Australia's Craig Alexander had to work hard to win his second Port of Tauranga half ironman from rising Kiwi star Braden Currie and 10-time champion Cameron Brown.
The win came 10 years since Alexander's first victory in the event in 2005. In between, he has notched up five world titles, and three wins in the Hawaiian Ironman.
Graham O'Grady led the men's field out of the water, before a breakout bunch of Alexander, Currie, Brown and Mark Bowstead formed a leading pack on the bike leg.
Currie made his move on the first lap of the two-lap run course, building up a handy lead heading into final lap of the run.
Brown headed into the final lap in second with Alexander third, but the Australian attacked with just over 7km to go and cleared away to a 3hr 48min 03sec win, a good minute clear of second-placed Currie.
The women's field was dominated from start to finish by New Zealander Gina Crawford, who added to the Port of Tauranga Half title which she won in 2013.
Her winning 4hr 22min 05sec was 11 minutes clear of former Mount Maunganui triathlete Michelle Bremer, now based in Sydney, with Julia Grant a further four minutes back in third.
