AWT Severne Starboard Aloha Classic 2014 - Day One
by American Windsurfing Tour on 30 Oct 2014
Keith Teboul nails the highest wave score of the day. AWT Severne Starboard Aloha Classic 2014 - Day One. Si Crowther / AWT
http://americanwindsurfingtour.com/
AWT Severne Starboard Aloha Classic - The first day of the AWT Severne Starboard Aloha Classic starts in style as Ho’okipa produces excellent conditions and the competition for the Pro Men gets underway.
The day started early with a traditional Hawaiian blessing, welcoming everyone to the beach and setting the wheels in motion for a fantastic contest. As the ceremony continued the wind started to blow and straight after the skipper's meeting it was straight on with the pro men competition.
A combination of the AWT regulars and Ho'okipa masters meant a lot of tricky heats, with previous and current world champions all battling hard to make it through the first round.
It was Morgan Noireaux who kicked off proceedings winning heat one convincingly with a smooth taka off the section and some rail-to-rail riding that really impressed the judges.
Robby Swift lost out in the second heat to the on form Marcilio Browne and Kai Katchadourian, Swift couldn’t seem to get it together and just did not get the waves he needed. Swift did however redeem himself and in round two where he was back to his regular self, landing goiter after goiter to advance convincingly.
In the third and forth heats it was Graham Ezzy and Laurent Guillimen respectively that took the heat wins, while heat five saw Ho’okipa legend Josh Stone showing the younger guys how it’s done, with Jake Miller hot on his heals.
Kevin Pritchard scored one of the best waves of the day in heat six to put himself comfortably through to the next round, and then previous youth champion Casey Rehrer stepped up his game in the seventh heat to win ahead of Russ Faurot.
But the best was yet to come as, in heat ten Keith Teboul pulled out the highest scoring wave of the day, a 7.9 (just behind Morgan Noireaux’s 7.86) to see him straight through to round three, along with Jason Polakow.
Heat eleven saw Patrick Bergeron take the win and another exceptional heat was to follow, with Levi Siver and Pascal Hardy both racking up high scores and taking first and second respectively.
It was then onto the second round, giving the third and forth placed riders from round one a second chance to advance. At heat sixteen the wind dropping significantly, calling a halt to competition and leaving the riders to swim for the shore.
We will pick up with a re-sail of this heat and the competition could continue tomorrow morning, if the forecast provides what it is promising.
If the conditions play ball, we could see the Severne Starboard Aloha Classic and the 2014 AWT Pro champions crowned tomorrow afternoon!
'Reviewing the individual heat scores provides insight into how the judges are interpreting the riding here at Ho’okipa.
We can see that the judges are rewarding the quality of turns highly; riders getting vertical and completing rotational moves off critical sections are scoring very highly. Riders hitting aerials without solid turns are receiving only average marks and while big moves are scoring well they are seriously limited if not as part of a combination of turns or off a critical section.
As in the early rounds in Peru, Hot Sails Maui rider Morgan Noireuax is currently topping the standings for heat total with 15.233 in Heat #1 while Quatro’s Keith Teboul left the shaping room long enough to show his rail and claim the highest wave score with a 7.9.
As we move towards the later rounds it will be interesting to see how the riders adjust to the conditions and how the judges respond,' Chris Freeman, AWT Head Judge.
Schedule for October 30th
09:00: Rider Briefing
09:15: Judges Meeting
10:00: First start
Order of heats:
Pro Round #2, 16 – 20 (Five heats)
Pro Round #3 (8 heats)
Pro Round #4 (4 heats)
Pro Round #5 (2 heats)
Pro Round #6 (2 heats)
Semi Final (1 heat)
Final (1 heat)
On Hold
Champions for Charity (On Hold)
Women (On Hold)
Youth (On Hold)
All other divisions released for the day. Event website
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