The force was apparently with Kalani Vierra and Blanche Yoshida yesterday.

The Kaua'i duo completed some of the most difficult maneuvers in the sport to win the World Title of Tandem Surfing contest yesterday at Kuhio Beach, Waikiki.

In particular, Vierra and Yoshida pulled off a move called "the star" three separate times in yesterday's 30-minute final. The star is considered the most difficult maneuver in the sport.

"We pull that one off pretty easily now," Yoshida said. "We've kind of got the star wars action in place."

Vierra and Yoshida are now considered stars in the sport, even though this is their first year as tandem partners.

"World champion, I don't know if that's ever going to sink in," Vierra said.

Yoshida, 54, was a world champion tandem surfer in the 1960s and '70s, and she returned to the sport this year. Yesterday was her first world championship since 1973, when she won it with Leroy Ah Choy.

"This is really hard to believe, after four decades that I'm back," she said. "It's because I've got such an awesome partner. I'm so lucky I've had two awesome partners in my life."

Vierra, 41, is a world champion in his first year of tandem surfing.

Vierra and Yoshida received a winning score of 16.7. On their best wave, they completed six different maneuvers, including the star.

"Actually, we were lucky we caught that one long wave because we needed it," Vierra said. "We were doing all the hard lifts, but we needed a longer sequence and we got it on that one wave."

Vierra and Yoshida entered the event as the No. 1-ranked tandem in 2007 by the International Tandem Surfing Association. They will leave for Spain next week to try and win the 2007 ITSA world tour championship.

"This contest winner is called the world champion, but there's also a world tandem tour champion as well," Yoshida said. "So yeah, I'd like to have both of them. I hate to be greedy, but then there's no question, right?"

Hawai'i teams took the top three places yesterday.

Chuck Inman and Tiffany Rabacal, who are both from Waikiki, placed second with a score of 15.17.

"We were gunning to win the whole thing, so there's a little disappointment," Inman said. "But we gave it our best. The competition is just so tough now. Teams are doing the hardest lifts in the book and you have to keep up."

Makaha tandem Brian Keaulana and Kathy Terada placed third with a score of 14.41. They won the event last year.

In a show of sportsmanship, the three Hawai'i teams surfed to the shore hand-in-hand on the same wave at the end of the final.

The California tandem of Caleb Wilborn and Wendy Lynn placed fourth.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.