A bit of Aussie polish and slickness was too much for New Zealand's top surf boat crews at the trans-Tasman Trophy in Waihi Beach this weekend.

Representative crews from Bulli (men) and Tugun (women) gave a rowing masterclass in gentle half-metre waves, overpowering Piha and Red Beach respectively to win the test series 6-0.

The Red Beach women's crew head back into Waihi Beach during the trans-Tasman test series. Photo: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services.

To add further misery to the locals, the two Australian crews also dominated the open finals at the North Island championship, and Tugun's Sascha Lahey admitted it couldn't have gone any better for them.

'We're pretty stoked - we had five races and won all five but we had to work very, very hard,” says Lahey.

'The Red Beach girls definitely gave us a run for our money today. They've just improved out of sight since we raced them last year and we were a bit taken aback by that.”

Although several races were only decided in the last few metres, the Australians' strength around the turning cans and in the back half of races saw them through each time.

It was the second year Red Beach had represented New Zealand and they were delighted with their progress.

'We've made a lot of improvements from last year and worked on our starts and were able to keep up with them and put them under a bit of pressure,” says Zita Talaic-Burgess.

'The calibre of racing over there is pretty high, so we're happy to at least match them today. We're holding our heads high.”

It was similar in the men's racing too, where the experienced Bulli crew proved too canny for Piha.

'We came into this event feeling a lot of pressure and to get the first two races under our belt really eased it a lot and meant we could enjoy ourselves a lot more,” says Bulli's Heath Mercer.

Adding further misery to Piha's day was being beaten into third by Mairangi Bay in the final of the North Island championships.

Hosts Waihi Beach performed well in the agegroup divisions, winning the under-23 men's final and finishing second behind neighbours Whangamata in the under-19s, while Orewa and Muriwai won the respective women's age-group finals.