Gallery: North By North-west

Following one of the worst winters of surf on record and beaches sanded to the nines, anticipations were set high as a dynamic weather system approached from the west.

The global forecasting models eyed off the system last week and stuck with it, that being a windy, raw day of surf building out of the north-northeast, followed by an abrupt swing in winds to the west and drop in swell as the low moved offshore.

The timing was the key though, and this looked to be the only fly in the ointment (besides the local sand situation). An overnight wind change was forecast (not ideal), with swell production reaching a maximum shortly after, resulting in a rapid drop in size the following day.

Being such a dynamic system, all eyes were on the timing of the wind change and it kicked in a little earlier than forecast, just after dark on Wednesday evening. This meant by the time dawn Thursday arrived, there'd be 8-12hrs hours of time between the peak in wave heights the evening before, with a steady drop in size set to follow.

As it were, Thursday morning dawned clean and offshore but with a little less size than could have been (though right on Ben Matson's forecast expectations). The swell was very north in angle resulting in a wide range of sizes across beaches, double in height towards southern ends. The period drew out as the morning progressed and winds howled, with a few select spots turning the conditions into long, walled out hollow rights.

Come the afternoon the swell was slower and straight, but still offering 3-4ft sets for the evening session. While it could have been all time if the sand was in better shape, all in all yesterday provided one of the better surf days of the past few months.

Winter Vincent battling the wind and winning

Vinny Burgess picked off the best ones (sequence above and below)

Vinny Burgess slicing

Vinny again