With little funding and little experience on its side, Hawai'i still came up with a fifth place finish in the ISA World Surfing Games last week at Huntington Beach, Calif.

"Considering what we were up against, I'm very pleased with that," Hawai'i coach Rainos Hayes said. "The only countries to beat us were the big countries that received a lot of (financial) support."

Australia won the team championship, followed by Brazil, the United States and South Africa.

Hawai'i was recognized as its own country for the event because of its storied history in the sport.

Hawai'i's fifth-place showing was even more impressive when considering that the roster featured mostly young, up-and-coming surfers. The top three countries — Australia, Brazil and the United States — stacked their rosters with established professionals.

The only experienced pro surfer on the Hawai'i roster was Hale'iwa's Bonga Perkins, and he placed fourth in the longboard division.

"He was the guy we were counting on the most to get a good result, and he did," Hayes said. "He made the final, got fourth, so that was a big boost."

The other top performers for Hawai'i were somewhat of a surprise.

Kaua'i surfers Gavin Gillette and Sebastian Zietz placed eighth and 11th, respectively, in the open men's surfing division. That division had more than 120 entries — the most of the event.

"Gavin and Sebastian pulled off some big wins for us during the week," Hayes said. "They beat some of the guys who are on the (World Championship Tour), which was a confidence builder not just for them, but our whole team."

Most significant, Gillette finished ahead of former world champion C.J. Hobgood of the United States (Florida).

In the open women's surfing division, Bethany Hamilton of Kaua'i placed ninth, and Lani Hunter of Punalu'u placed 11th.

Hamilton, 16, and Hunter, 18, were younger than most of the women in the field.

"Bethany was phenomenal — the crowd-pleaser every time she went out, and she kept winning heats," Hayes said. "Everybody was blown away by the real surfer and competitor that she is."

The World Surfing Games is held every two years at a different site around the world. More than 300 competitors representing 33 countries participated last week.

The 2008 World Surfing Games is scheduled to take place in Portugal.

Hayes said it will take a greater financial push in 2008 for Hawai'i to make a push at the team championship.

"We had to scramble for last-minute money just to get to California," he said. "It's going to take a lot more next time. We really need to get the state or some other sponsor behind this because we are there representing Hawai'i. This is the birthplace of surfing, and it makes absolutely no sense that we don't get the funding that countries like Brazil and Australia are getting from their government."

FINAL RESULTS

Team: 1, Australia, 15,848 points. 2, Brazil, 15,123. 3, United States, 14,505. 4, South Africa, 13,346. 5, Hawai'i, 11,022. 6, France, 10,851. 7, Portugal, 10,240. 8, Costa Rica, 9,420. 9, United Kingdom, 9,255. 10, Tahiti, 9,041.

How Hawai'i competitors fared:

Open men surfing: 8, Gavin Gillette. 11, Sebastian Zietz. 29, Alex Smith. 49, Shane Valiere. Open women surfing: 9, Bethany Hamilton. 11, Lani Hunter. Bodyboarding men: 15, David Hubbard. 25, Travis Smith. Bodyboarding women: 9, Chasity Baltazar. Longboard surfing: 4, Bonga Perkins.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.