Vive le Jaws!

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer

In the big-wave surf competition between Hawai'i and France, the winner was decidedly no ka 'oi.

Makua Rothman, an 18-year-old North Shore waterman, won the Billabong XXL "Biggest Wave of the Year" award last night for riding a 66-foot blue wall at the Peahi, Maui, surf spot known as Jaws on Nov. 26.

Rothman, who received a $66,000 first-prize check at an awards ceremony in Anaheim, Calif., beat out two other Jaws finalists and a pair of French surfers.

"I'm just stoked to be here and to be winning tonight," he told The Grove of Anaheim Theater audience. "Hawai'i's no ka 'oi."

Five surfers are annually named as finalists in the contest that acknowledges the biggest waves challenged anywhere in the world over the past year. The winner, chosen by panelists who examine the photographic evidence, earns $60,000 — plus an extra $1,000 for every foot of height over 60 feet.

Many called the Nov. 26 mammoth swells at Jaws historic. Rothman, Noah Johnson, also of Hawai'i, and Cheyne Horan of Australia all were nominated as finalists after riding the waves there that day.

Many thought a challenge would be unlikely. But then Fred Basse and Sebastian St. Jean caught some monster swells at France's Belharra Reef March 10, setting up a confrontation between France and Hawai'i.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Rothman said he considers himself lucky to be able to tow-in surf at Jaws. "Peahi is the most powerful wave in the world. I'm stoked and honored to be able to do this kind of thing at this age."

For pictures of the five contenders, go to www.billabongxxl.com/default_photos.asp