A wave of up-and-coming amateur surfers
Friday - June 13, 2008
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Aloha, surfers!
How was that for a run of surf? There hasn’t been a contest in town in years that scored like the Burger King States last Wednesday through Friday.
And guess what? There’s more! We saw a little bump last Wednesday with a bigger bump Friday and an even bigger bump Dad’s Day into Tuesday! You know the drill - stay waxed and ready.
We have some champions in the birthplace of surfing. Here are just a few of our top amateur surfing talents over the past year for HSA (the Hawaii Surfing Association).
Short Board Surfing: Menehune: 1, Chaz Kinoshita; Boys: 1, Ha’a Aikau; Junior men: 1, Kylen Yamakawa; Men: 1, Davin Jaime; Masters: 1, Scott Shimoda; Senior men: 1, Todd Murashige; Grandmasters: 1, Kal Faurot; Open: 1, Christian Enns; Girls: 1, Nage Melamed; Women: 1, Nina Dodge.
Top Longboarders: Menehune: 1, Kaito Kino; Girls: 1, Erika Steiner; Junior men: 1, Joshua Lindstedt; Men: 1, La’akea Davis; Legends: 1, Koapaka Brown; Senior men: 1, Gino Bell. Grandmasters: 1, Tommy Reyes; Women: 1, Racheal Spear; Open: 1, La’akea Davis;
Stand-up Paddle: Open: 1, Miguel Graham.
Bodyboarding Winners:Men:1, James Clancy; Junior men: 1, Alex Brown; Boys: 1,Matthew Holzman; Dropknee: 1, Kapena La’a; Launch: 1, Alex Brown.
The entire field surfed one of the South Shore’s most challenging waves, especially when it gets 4 feet and up. Bowls is fat and fast, heavy and hollow. Not to compare, because it really doesn’t compare to Queen’s Surf - the most popular contest spot in the Islands. If these surfers can handle good-size Bowls,they can handle.So congratulations to everyone who entered the event. See you next year. I guarantee you that we’ll see some of the same names above - and some new ones too.
The China Long Board Classic for the women and children of Kapiolani Medical Center obviously was extra-blessed this year. The girls scored the same swell as the Burger King States, only this was at Queen’s Surf Break! Long rights roped down the reef the whole weekend. This effort raised money for a good cause and everyone had good fun doing it.Sounds like a perfect wave to me!
Then, not to be left out, was Kewalos ... yep, there was a contest there, too. This one was the “King of the Groms” held in fun 2- to 4-foot surf on Monday. The competitors get to nab some funds without turning pro. This money gets them up to California next week for the NSSA Championships. You see, the best single wave performance per heat wins 100 bucks - simple. There were about 60 16-year-olds and younger who ripped for cash. The guy who got some of the big bucks ($800) was from Kauai, Kaimana Jaquias. Kaimana also has a rich gene pool. His dad is pro surfer Kaipo Jaquias. Former winner of this male-dominated event was 15-year-old Carissa Moore, who took second place along with Ezekiel Lau. Both these surfers took home $400 each. Not a bad day at the office, eh?
I’m sure these youths are getting a taste of things to come.What better incentive? Having dinner at home with the family talking story of how much fun they all had surfing - and then it hits them: I made money for this, too? Oh, I’m definitely doing this for a living, thank you very much! WCT, watch out!
Mahalo to Kaz Sano for the great photo!
See you back here next week in MidWeek!
GQ, dropping in 4 U!
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