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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 22, 2002

Perkins seeks 2nd world title

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Bonga Perkins is in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, this week, and it has nothing to do with a vacation.

Perkins is one of 48 elite longboard surfers from around the world in Cabo San Lucas this week to compete in the Oxbow World Longboard Championship. The contest will run on the five best days between today and Aug. 31.

It is the most important and prestigious event in the sport of longboard surfing. In essence, the winner of the Oxbow contest will be crowned the world champion.

"It's crunch time," said Perkins, who resides in Hale'iwa. "I feel like the Hawai'i guys have as good a shot as anybody this year. The water is warm, the wave is supposed to be pretty good. The rest is up to us."

Perkins is one of six Hawai'i competitors in the field. The others are Duane DeSoto, Keegan Edwards, Rusty Keaulana, Kekoa Uemura and Chris Vandervoort.

Hawai'i competitors combined to win five consecutive world championships from 1993 to '97 (Keaulana in '93, '94 and '95, Perkins in '96, and Dino Miranda in '97), but have not won since.

"I remember like it was yesterday," Perkins said of his world title six years ago. "But I also realize that time has passed since then and it's about time for another one."

Perkins, 30, may be Hawai'i's best shot this year. He is seeded No. 2 in the field, behind defending world champ Colin McPhillips of California.

What's more, Perkins won the Orange International contest in France last month. Most of the world's top longboard surfers were at that contest, and Perkins defeated McPhillips in the one-on-one final.

"That gave me a big boost of confidence," he said. "I wasn't having that great of a year up until that contest, but it's like everything has changed now. I feel really confident about my surfing right now."

For additional confidence, Perkins has been practicing in the waves off Mexico all week.

"I don't know if it's going to help me, but I'm using it as a motivational tool," he said. "You have to be ready to surf no matter how big the waves are, and I just want to be prepared."

Among the other Hawai'i surfers, DeSoto is seeded No. 6, Uemura No. 12, Vandervoort No. 24, Edwards No. 42, and Keaulana No. 43.

All competitors must surf on boards at least nine feet long.

• Junior worlds canceled: The Billabong World Junior Championship has been canceled this year because of scheduling conflicts with other events.

The contest — which crowned the world's best surfer under the age of 21 — was scheduled for Nov. 1-9 at Victoria Island, Australia.

Six Hawai'i surfers had qualified for the event: Kekoa Bacalso, Dustin Barca, Joel Centeio, Dustin Cuizon, Daniel Jones and Sean Moody.