TROPICAL ENERGY OCEAN GAMES

The Tropical Energy Ocean Games presented by Jeep delivered everything
promised and more down at Ho’okipa Beach park today…..

SURF
The day kicked off with a full round of surfing featuring top Maui
shortboarders Nalu Wallace, Ahanu Tsandru and Wesley Granger. With the
unique nature of the Ocean Games, athletes from across all the sports
were competing in this division, from Legendary Windsurfer Robby Naish,
to World Champion Longboarder Bonga Perkins. After some fiercely
contested heats, it was to be longboarder and Maui boy Kiva Rivers who
was to steal the show with an exceptional display of riding and
intuitive wave selection. This puts Kiva in a great position for the
Ultimate Waterman Award and the chance to win the Jeep 4×4 Wrangler
Unlimited (Top placed rider in 3 out of 5 of the sports), with his more
familiar longboarding and stand up paddle surfing to be contested in
the morning. It should however be noted that it was an extremely close
battle, with Nalu Wallace demonstrating why he is one of Maui’s hottest
young talents.

KITESURF
As the Final of the surf discipline came to a close, the wind that Maui
is famous for started to fill in, providing perfect kiteboarding
conditions and a great spectacle for the assembled crowds to watch.
With purely waveriding counting, some of the best kiters in the world
were able to demonstrate the significant evolution of waveriding with a
kite. With a stacked fleet from all over the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti
and beyond, it was to be the more experienced riders that would come
out on top in the sizeable waves and squally winds. Despite great
performances from the younger riders such as Nicolo Porcella and Reo
Stevens, it was Robby Naish and Pete Cabrinha who stole the show, with
Robby winning and Pete in second, closely follow by Dylan Grafmyre,
also resident here on Maui.

With these two disciplines now out of the way, there is a full program
in place for tomorrow, with longboard and stand up divisions scheduled
for the morning and windsurfing for the afternoon. The live music and
art exhibition will also kick into gear up at the Lookout, with some of
Hawaii’s most popular bands taking the stage to perform and add to the
festival atmosphere of the Games. There will also be a special awards
ceremony and surfers’ jam session taking place from 5 and 8pm.

For more information on the Games and highlight segments, please visit
www.tropicalenergy.com

Press release 2:

Day 3 of the Tropical Energy Ocean Games was perhaps the most action
packed yet, with the athletes battling it out to get closer to
discovering who has what it takes to drive away in their own Jeep
Wrangler Unlimited….and the prestige of being crowned the “Ultimate
Waterman” at the Tropical Energy Ocean Games…

First off it was the longboarders who set the stage for what was to
follow – insane action and a talent filled line up that saw some of the
most impressive riding possible in the tough and unpredictable surf
down at Ho’okipa Beach Park today. Standouts included Current World
Champion Bonga Perkins, Contender Kai Sallas and Maui boys Patt Fukuda
and Kiva Rivers. After some incredibly close heats, it was Bonga
Perkins who ended coming out on top, proving to the World why he is
widely regarded as the most talented longboarder in the world today. He
was closely followed in second by Maui boy Kiva Rivers, who posted
another great result towards his Overall standing following his win in
the shortboard division. In third place it was Patt Fukuda who
demonstrated great local knowledge, style and finesse in the
challenging conditions.

Keeping in line with its tradition of being one of the most
consistently windy spots in the world, maui was not to disappoint us or
the competitors today, with the arrival of strong trade-winds by early
afternoon, signaling the start of the Windsurfing Division of the
Games. With such hard hitters as Robby Naish, Antoine Albeau, Mark
Angulo, Rush Randle and Keith Teboul, there was no way we were leaving
before receiving a phenomenal display from these incredible athletes.
We weren’t to be disappointed as the athletes pulled out all the stops
to put on an exciting display of some of the most inspired waveriding
here in WIndsurfing’s global capital. It was to be Keith Teboul’s day
though, consistently picking up the bigger set waves and riding them
with his fluid and vertical style and milking every section for
everything it had. In a close second, it was Sean Ordonez, one of the
most legendary windsurfers and most well respected waveriders in the
sport. In third, it was Robby Naish, still widely regarded as Mr
Windsurfing and now a household name through Europe.

So we are at an extremely interesting point in the Ocean Games, where
there is just one more sport to be contested, Stand Up paddling, and
there are as many as 5 key candidates that are in line to realistically
take the Ultimate award for the event. (Highest score in 3 out of the 5
sports).
1) Kiva Rivers: a first and a second in the two disciplines he has
contested so far and with stand up paddling as a strength for him, the
odds looking good
2) Robby Naish as expected has put on an impressive performance
throughout the Games, with a 1st in Kiting and a third in Windsurfing,
not to metion his semi final positions in the shortboard and longboard
divisions.
3) Sean Ordonez is also in a good place, with a 2nd and 5th position
confirmed in the Windsurfing and longboarding respectively and just
stand up to come
4) Dave Kalama as expected has shown why he is widely regarded as one
of the top Watermen in the world, with a 4th place in both divisions
contested today
5) Bonga Perkins is also right up there, with his win in the
longboarding and 5th place in the shortboard

So all eyes are on Ho’okipa Beach Park to see what the morning’s stand
up paddle division will deliver and who will be crowned the Ultimate
Waterman and drive away in a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4×4. Keep an eye
here at www.tropicalenergy.com for more information and for the latest
from this incredible event. With open, youth and women’s fleets to
follow tomorrow, followed by Tandem and Surf Canoe on Monday, the Games
are far from over. Furthermore, with the continuation of live music and
the ocean inspired art exhibition and the traditional Hawaiian Luau and
prestigious awards ceremony (for the Pro fleet) that will take place
tomorrow, we are anticipating another blessed day here on Maui for the
Tropical Energy Ocean Games, presented by Jeep.