Vans / Lopez Surfbash

VANS / HI-TECH / LOPEZ SURFBASH RESULTS

Below are the results of the 2011 SURFBASH held on Saturday November 26th.

KUAU - Joao Marco Maffini surfed challenging conditions to repeat as the open men's champion at the 22nd annual Vans / Hi-Tech / Lopez Surfbash on Saturday at Hookipa Beach Park.

Conditions for the 163 competitors ranged from sunny, head-high surf with sideshore tradewinds in the morning to overhead sloppy close-outs with on-shore squalls late in the afternoon. The open men's division, the biggest of the 10 in the event, had 35 surfers.

Chaz Kinoshita - photo Ric Larsen

As hard as it was for Maffini to find scoring waves in the final, the judges had an equally tough time. One judge had Maffini winning, another had Maffini and Imai Devault tying for first and the third judge had Kain Daly as the winner with Maffini and Baker Grant tying for second.

Imai Devault - photo Ric Larsen

"It was super choppy and windy, super cold," Maffini said. "It makes it so much colder in the (competitor) jersey.

"I kind of got lucky since the waves were all over the place. Sometimes you think it's the right one, then it's a close-out."

Cole Alves - photo Ric Larsen

The 16-year-old from Haiku has had a busy six months with surf trips to Fiji and Tahiti, as well as Peru, where he represented Italy during the Quiksilver International Surfing Association World Junior Championships.

"I was born in Italy, but I moved to Maui when I was, like, 1 year old," Maffini said. "Hookipa is my home break."

Eli Hanneman - photo Ric Larsen

Devault, a freshman at Kamehameha Schools Maui, won the under-16 division. He edged last year's champion, Chaz Kinoshita.

"It was fun and windy and contestable," Devault said. "It was hard to find the good waves, but once you got them it was fun."

Aloha Lopez - photo Ric Larsen

Susanna Walczak-Pol of Haiku won the open women's title. The 20-year-old landscaper and fire dancer was still nursing some chest wounds she suffered three days earlier.

"I haven't been surfing for a while and just got back surfing Hookipa when I hit a rock," Walczak-Pol said. "It was super shallow, really low tide and the undercurrent was really strong. I got hit square in the chest. It hurt pretty bad and was bleeding a lot."

Kaimana Kimmaka - photo Ric Larsen

Her injury didn't seem to have any effect, however - she was only the finalist to look really comfortable in the peaky conditions, and all three judges selected her as the winner.

Kain Daily - photo Ric Larsen

"I'm stoked," Walczak-Pol said after her first contest win in five years. "I want to qualify for the state."

Cole Alves was the only double winner, defeating 23 others in U12 and 13 others in U14.

Michael Stuart - photo Ric Larsen

The other champions were Eli Hanneman (U10), Aloha Lopez (U14 girls), Kai Schmidt (open longboard), Nick Nunez (U14 longboard) and Zachary Zane (bodyboard).

The next Hawaii Surfing Association-sanctioned meet will be the Hui O Paukukalo at Big Lefts on Dec. 10.

Ocean Maredo - photo Ric Larsen

Shortboard

Male

Under 10-1. Eli Hanneman, 2. Tony Nunez, 3. Ty Ty Kirby, 4. Ocean Macedo, 5. Luc Guidroz, 6. Jackson Bunch.

Under 12-1. Cole Alves, 2. Logan Bediamol, 3. Ocean Macedo, 4. Ethan Bediamol, 5. Ty Ty Kirby, 6. Conan Gentil.

Under 14-1. Cole Alves, 2. Logan Bediamol, 3. Kelson Lau, 4. Ean Kimmel, 5. Kala Willard, 6. Khristian Olsen.

Under 16-1. Imai Devault, 2. Chaz Kinoshita, 3. Miles Serafica, 4. Kelson Lau, 5. Tristen Hoppe, 6. Ean Kimmel.

Open-1. Joao Marco Maffini, 2. Kain Daly, 3. Baker Grant, 4. Imai Devault, 5. Justice Patao, 6. Michael Stuart.

Female

Under 14-1. Aloha Lopez, 2. Daize Kinoshita, 3. Kawailana Devault, 4. Sierra Larsen, 5. Sophie Johnston, 6. Ashley Nielson.

Open-1. Susanna Walczak-Pol, 2. Sierra Lerback, 3. Sophia Johnston, 4. Tasha Jahrmarkt, 5. Meli Ouellet, 6. Aloha Lopez.

Longboard

Open -1. Kai Schmidt, 2. Billy Medeiros, 3. Tyler Neirmayer, 4. Christian Freitas, 5. Sierra Lerback, 6. Shelby Schweitzer.

Under 14-1. Nick Nunez, 2. Payce Duryea, 3. Anthony Nunez, 4. Aloha Lopez, 5. Caeden Flores, 6. Sophia Johnston.

Bodyboard

Open-1. Zachary Zane, 2. Kahikili Labatte, 3. Nick Drose, 4. Noa Auweloa, 5. Dylan Lee, 6. Gabe Tongson.