While he was bundled out of the open division after three rounds, Chivers edged out some talented longboarders over a week of competition between June 14 and June 20 to win the over 35 men's division.

The other place-getters were Shaun Dry, Craig Munro and Dean Cristallo.

Chivers, 40, is now part of the NSW team that will contest the Australian titles at Port Macquarie in a few weeks' time.

And while he admitted that he went into the NSW titles after a regional win in Mollymook with no great expectations, he said he would be heading off to the nationals with a "bit more confidence".

Chivers said the NSW titles were contested in fairly testing conditions at Park Beach, Coffs Harbour.

He competed in 20-minutes every day of the week-long competition and was one of four longboarders to make the finals.

"It was pretty full on," he told the Times this week.

He credits his win to a great wave at the end of his 30-minute finals heat.

Chivers has been surfing for the past 33 years and a keen longboarder for the past 10.

He alternates between short boards and long boards and describes the move from one to the other as like "getting out of a Ferrari into a bus".

He said longboarding was "pretty laid back" but was more challenging in big waves.

Chivers was competing in the NSW titles on a 9ft board designed locally by John Kovar and shaped by Terry Glass.

He will be using the same board in Port Macquarie and - as part of his preparation for the nationals - is hoping to get a surf in every day at one of his favourite breaks such as Bawley Point or the Ulladulla Bombie.

Chivers' success will no doubt draw attention to longboarding on the South Coast.

He said there were probably at least 30 longboarders in the local region but when he was presented with the trophy "no-one knew where Bawley was".