olympian Darryl Fitzgerald joined his brother Jarrod Fitzgerald, Alex Bristow and Quaid Thompson to take the men's canoe double, winning both short and long-course crowns, while the Piha men's boat crew also cleaned up in their division.

Mount Maunganui's Olivia Eaton comfortably won the women's beach sprint, while another teenager, Mairangi Bay's Jake Hurley, celebrated his 18th birthday in style by winning the open men's beach sprint and the under-19 men's flags.

Final points:

Mount Maunganui 229, Piha 95, Red Beach 63, Papamoa 62, Midway 56, Waikanae 47, Mairangi Bay 46, Fitzroy 29, Omanu 27, Muriwai 26, Waihi 19, Lyall Bay, Whangamata 14, Orewa 13, Sth Brighton 11, Westshore 10, St Clair 9, Opotiki 8, Paekakariki 7, NPOB 5, Wainui, Bethells Beach, Sumner 4, East End, Ocean Beach Kiwi, Rarangi, Whakatane 3, Taylors Mistake, North Beach 1.

Waihi Beach ironman George Haynes won the open men's title at the Eastern Region champs on Sunday, while younger brother Charlie (Mount Maunganui) won the under-19 ironman. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services.