Northland’s first official Manu Master is a 21-year-old from Moerewa who has spent years perfecting his technique in the swimming holes and off the bridges of the Mid North.

Mark Watene took out both the biggest splash category and the overall title in Saturday’s Manu Masters, a bomb comp held at Russell wharf as part of the month-long Bay of Islands Matariki Festival.

More than 30 contestants, of all ages and from as far away as Ahipara and Whangārei, took up the challenge despite a water temperature of barely 16C.

Watene said he did bombs almost every day in summer, usually at Otiria Falls in Moerewa and Tirohanga on the way to Paihia.

Technique, not size, was key, he said.

“The secret to a good bomb is your form, your tuck and your kick-out. Those are the three main things in a manu. You have to put all three together.”

Watene took home $500 of the $1000 prize pool, which he planned to save or possibly put towards his car.

He was keen to defend his title next year.

“I’ll be back,” he said.

A three-strong judging panel led by manu expert Kent Thwaites awarded scores out of 10 for each jump, and chose the winners based on style, spirit/wairua and splash. One of the three category winners was then crowned Manu Master.

Only one contestant, celebrity entrant Rewi “Hangi Master” Spraggon, scored a perfect 10 from all three judges.

The renowned TV chef performed a so-called Buddha bomb, gaining extra height by clambering to the very top of the scaffolding platform.

Spraggon claimed he had spent his entire life working up to Saturday’s competition.

“It’s years of technique, getting it down by bombing off trees and bridges. I came here to Kororāreka to take it out.”

Despite his effort to gain an extra couple of metres, Spraggon said height was not important.

“I only need a metre. I’m used to doing bombs in the bath. It’s all about technique – though size does help, I’ve heard.”

Spraggon grew up at Pipiwai, north of Whangārei, before bombs were known as manu.

Back then, the popular styles were the coffin, the gorilla and the sleeper, he said.

Every summer he would come to Russell to stay with whānau and do bombs off the wharf.

“So to come back when there’s a comp here, that’s awesome. I think this will be a highlight of the Northland calendar. Everyone will come next year. It’s celebrating things we did as kids. It should be in the Olympics,” Spraggon said.

Parker Ashley, the 15-year-old from Ahipara who claimed the top prize at the inaugural Far Far North Bomb Comp at Pukenui earlier this year, pulled out his trademark backflip bomb and won the prize for best wairua/spirit.

The secret to a good bomb was “technique and a bit of confidence”, he said.

Malachi Murray-Matthews, 17, of Kaitaia, won the style prize. He said his favourite bombing spot was a water hole at Fern Flat, south of Kaitaia, and his favourite style was the shotgun.

“It puts a lot of fun into swimming. You can challenge your friends and there’s a whole variety of bombs. It’s not just manu,” he said.

Co-ordinator Jackie Sanders, who usually organises reggae concerts rather than bomb comps, said she planned to hold a Manu Masters competition every year as part of Matariki celebrations.

“It’s a great way to get the whānau out.”

She was also toying with the idea of a summer competition when the water temperature would be more agreeable.

Sanders said the event had been well supported by Northland businesses, and Russell residents of all ages, plus a large contingent from Kaitaia, had taken up the bomb challenge.

“It was fantastic. We had over 30 jumpers. We even had Rewi Spraggon do the Buddha bomb. That was a sight to behold. And some of the kids, they may have been little but they really went for it.”

Sanders said she had also enjoyed the Russell couple who donned fancy dress with the wife shoving her husband off the bomb platform.

Contestants ranged in age from 7 (Ruby Marks) to 69 (Peter Jones).

Spraggon was in Russell on Saturday as one of the chefs taking part in the Tohunga Tūmau Māori culinary experience at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel.

While bombing is an age-old summer tradition in Northland, formal manu competitions are relatively new.

Plans for a Manu Masters at Russell last year were shelved due to poor weather but events earlier this year drew big crowds to Pukenui’s brand-new wharf and Te Hapua, the site of New Zealand’s northernmost jetty.