Hawai'i-Brazil team tows in win

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

One day after stepping into the spotlight of "the greatest show on earth," Garrett McNamara was still beaming yesterday.

Calling it the "greatest show on earth," Garrett McNamara of O'ahu successfully rode through several monstrous waves at Pe'ahi, Maui, Monday to win the Tow-In World Cup contest along with partner Rodrigo Resende of Brazil. The waves were estimated between 20 and 30 feet. Grant Ellis • Special to The Advertiser

"This is huge for me," McNamara said. "I've been surfing big waves for fun for 15 or 20 years now, so it seems pretty unreal to win something like this."

The contest was the first of its kind for the relatively new sport of tow-in surfing.

The sport involves two people, one on a surfboard, the other on a personal watercraft. The surfer holds on to a rope attached to the back of the watercraft — much like water-skiing — and is towed into big waves. On attaining the right momentum, the surfer releases the rope and surfs along the wave.

During the competition, each team member had to be adept at both skills. In the first heat, McNamara towed Resende into waves; in the second heat, they switched positions. The final score was based on the performance of both surfers.

"We actually got some of the lesser waves," McNamara said. "But we did our jobs. We got three solid waves each. Our focus was to try and stay deep (in the wave) and surf with style."

Their final score of 143.6 was more than enough to top the 12 other invited teams. The California tandem of Brad Gerlach and Mike Parsons placed second with 132.4.

Still, the victory did not come easily.

Pe'ahi is also known as "Jaws" because of the way the huge waves chomp down on surfers, and several competitors experienced it Monday.

McNamara described the waves as "super heavy" and said almost every team suffered at least one scary wipeout.

"I seriously thought guys were going to die," McNamara said. "Ken Collins went down on one and we didn't see him for what seemed like forever. It was pretty intense."

So intense that McNamara said he was a little hesitant about riding the wild surf. In addition to the massive waves, strong winds were blowing in the faces of the surfers, making it difficult to maneuver.

"The first wave Rodrigo towed me into, I actually didn't take," McNamara said. "I pulled out of it because it didn't feel right. I had to take a couple of deep breaths and get my head into it."

Earlier, McNamara avoided injury even after a 20-foot wave crashed on him — while he was on the watercraft.

"Rodrigo wiped out, so I went to get him," McNamara explained. "But there was so much turbulence in the water, the ski was bogging down. I just looked up and went 'oh, no' and the wave just came down on me."

He managed to escape with the watercraft still running, and pulled both himself and Resende to safety.

"That's the nature of the sport," McNamara said. "It happens all the time. You just have to be ready for it."

Although their success relied heavily on teamwork, McNamara and Resende were towing-in together for only the fifth time. Resende, 32, is the three-time defending champion of Brazil's top big-wave surfing competition. McNamara, 34, is a well-respected surfer in O'ahu's treacherous waves.

"I wanted to unite the two worlds, Brazil and Hawai'i," McNamara said. "I knew Rodrigo was solid, so I had all the confidence in him."

They split the $70,000 first-place check equally.

McNamara is hoping the victory — and some of the money — can boost his small business. He owns Epic Sports, a surf shop in Hale'iwa.

"I'm a businessman, so I'm hoping this can go a long way," he said. "There's some money and publicity involved in the sport right now and I was glad to get some of it."

He will probably get more later this year when the Tow-In World Cup becomes part of a documentary set for international release.

The only problem with the event running Monday was that it clashed with the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, which was completed at Waimea Bay.

Many competitors were invited to both, and had to choose between the two.

McNamara was on the alternate list for the Eddie Aikau contest, and did not want to take a chance of being left out of the competition if all the invited competitors showed.

"I've always loved the 'Eddie' and one of my life goals is still to win the 'Eddie,' " he said. "But being on the alternate list made up my mind. I was guaranteed to get in (the Tow-In World Cup) so I decided to stay on Maui."

He's certainly glad he did.

"I watched the footage last night and couldn't believe it," McNamara said. "I've surfed big waves before, and that was really big. It really was the greatest show on earth."