"It was a day of redemption," said DeSoto, 27. "I lost early on in the other contest, so I was kind of sour coming into this one."

Two professional longboard surfing contests were staged on O'ahu's south shore this weekend. Many of Hawai'i's top competitors, including DeSoto, entered both events.

"A lot of good guys who entered the other one (at Waikiki), didn't come out for this one, so that was kind of disappointing," DeSoto said. "But they're the ones who missed out because the waves were pretty good."

The way DeSoto surfed, he would have been hard to beat by anybody. He was a wave magnet in the final, catching all the biggest and best waves of the heat.

What's more, he displayed versatility on each wave, completing a variety of maneuvers ranging from barrel rides to precise off-the-top carves.

His two best rides received scores of 9.17 and 8.83 for a total of 18.0. He had similar scores in the semifinals.

"I got really lucky," he said. "You try to get in that zone every contest, where you pick out all the best sets. It doesn't always work out that way, but this time it did for some reason. It seemed like every time I got in position, a good wave would be right there."

Joey Valentin placed second with a two-wave score of 13.66. Scotty Fong was third and Kapono Nahina fourth.

"We all lucked out because the waves were good," Valentin said. "It really comes down to wave selection because we all have the talent. If you get the best waves, you usually get the best scores."

World champion Joel Tudor of California won the Converse Hawaiian Open at Kuhio Beach on Saturday, but he did not enter yesterday's event.

Finals in various amateur divisions were also staged yesterday.

The contest was the fourth of five on the 2004 Steinlager Shaka Series for longboard surfers. The final event is scheduled for Sept. 11 and 12 at Waikiki.

Final results

Pro: 1, Duane DeSoto, $600. 2, Joey Valentin, $300. 3, Scotty Fong, $200. 4, Kapono Nahina, $150. 5 (tie), Kekoa Uemura and Tommy Chun Ming, $100. 7 (tie), Kekaula Campbell and Joey Sonognini, $75. Novice men: 1, Joe Kaiwi. 2, Jason Miyamura. 3, Joe Gaynor. 4, Robert Fernandez. 5, Jeremy Bisson. 6, Dennis Martos. Menehune: 1, Micah Miguel. 2, Isaiah Moniz. 3, Cassiday Kuakini. 4, Micah Moniz. 5, Brandon Kuakini. Boys: 1, Makamae DeSoto. 2, Emerick Ishikawa. 3, Geoff Wong. 4, Haruki Omura. 5, Koa Enriques. 6, Maverick Carey. Men: 1, Nainoa Ciotti. 2, Jordan Hart. 3, Ian Soutar. 4, Aka Pai. 5, John Paul Kaleopaa. 6, Lenny Capernia. Masters: 1, Barry Tantog. 2, Kekaula Campbell. 3, Andrew Imamura. 4, Oden Rivard. 5, Kaliko Keahilihau. 6, Gavin Young. Legends: 1, Ben Aipa. 2, Soyu Kawamoto. 3, Phil Wilson. Teeny Wahine: 1, Casey Nuesca. 2, Megan Godinez. 3, Tracy Pruse. Wahine: 1, Tara Coleman-Rillamas. 2, Mimi Horiuchi. 3, Dawn Caneda. 4, Virginia Fajardo. 5, Helen Villena. 6, Che Kato. Wahine Masters: 1, Char Iida. 2, Lee Barraclough. 3, Dawn Chang. Wahine Novice: 1, Dawn Chang. 2, Jacqueline Chan. You Somebody: 1, Tommy Chun Ming. 2, Makani McDonald. 3, Kevin Okimoto. 4, Jamie Ballenger. 5, Bear Wozrick. 6, Kirk Pifer. Relic: 1, Toru Yamaguchi. 2, Peter Vinci. 3, Ed Cua. 4, John Quisano. Soul: 1, Layton Sun. 2, Lance Ohata. 3, Jon Okamura. 4, Bob Kim. 5, Herb Pruse. 6, Jason Miyamura. Senior Men: 1, John Okamura. 2, Danny Tamonte. 3, Chuck Kelley. 4, Makani McDonald. 5, Robert Snelling. 6, Kaleo Kealoha. Senior Masters: 1, Herb Pruse. 2, Jamie Ballenger. 3, Toru Yamaguchi. 4, Joe Gaynor. 5, Gary Ontai. 6, Bob Kim. Super Legends: 1, Malcolm Ing. 2, Rabbit Kekai. 3, Bob Brown. 4, Tom Bionde. High Makamaka: 1, Tommy Chun Ming. 2, Rodney Nakasato. 3, Dennis Martos. 4, Danny Tamonte. 5, Jamie Ballenger. 6, Chuck Kelley. Ironman: 1, Tommy Chun Ming.