Women enjoy the roar of the stone

"Girl power" was making its mark at the national bonspiel this year, with a growing number of female curlers taking to the ice.

The traditional curling tournament, held on the Idaburn dam over two days, remains a male-dominated event, but participants said more teams than in other years included female curlers.

Abby Pyle (Upper Manuherikia Club), of Hyde, was taking part in her third national bonspiel and said numbers of women were on the increase.

"There's a few of us here this year and it seems like at every bonspiel, there's getting to be more, which is cool."

She played yesterday, the second day of the national tournament, and said she was lucky it was a fine day.

"I can't think of a better day out. It's so much more relaxed than indoor curling tournaments."

Colleen Cockburn (Chatto Creek Club), of Omakau, was also taking part in her third bonspiel.

"Women players are here to stay. It's a sensational event and hearing the roar of the stones on the outdoor rink is pretty special."

New Zealand Curling Association chairman Robert Rutherford said women were "an important part of our curling fraternity and we love to see them out on the ice".

Curlers said conditions were perfect yesterday, with 15cm of "polished" black ice.

There was a 10 degree frost on Monday night and curlers enjoyed sunshine for much of the day.

"The ice has sweated a bit, but it's still good ice and remained tight," Mr Rutherford said.

Poolburn won the bonspiel trophy - the coveted Snuff Box trophy. It scored seven wins from eight games and 180 points, ahead of Manorburn on 6.5 wins and 176 points.

The champion rink was Otago Central 1 (four wins and 106 points) ahead of Manorburn 1 (four wins and 102 points).

More than 260 competitors from all over the country "heeded the call" to be part of the bonspiel.

"I think Central Otago bosses, in particular, are pretty understanding when the call goes out for a bonspiel. It doesn't happen very often," said Leo Hulme, of the Alexandra club.

This was the fourth bonspiel in 11 years and the event concluded with a traditional "beef and greens" dinner last night and a curlers' court, where more than 20 new curlers were initiated into the curling fraternity.

"The court revolves around the basic etiquette of curling and the rules associated with it," Mr Rutherford said.

lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz