The Single Fin Mingle 2025

As the 11th edition of The Single Fin Mingle crept up in our calendars, a collection of the world's best traditional loggers and minglers filtered into the charismatic and welcoming town of Sumner, Christchurch. The festivities began as always with a buttery welcome from Mingle founder Ambrose McNeil on Thursday, and despite the wet, chilly weather on hand, the locals gave the warmest of welcomes and provided a promise of sunshine to come. As the ceremony progressed, we could feel the Mingle magic coming on strong! Soon after we gorged upon many amazing short films at the SFM film festival to get us frothing for competition to begin the next day.

As we woke on Friday, the first day of competition, we were greeted by glorious sunshine and surprisingly warm weather, along with plenty of swell. A persistent short-period swell that seemingly stacked lines of whitewash to the horizon. With the ladies to kick things off, we quickly found out how tricky the conditions would be on our traditional logs, copping walls of whitewash every ten seconds or so. As the tide rose, we soon caught a glimpse of some wedgy reforms through the morning's sun rays, that provided enough to get some points under the belts of those lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time. Competition was in full swing, with plenty of upsets and surprises in the first round. Even with such challenging conditions, vibes were high all round as Ambrose and the Mingle commentary team called every moment with smooth precision and a jazzy flow that anyone could listen to all day long. And so we did, and enjoyed every minute! 

Maria wears the Aquamarine Steamer Dropping Soon 

Madi & Liah wear Yulex Long Jane and Yulex Jacket

The heats progressed into the afternoon as the Mingle magic continued to pulse and spread throughout the village of Sumner. Competition wrapped up for the day and all Minglers were ready to let their hair down, which started off with one of the loosest games of bingo Sumner had ever seen at the local bowls club. This was fine entertainment to start the night off, part traditional bingo game, part stand up comedy show and punters young and old battled fiercely to take home some outstanding Mingle merch, created by the artistic genius of Bradley King. As the merch ran out, bingo wrapped up and Minglers were kicking on to their next stops, with multiple venues hosting a bunch of local and international bands. We were lucky enough to catch local legends The Butlers and international stars Queentide play into the night. It was really cool to see everyone having a good time together, with many putting in as much performance on the dancefloor as they did earlier in the day in the water.

Saturday morning crept up fast and Minglers filtered onto the esplanade of Sumner to be greeted with plenty of swell again, but this time a lovely offshore breeze to groom it into some highly contestable waves. The Single Fin Mingle does it again! Competition began and the world's best put on a show. Coffee and pizza were flowing throughout the morning as Minglers turned up for their heats and watched mates, new and old, compete for the SFM crown. A swath of local Sumner residents were perched up, glued to the high-performance surfing happening in front of them and really taking in the magic of the Mingle. The day progressed as smoothly as the jazz playing on the beach, which quickly led to the finals of the women's and men's divisions.

Madi wears High Tiders Long Jane and Jacket combo arriving in June

Both finals were impressive to watch in the tricky conditions as the onshore winds came on, but it was clear to see that those who made it this far were totally comfortable and put on a show. The finals wrapped up, but we wouldn't know the results until we arrived at the SFM street party later that evening. Everyone made a beeline for a bed or a lounge for some much-needed power naps and rest before the festivities continued. We arrived at the Street Party, which happened to be a street smack bang in the middle of Sumner, closed off and converted into a full-blown mini-festival. The atmosphere was electric as it soon filled up with competitors, locals and minglers from afar all coming together for a magic night of music and good times, in what is dubbed as the biggest night of the year for Sumner. Winners were crowned and the music began, with standouts China Beach bringing the funk and the fun with Donny Benét closing out the festival in classic Donny style. The infectious grooves are simply impossible not to get involved in and dance along. Then came the SFM after party that carried on deep into the night/morning.

But the fun was not quite over yet, as Sunday morning rolled around we still had the team's challenge and the infamous party wave to finish off the weekend. The morning started off slowly despite the waves looking very loggable indeed. The SFM commentary team held down the fort, albeit with a relaxed tone with half the team with little voice left after the weekend's activities. The team's challenge presented a not-too-serious excuse to get wet and entertain those lazing on the beach. We finished off the Mingle for 2025 with the closing ceremony, which felt bittersweet, having survived the long days and late nights, it also meant it was all coming to an end. We truly believe the Mingle is more than a surf comp in a sleepy little town, it's a full mind, body and soul experience that fills your cup, empties it, and then fills it right back up again until it's overflowing. Big love, appreciation and congratulations to Ambrose, Bradley and the rest of the Mingle team for all of their hard work contributing to putting on this event again and again through thick and thin to create memories none of us will ever forget.

Christy wears the Yulex Long Jane

Team! Roro wears the Yulex Long Jane, Nina wears the Amanda Spring suit, Lili wears the High Tiders Long Jane and Crop Vest and Alice wears the Yulex Long Jane and Yulex Jacket. 

The Single Fin Mingle is our favourite event in the world and we're honoured to continue sponsoring and participating in the magic for the foreseeable future.

What a weekend it was!