It was a successful return to the competitive arena for Mount Maunganui surfer Josh Taylor and Mimiwhangata's Paul Moretti, who progressed through to the final of the Under 20 Men's Division on day one of the second event of the Billabong Grom Series.

Mount Maunganui surfer Josh Taylor. Photo: file.

The Billabong Grom Series, presented by Oceanbridge, was held at Whangamata yesterday.

The surf peaked during the morning with a solid two metre swell that had all the young surfers on edge discussing exactly how they would get out through the line-up. However, the size was to the older surfers' advantage, including Moretti and Taylor who completed some big powerful turns.

The big surf conditions coupled with an onshore wind made it an easy decision for organisers to hold off the Under 14 Divisions until today.

Moretti surfed through two rounds for two wins and amassed the highest score of the Under 20 Boys Division, 14.33 out of a possible 20 points in his semifinal.

'It's definitely been a while since I have been in a surfing event but it is good to be back out here and making the most of a good swell like we have today [Saturday],” said Paul Moretti after exiting the water from his semifinal match up.

'The big surf is good for us older lads and I am stoked to be here and to make the final tomorrow [Sunday].”

Moretti has made numerous finals throughout his junior days but wins have been scarce since 2007 when he won back-to-back grom events.

Josh Taylor has a similar record to Moretti having made multiple finals but he has had limited success once he has made the finals and will be looking to turn this around today.

'This is my first comp for the summer because I have been working,” says Josh Taylor. 'I had this weekend off and could see there was a good swell coming so I was keen to enter.”

Taylor is looking forward to the final day of the event and a finals match up against Moretti as well as Christchurch surfer Harrison Whiteside and current ratings leader Whangamata's Dune Kennings, who both progressed through the first semifinal heat.

Mount Maunganui's Raiha Ensor continued her winning ways in the Under 20 Girls Division winning through to the final of the division by attacking the full tide closeout sections. Ensor will contest the final against the Sansom sisters, Gabriella, who she beat in the semifinals and Bianca. Piha surfer Claudia Fraser fills the fourth and final place after finishing second to Bianca in the semifinals.

Late in the afternoon it was the Mount Maunganui's Kehu Butler and Taranaki surfer Daniel Farr duo that blasted their way through to the semifinals of the Under 17 Boys Division. Butler led out with an impressive 9.33 point ride in his heat and a 17.17 point heat total. Farr followed suit with an impressive heat win scoring 12.0 points. The two surfers will meet each other in the semifinals.

The Under 17 Girls Division was set to wrap up the day early in the evening after a massive ten hour day of surfing.

Action on the final day of the event will take place from 8am to 4pm, with prize giving being held at the beach immediately after the finals.

Please see below for the result from day one of Billabong Grom Series, presented by Oceanbridge, event 2 at Whangamata Beach:

Under 20 Boys Round 1 Heat 1 Quin Matenga (Mnt), 9.17, 1, Barry Taniwha (Whakatane), 6.77, 2, William Davey (Mnt), 4.73, 3

Heat 2 Matt Hansen (Mnt), 9.33, 1, Josh Taylor (Tau), 8.3, 2, Jack Mills (Mnt), 6.03, 3, Joseph Stewart (Ohope), 1.47, 4

Under 20 Boys Round 2 Heat 1 Matt Mcgregor (Nrthland), 8.33, 1, Callum Chuter (Tau), 8.27, 2, Caleb Braithwaite (Whakatane), 5.87, 3, Quin Matenga (Mnt), 5.83, 4

Heat 2 Josh Taylor (Tau), 14, 1, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 11.7, 2, Campbell Ivory (Tai), 8.57, 3, Jacob Pullen (Auck), 1.1, 4

Heat 3 Harrison Whiteside (ChCh), 11.4, 1, Matt Hansen (Mnt), 8.6, 2, Zane Hicks (Ocean Beach), 8.3, 3, Tim Westerkamp (Auck), 3.6, 4

Heat 4 Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 13.7, 1, Riccardo Lucibella (Tara), 9.93, 2, Andrew Fraser - MacKenzie (Tau), 9.9, 3, Barry Taniwha (Whakatane), 8.07, 4

Under 20 Boys Semifinals Heat 1 Dune Kennings (Whmata), 12.1, 1, Harrison Whiteside (ChCh), 8.1, 2, Riccardo Lucibella (Tara), 7.93, 3, Matt Mcgregor (Nrthland), 7.53, 4

Heat 2 Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 14.33, 1, Josh Taylor (Tau), 9.93, 2, Matt Hansen (Mnt), 9.53, 3, Callum Chuter (Tau), 8.67, 4

Under 17 Boys Round 1 Heat 1 Max Dicken (Auck), 6.17, 1, Alex Erdrich (Piha), 2.17, 2, Alex Groot (Mnt), 1.00, 3

Heat 2 Riaki Ruru (Gis), 5.73, 1, Matt Newdick (Auck), 3.40, 2, Ziggy Knuiman (Rag), 3.10, 3, Ben McCulloch (Gis), 3.00, 4

Heat 3 Shane Kraus (Piha), 15.63, 1, Cory Wood (Piha), 3.91, 2, Reuben Fleetwood (WGM), 3.03, 3

Heat 4 Caleb Moratti (Tara), 6.10, 1, Connor Seaman (Mur), 4.23, 2, Liam Kessner (Auck), 0.50, 3

Under 17 Boys Round 2 Heat 1 Samuel Sands (ChCh), 9.67, 1, Jack Wilson (ChCh), 8.17, 2, Max Dicken (Auck), 6.27, 3, Tom Norton (Waipu), 3.53, 4

Heat 2 Kehu Butler (Arataki), 14.00, 1, Jared Gebert (Ohope), 9.43, 2, Sonny Rapira - Martin (Tara), 7.07, 3, Alex Erdrich (Piha), 1.97, 4

Heat 3 Thomas Dixon - Smith (Gis), 11.13, 1, Riaki Ruru (Gis), 5.93, 2, Conor Mclennan (Chch), 4.73, 3, Fraser Falconer (Leigh), 3.33, 4

Heat 4 Daniel Farr (Tara), 14.30, 1, Joel Clegg (Tara), 9.43, 2, Kobe Johnson (Gis), 8.90, 3, Matt Newdick (Auck), 4.00, 4

Heat 5 Shane Kraus (Piha), 10.90, 1, Jonas Tawharu (Mnt), 10.67, 2, Harry Macintosh (Auck), 6.37, 3, Jack McLaren (Mnt), 4.87, 4

Heat 6 Jacob Warnes, 6.23, 1, Zac Curle (Katikati), 5.23, 2, Travis Morton (Waihi Bch), 1.43, 3, Cory Wood (Piha), , 0

Heat 7 Joshua Farr (Tara), 14.00, 1, Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 7.57, 2, Caleb Moratti (Tara), 7.03, 3, Jamahl Moselen (Whangarei), 6.70, 4

Heat 8 Lee Ririnui (Mnt), 11.90, 1, Reef Matthews (Tara), 11.80, 2, Ihaia Ngata (Tau), 7.90, 3, Connor Seaman (Mur), 3.43, 4

Under 17 Boys Quarterfinals Heat 1 Kehu Butler (Arataki), 17.17, 1, Joel Clegg (Tara), 10.47, 2, Samuel Sands (ChCh), 8.07, 3, Riaki Ruru (Gis), 4.73, 4

Heat 2 Daniel Farr (Tara), 12, 1, Jack Wilson (ChCh), 10.4, 2, Jared Gebert (Ohope), 9.67, 3, Thomas Dixon - Smith (Gis), 6.7, 4

Heat 3 Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 7.9, 1, Jacob Warnes, 7.33, 2, Reef Matthews (Tara), 5.63, 3, Shane Kraus (Piha), 3.53, 4

Heat 4 Joshua Farr (Tara), 14.77, 1, Jonas Tawharu (Mnt), 12.53, 2, Lee Ririnui (Mnt), 10.67, 3, Zac Curle (Katikati), 9.2, 4

Under 20 Girls Semifinals Heat 1 Raiha Ensor (Mnt), 11.3, 1, Gabriella Sansom (Auck), 11, 2, Dayna Story (Gis), 7.03, 3

Heat 2 Bianca Sansom (Auck), 11.3, 1, Claudia Fraser (Auck), 4.7, 2, Celeste Calway (Waihi Bch), 1.53, 3, Jasmine Smith (Gis), , 0

The third event of the Billabong Grom Series will be held at Auckland's Piha Beach on February to March 1, when the series winners will be announced.

The three event series is part of the New Zealand Grom Series which comprises of up to seven events for some divisions and features the country's top junior surfers.

Entry into the events can be completed at Surfing New Zealand under events.