Females being shown the money

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Female longboard surfers like Tiare Thomas are getting a rare chance to earn prize money this weekend. Bernie Baker photo

The Converse Hawaiian Open started yesterday and will continue today and tomorrow at the Ala Moana Bowl. The contest is the second of three on the United States Professional Longboard Surfing Championships, sponsored by Longboard Magazine.

It is offering a $26,000 prize purse — $13,000 each for the men and women.

The $13,000 purse is the largest ever offered for female longboarders in Hawai'i.

"Definitely, it's about time," said Desire DeSoto of Makaha. "Usually, we have to travel for a contest like this with prize money. It's nice to have one at home for a change."

Tiare Thomas of Waikiki added: "There's maybe one or two contests (in Hawai'i) where you can win a little bit of money. But nothing like this. To get a big, fat prize purse equal to the men shows how much the sport is growing for women."

There currently is no structured professional tour for female longboarding.

"There are more and more girls out there surfing — more than I've ever seen in my life — and most of them are on longboards," said DeSoto, 28. " I think a pro tour for women would definitely be supported."

The male longboarders have both an elite world championship tour and a qualifying series (all surfers in longboard contests have to ride boards at least nine feet long).

Gary Linden, coordinator of the United States Professional Longboard Surfing Championships, said the intent of the series was to create an opportunity for both male and female longboarders to compete and earn money.

"What we hope to encourage is that these surfers can stay in the sport and compete for a living," Linden said. "The concept of treating the women equal to the men is something that has been successful all the way around."

The proof is in the entry list. The female draw features competitors from Hawai'i, California and Australia. The men's draw has additional competitors from Japan, Puerto Rico and Tahiti.

It is also a chance for the Hawai'i competitors to capture the attention of potential sponsors. The top performers in the event will be featured in Longboard Magazine and other surfing magazines.

"Maybe you can be seen and make a name for yourself in this contest," said Thomas, 21. "That's a big thing, too."

According to DeSoto, many of the female longboarders in Hawai'i are not fully sponsored.

"When I travel, I end up paying for the majority (of the cost)," she said. "It's like going to Vegas. It's a gamble because you have to do really good (in the contest) to make some money. If you don't, you lose money."

The Converse Hawaiian Open is offering two chances for the surfers to earn prize money.

The open division is based on overall performance, and will award $4,000 to the winner. The noseriding division is strictly based on noseriding (surfing on the tip, or nose, of the board) and will award $1,000 to the winner.

Yesterday, the semifinalists in the women's noseriding division were determined. Standouts included Hawai'i competitors DeSoto, Keliana Woolsey and Maka Puaa.

Two rounds of the men's open division were also completed yesterday in 1- to 3-foot waves.

"This is by far the biggest longboarding event we have in Hawai'i," said Kailua's Joey Sonognini. "I think it's a sign that longboarding is gaining respect. It's a really big sport here in Hawai'i, and it's nice that people are noticing it."

Sonognini led a successful opening day for the Hawai'i contingent by advancing to the quarterfinals. He scored a perfect 10 in his second-round victory.

"I was just sitting out there waiting and it came out of nowhere," said Sonognini, 27. "It set up perfect; I could see it lining up and I knew what to do with it because I surf here most of the time."

The home-wave advantage proved to be crucial, as 12 Hawai'i competitors advanced into the 16 available spots in the quarterfinals. The Hawai'i surfers advancing were Sonognini, Dino Miranda, Rob Farrow, Joey Valentin, Eddie Acierto, Kapono Nahina, Kekoa Uemura, Duane DeSoto, Bonga Perkins, Kai Sallas, Rusty Keaulana and Kanoa Dahlin.

Among the other standouts were California's Joel Tudor and Australian Jye Byrnes.

The first contest in the series was held in April at Cocoa Beach, Fla. The final contest will be staged at Malibu, Calif., in September.

"We're going to the East Coast, the West Coast, and Hawai'i," Linden said. "So it's a true national championship."

More surfing

Hawai'i surfers advance: Megan Abubo of Waialua and Melanie Bartels of Wai'anae advanced to the semifinals of the Nokia Lacanau Pro women's surfing contest yesterday at Lacanau, France.

The contest is part of the women's World Qualifying Series, and does not count toward the World Championship Tour ratings.