Jamie Civil died in the water at the 35th annual Herb and Paro Memorial Surf competition, on Saturday.
His sister, Tash Civil, said she was surfing at the next beach up the coast when she got a call telling her to come to Aramoana.
When she arrived she "just knew" he was gone.
She remembered him as "the most humble, kind and generous little brother", who looked out for everyone
He was her best friend and the pair surfed together.
People looked up to him and he never took it for granted.
He was a jack-of-all-trades who was good at everything he tried, Ms Civil said.
She had only happy memories of the man she described as the rock of the whole family.
Seeing him with his baby daughter Lenni was both the most proud she had seen him and the most proud she had been of him.
Thomas Price, of Auckland, a longtime friend of Mr Civil, said there was no-one he had spent more time with.
He started a Givealittle page so Mr Civil’s partner would be able to focus on being a parent to their 6-month-old daughter.
The outpouring of support was incredible and had almost reached its "pretty lofty" target of $50,000 in the day it had been up.
Another Givealittle set up by the South Coast Boardriders Association had raised $47,000 over the same period.
The level of support spoke volumes about Mr Civil’s character.
He and Mr Civil had founded a building business and anything that needed to be done, he would do it, from organising subtrades to picking up a paintbrush. He was always there to lend a hand.
He had heard it took rescuers several minutes to find Mr Civil when he failed to resurface after catching a large wave, he said.
Mr Price’s father, Ross, worked with Mr Civil for 14 years, taking him on as an apprentice at age 18, and described him as an adopted son.
He was a conscientious builder but it was understood that if it was a nice day he would be out surfing, he said.
