Beschen keeps the faith to triumph at Sunset Beach
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Even without any contest victories in the last five years, Shane Beschen never lost faith.
He was rewarded with the win in the Faith Riding Pro yesterday at Sunset Beach.
The final day of the event was completed in clean 10-foot waves. The two-day contest was the opening event on the 2003 Hawaiian Pro-Am Circuit. It also rewarded the top performers with points toward surfing's World Qualifying Series.
"My last win was down at Manly (Australia) in '98," said Beschen, 30. "It's been a while, but I've been training hard. Now days, there are so many good surfers. To win any contest is saying something."
For Beschen, it said a lot.
In the mid-1990s, he was considered one of the world's best surfers. In 1996, he was ranked No. 2 in the world, behind only six-time world champ Kelly Slater.
But by the end of 2001, he was no longer on the elite World Championship Tour. Instead, he got married, had a son, and moved to O'ahu's North Shore.
"I don't know if you have to be on the (World Championship Tour) to be considered a good surfer," said Beschen, who is originally from San Clemente, Calif. "There are so many good surfers out there, especially in Hawai'i."
Now, he's one of them.
Because he is no longer a world tour surfer, Beschen spends most of his surfing time on the North Shore waves. Sunset Beach happens to be one of his favorite spots.
"It helps to know the wave," he said. "Out here at Sunset, it can get so wild at times. But today, it was great."
Beschen said he tried to catch the "smaller" waves that offered longer rides.
"My plan was to look for any wave with a wall," he said. "A lot of times, the big ones mush out and don't give a lot of opportunity for you to make any moves."
Beschen's two best waves in the 30-minute final each received scores of 7.5 for a total of 15.0 (out of 20). On both waves, he completed several precise top-to-bottom carving maneuvers.
It was good enough for his first victory in Hawai'i, along with the $2,500 top prize.
But it didn't come easy.
Love Hodel, a veteran North Shore surfer, finished one-quarter of a point behind Beschen in second place.
Hodel had the best single wave of the final — a brief barrel ride followed by a hard-carve off the top. It received a score of 8.0, and his second-best wave scored 6.75 for a total of 14.75.
"I caught that one good one, but I just couldn't back it up with another one," said Hodel, 31.
The two-wave scoring system started in Hawai'i events last November. Under the old three-wave system, Hodel would have beaten Beschen.
"When you only get scored on two waves, it brings the level of surfing so much higher," Hodel said. "It's tough to win on two waves."
Brazil's Yuri Sodre caught only two waves in the final, but those two received scores of 7.75 and 6.5 for a total of 14.25. In other words, less than one point separated the top three surfers yesterday.
Charlie Carroll of Makaha placed fourth, although his lack of energy in the final was excusable. He had to surf in five heats yesterday, including the first heat of the day at 8 a.m., and the final heat at 3 p.m.
Final results
1, Shane Beschen (California), $2,500. 2, Love Hodel (Hawai'i), $1,500. 3, Yuri Sodre (Brazil), $1,000. 4, Charlie Carroll (Hawai'i), $800. 5 (tie), Chris Ward (California) and John Gomes (Hawai'i), $600. 7 (tie), Nathan Carroll (Hawai'i) and Kaipo Jaquias (Hawai'i), $500. 9 (tie), Tony Ray (Australia), Solomon Ortiz (Hawai'i), Myles Padaca (Hawai'i) and Derek Ho (Hawai'i). 13 (tie), Ian Walsh (Hawai'i), Rainos Hayes (Hawai'i), Garrett McNamara (Hawai'i) and T.J. Barron (Hawai'i).
