L’année commence bien pour le brésilien Caio Vaz, second du classement général du circuit Stand up World Tour (SUWT) en 2013. Vaz a remporté le 14 février la première épreuve du SUWT mettant fin à une domination sans partage sur ce spot du champion du monde en titre Kai Lenny. Tout s’est joué dans une finale ventée avec peu de swell comparé aux précédentes années. Il était d’ailleurs très difficile pour les finalistes de bien choisir leurs vagues et de scorer plus de deux moves avant que la section ne perde de la consistance. Le premier à en faire les frais est l’australien Keahi de Aboitiz. Pourtant impressionnant en quart et en demi finale, Keahi se “troue” sur sa finale. Pas un bon choix de vagues, aucune rampe sur laquelle envoyer ses turns pourtant spectaculaires les deux tours précédents. Le plus malin sera donc Caio qui a longuement préparé cette compétition en se rendant à Oahu bien avant l’échéance. Il score deux belles vagues. Sur la seconde, celle qui lui permet de remporter l’épreuve, il temporise avec un premier turn assez bas sur la section avant de repartir plus engagé pour frapper la lèvre. Une bel enchainement. Kai Lenny, pourtant toujours aussi agressif dans ses turns loupe de peu une nouvelle victoire à Sunset. Avec une autre bonne vague, il aurait pu s’imposer dans ce heat de 30 minutes. Mais il est difficile de prédire cette vague surtout dans des conditions peu établie et avec du vent. La section peut fermer à tout moment. Zane Schweitzer, seul goofy sur cette droite, n’aura pas démérité avec ces gros moves engagés et une prise de risque maximale (il cassera son leash à 13 minutes de la fin). Zane, Kai et Keahi chercheront en fin de heat de passer en tube sur les rares sections le permettant mais rien n’y fera, Caio Vaz a patiemment construit sa victoire sur le Sunset Beach Pro. Il entame bien cette saison 2014 et sera plus que jamais un prétendant sérieux pour le titre mondial.

Résultats :

The final results for the men are:

1  Caio Vaz  BRA  (Art in Surf)
2  Kai Lenny  HI  (Naish)
3  Zane Schweitzer  HI (Starboard)
4  Keahi de Aboitiz  AUS  (JP Australia)
5  Poenaiki Raioha  PYF  (F-One)
6  Robin Johnston  HI  (Ku Hoe)
7  Leco Salazar  BRA
7  Kekoa Auwae  HI

Men’s Trials Results:

1  Bernd Roediger  HI
2  James Casey  AUS
3  Monnier Manutea  PYF  (F-One)
4  Fisher Grant  US
5  Toby Cracknell  AUS  (Naish)
6  Kainoa Texeira  BRA
7  Kieran Grant  US
8  Anthony Vela  US

Turtle Bay Women’s Results:

1  Nicole Pacelli  BRA
2  Candice Appleby  US
3  Sophia Tiare Bartlow  US
4  Aline Adisaka  BRA
5  Caroline Angibaud  FRA
5  Fiona Wylde  US
7  Izzy Gomez  US  (Starboard)
7  Vanina Walsh  HI (Starboard)

Na Kama Kai Under-16:

U16

1  Ridge Lenny
2  Kainoa Texeira
3  Keola Auwae
4  Riggs Napoleon
5  Micah DeSoto
6  Austin Kalama
7  Lara Claydon

Age 7-13

1  Zane Saenz  HI
2  Sacha Kauhane  HI
3  Marvin Freitas
4  Tiki Willis
5  Kalani DelaRose
6  Kyler Kerbox

SUNSET BEACH, HAWAII – The first stop of the 2014 Stand Up World Tour saw the fifth anniversary of one of the tour’s marquee events – the Sunset Beach Pro.  This iconic wave is known for it’s power and difficulty – every wave offers up it’s own unique, distinct challenge.  Local knowledge proves to be a huge asset as evidenced by the abundance of Hawaiian athletes in the main event draw.

Friday, February 14 saw four rounds of four-man heats battling it out in conditions that could best be described as “challenging”.  The call to hold the finish the contest on day seven of a nine-day holding period was delayed several times this morning to ensure it was the right decision. Said contest director Tristan Boxford:

“After Thursday brought strong onshore winds, the direction did shift around to NE for Friday morning, but the question was would it be clean enough to run. The swell was to be biggest on Friday, so we took our time to deliberate and watch the conditions until we finally called it on at 8.30 am for a 10am start. At 7am, there was little or no scoring potential, but by 8am, the odd good wave was starting to show and the conditions were cleaning up. So we decided to pull the trigger and make the most of the bigger swell.”
Boxford, along with a panel of judges and athletes, decided that the 4-6 swell and cross-shore NE wind would be sufficient to hold the contest.  That decision proved to be the correct one as big, open-faced sets with high scores from the judges came through all day.

The contest got underway at 10 A.M Hawaii Standard Time with the 3rd round.  The initial heats saw several upsets with tour staples such as Sean Poynter, Chuck Patterson, Justin Holland, and Kody Kerbox all missing the top 2 in their respective heats. The quarter final was mostly stacked with athletes from Australia, Tahiti, and Hawaii.  North Shore locals Kala Alexander, Robin Johnston, Ikaika Kalama, and Mo Freitas all proved that knowing the intricacies of Sunset is a definite advantage.  Kekoa Auwae from Oahu’s westside and Maui’s Kai Lenny and Zane Schweitzer  were other Hawaii surfers also making the quarterfinal round.

The first semifinal heat had defending champion Kai Lenny trailing in fourth for the majority of the heat.  With less than 5 minutes left  a large set came through and gave Kai the wave he was looking for, earning an 8.17 for the wave and 11.1 for the heat to put him in a second place tie with Tahitian Poenaiki Raioha.

By having the highest individual wave score, Lenny was able to advance to the final and knock Raioha out of the contest. The final round was a battle between Caio Vaz (BRA), Keahi De Aboitz (AUS), Kai Lenny (HAW), and Zane Schweitzer (HAW).  Some tense moments came about when Schweitzer’s leash broke and was left stranded as the board was sent toward shore.  Through the help of his friend and Starboard teammate Sean Poynter acting as caddy, Schweitzer was back on his feet and into the lineup within a few minutes.
Caio Vaz Takes Sunset

SUNSET BEACH, HAWAII – The first stop of the 2014 Stand Up World Tour saw the fifth anniversary of one of the tour’s marquee events – the Sunset Beach Pro.  This iconic wave is known for it’s power and difficulty – every wave offers up it’s own unique, distinct challenge.  Local knowledge proves to be a huge asset as evidenced by the abundance of Hawaiian athletes in the main event draw.

Friday, February 14 saw four rounds of four-man heats battling it out in conditions that could best be described as “challenging”.  The call to hold the finish the contest on day seven of a nine-day holding period was delayed several times this morning to ensure it was the right decision. Said contest director Tristan Boxford:

“After Thursday brought strong onshore winds, the direction did shift around to NE for Friday morning, but the question was would it be clean enough to run. The swell was to be biggest on Friday, so we took our time to deliberate and watch the conditions until we finally called it on at 8.30 am for a 10am start. At 7am, there was little or no scoring potential, but by 8am, the odd good wave was starting to show and the conditions were cleaning up. So we decided to pull the trigger and make the most of the bigger swell.”
Boxford, along with a panel of judges and athletes, decided that the 4-6 swell and cross-shore NE wind would be sufficient to hold the contest.  That decision proved to be the correct one as big, open-faced sets with high scores from the judges came through all day.

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The contest got underway at 10 A.M Hawaii Standard Time with the 3rd round.  The initial heats saw several upsets with tour staples such as Sean Poynter, Chuck Patterson, Justin Holland, and Kody Kerbox all missing the top 2 in their respective heats. The quarter final was mostly stacked with athletes from Australia, Tahiti, and Hawaii.  North Shore locals Kala Alexander, Robin Johnston, Ikaika Kalama, and Mo Freitas all proved that knowing the intricacies of Sunset is a definite advantage.  Kekoa Auwae from Oahu’s westside and Maui’s Kai Lenny and Zane Schweitzer  were other Hawaii surfers also making the quarterfinal round.

The first semifinal heat had defending champion Kai Lenny trailing in fourth for the majority of the heat.  With less than 5 minutes left  a large set came through and gave Kai the wave he was looking for, earning an 8.17 for the wave and 11.1 for the heat to put him in a second place tie with Tahitian Poenaiki Raioha.

By having the highest individual wave score, Lenny was able to advance to the final and knock Raioha out of the contest. The final round was a battle between Caio Vaz (BRA), Keahi De Aboitz (AUS), Kai Lenny (HAW), and Zane Schweitzer (HAW).  Some tense moments came about when Schweitzer’s leash broke and was left stranded as the board was sent toward shore.  Through the help of his friend and Starboard teammate Sean Poynter acting as caddy, Schweitzer was back on his feet and into the lineup within a few minutes.

At the end of the 30 minute heat it was Caio Vaz with a combined wave score of 14.17 who took the finals and the title of 2014 Sunset Beach Pro champion. “I can’t describe it!” Said Caio moments after the fanfare died down on the podium for his first Stand Up World Tour win.  Last year Caio was runner-up three times, even leading the tour in points rankings at one point – but a victory eluded him.  He had a simple strategy in the final: “I saw others go big, and I realized that I should go big.  So I went.  It’s Barbecue time now!”