This photo looks like disaster has struck a pair of young Hawke’s Bay surf lifesavers. But look again. Because this is what victory looks like.

Waimārama surf lifesaving brothers Tom and George Charteris were snapped at the exact moment they flew vertically over a wave at the national IRB championships at Waihī Beach.

But not only did they land safely, they then went on to win their age-group national title as well.

“It was wicked, it was pretty nuts,” George told Hawke’s Bay Today as he described the conditions that faced them in their U23 Mass Rescue final on Saturday.

He said trying to keep the boat level to gain speed through the surf was a challenge.

“If you don’t get to the front, it kind of floats back and you can flip.

“There were some big waves out there, eh.”

It was the first competition for George since he, along with many fellow Surf Lifesaving NZ members, manned IRBs to conduct rescue missions in Hawke’s Bay during Cyclone Gabrielle.

He gave credit to coach Rhys Harman, who had put in a “huge amount of time” to help train the Hawke’s Bay groups.

“It is a huge win for the Hawke’s Bay SLSNZ community after all our gear and people were used in the callouts for the floods.”

The waves caused major disruptions to the competition throughout the weekend, with Sunday’s events called off completely.

Overall, Waimārama placed fifth on 12 points and Westshore 11th on five points.

Besides the brothers, other notable results were the U19 Male Mass Rescue Waimārama team (Luca Broome, Louie Reid, Beau Reid and Sharon Jones) and the Open Male Mass Rescue Westshore A team (Taylor Dick, Taine Williams, Greta Augustine, Joseph Duff) both clinching third place.

Coach Rhys Harman said the rough conditions and large surf were “exactly what we wanted”.

“They showed great skill and ability navigating the messy waves and massive onshore winds,” he said of the Charteris brothers.

“Tom and George, with their patients Sharon Jones and Tayla Hook, put on a masterclass.

“It’s a real shame that they were forced to cancel the second day. I have no doubt that our seven teams (Waimārama’s most ever) would have picked up more placings and medals.”

For the Charteris brothers, it’s probably not the last competition they will enter this year.

George said they hoped to have a crack at the Australian competitions in July, where it would, with a bit of luck, be a little sunnier.

“Me and my brother are going to go over there with a few other crews from around the place.

“Hopefully that’ll be good. Different rules over there, so that’ll be a bit interesting, but a cool trip away.”