Posted on: Friday, July 9, 2004
Longboard world title is one-shot deal
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
On the long journey to France this week, many of Hawai'i's best professional longboard surfers might as well have been listening to the Eminem rap "Lose Yourself."
Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
This year's ASP World Longboard Championship will come down to one shot, one opportunity. The winner of the week-long contest in Biarritz, France, will be crowned world champion.
In past years, a world tour determined the world champion. But because of conflicts in scheduling and sponsorships, only one legitimate contest was finalized for this year.
"Who's to blame? Nobody really knows," said Hale'iwa's Bonga Perkins, who won the world title in 1996. "Bottom line is, the surfers lose out. It's sad to have it come down to only one event."
Perkins is the top-ranked surfer from Hawai'i in the field. Other contenders from Hawai'i include Kekoa Uemura, Keegan Edwards, Duane DeSoto and Rusty Keaulana.
Most of the Hawai'i contingent agreed with Perkins.
"To me, if you want to be called a world champ, you have to be able to do well at a bunch of contests during the year," Edwards said. "With the way it is now, anybody can get lucky and catch a good wave and end up being called world champ."
What's more, the contest is expected to follow a single-elimination format. Lose one heat and start heading home.
"It'll be harder this way," Uemura said. "With a tour, you could have one bad contest, but come back to win the next one. In this contest, there's going to be no room for mistakes."
The Hawai'i surfers are also not exactly pleased with the venue. Biarritz is one of France's most popular beaches, but the waves are usually small.
"Considering what's at stake, it probably would have been better to hold it at a place with more powerful waves," Perkins said. "Especially for the guys from Hawai'i."
NOTES
Longboard surfing is for competitors who ride boards that are at least 9 feet long.
Beau Young of Australia is the defending champion.
The last Hawai'i surfer to win the longboard world championship was Dino Miranda in 1997.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
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