Mount Maunganui has led a Bay of Plenty revival at the bp Surf Rescue North Island Championships in Gisborne, recording the club's best result for the best part of a decade.

Led by four female crews, Mount picked up seven medals at the two-day event, which attracted more than 60 crews from around New Zealand to Waikanae Beach last weekend.

Mount finished fourth overall in the club standings on 72 points, just five behind third-placed East End and well ahead of Mairangi Bay, who were fifth on 44.

Two crews from neighbouring Omanu also competed, picking up enough points to elevate them to 14th overall, equal with another Bay club, Waihi Beach.

Designed to emulate real-life rescue scenarios, the IRB events build the skills of volunteer lifeguards and help hone responses in emergency situations.

The Mount charge was led by the open women's duo of Julia Conway and Jo Parry, with Parry's swimming talents helping them win silver in the tube rescue final, while they also combined with Whitney Coers and Abi Troughton to pick up silver in the teams race.

Eleanor Gilbert also impressed in the tube rescue component, helping her and driver Samantha Reeder win silver in the under-23 division.

Waihi Beach's Jess Meade (left) and Ella Higgins punch out through the Waikanae Beach waves during the under-19 women's single rescue heats. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

The pair added bronze in the assembly rescue and silver in the mass rescue final, just head of teammates Clara Lafont and Erin Conway, who also took home silver in the under-23 single rescue.

The Bay of Plenty clubs have been training together this season, sharing knowledge and resources, as they build towards the BP Surf Rescue national IRB championships at Ruakaka Beach in Northland on April 10 and 11.

Former IRB powerhouses Papamoa are also tipped to feature at the national titles, with several open crews emerging from self-imposed hibernation now that the club's new building is nearly complete.

The local clubs still have some way to catch the likes of Port Waikato's Sunset Beach, who collected another top club title, with Taylor Shrimpton and Abi Chapman showing their class by completing an open women's clean sweep.

They grabbed gold in each of the mass rescue, assembly rescue, single rescue, tube rescue and teams' race finals, with teammates Shane and Mark Edwards adding the open men's tube rescue and a handful of minor placings as Sunset completed a 19-point win, finishing on 112 points with hosts Waikanae second on 93.

The open men's division proved tight and even; seasoned performers Tyler Mills and Dwight Garton grabbed wins in the mass rescue and assembly rescue finals but otherwise honours were shared.

Waimarama's Keegan Merwood and Luke Davis won the single rescue and East End's Jerome McSweeney-Novak, Brodie Lilley, Reef Robinson, William Luff and Joshua Thorburn took out the team's race.

Waikanae's efforts were boosted by their under-23 men's crew of Connor Mitchell and Oliver Shivnan, who won all four of their finals - the mass rescue, the assembly, the single rescue and tube rescue.

Sumner's Jessica Larson and Lucy Van Berlo struck a blow for the South Island club by winning three of the four under-23 women's finals, while Waikanae's Harry Allan and Travis Mitchell matched that effort in the under-19 men's ranks.

Holly Horo and Macy Sinclair (Opunake), Waipu Cove's Alyssa Flannagan and Grace Kemp and the Mairangi Bay pairing of Terri Warner and Elise Troy shared the spoils in the under-19 women's division.