World Champion continues to dominate!
Reigning PWA world wave champion, Josh Angulo of Hawaii, has won the
opening single elimination here at the PWA Hawaii Pro presented by Severne
sails. With Hookipa continuing to deliver the goods, with 15-20 knot
trades and 2-4 feet clean peeling waves, Angulo defeated fellow Maui local
Keith Teboul in todays scintillating fifteen minute mens final. Meanwhile
Japanese sailor Motoko Sato took victory in the womens single elimination
final defeating Maui sailor Jenny Ellefson. Sato advanced over local
favorite Jennifer Henderson in the semis and scored two high scoring waves
to give her the edge over Ellefson to take first blood in the opening
round of the womens competition here at Hookipa. Despite a building swell
the wind eventually faded this afternoon and no more competition took
place after the final.
Angulo advanced through to the final today through heats after sailing
brilliantly against 17 year old Francisco Porcella and then pulling out
all the stops to eliminate former wave champion Kevin Pritchard (Gaastra,
Starboard) in the semis. The heat against Pritchard was the highest
scoring of the day with both sailors ripping every wave with mind blowing
moves right in front of the infamous Hookipa rocks. Both Pritchard and
Angulo threw contorted one-handed airs and milked each wave for all it was
worth with the judges favoring Angulos unique style with a narrow 2-1 decision.
On the other side of the draw Keith Teboul used his fluid surf style wave
riding skills to advance over Rick Steinick in the quarters and then a
mixture of better wave selection and bigger aerials took him through the
semis against Brazilian ripper Kauli Seadi (Naish, AHD).
The wind dropped off a notch in the final making it tough for the
competitors to stay upwind and catch the best sets. Angulo switched to a
larger sail and seemed to have the better equipment to suite the
conditions, while Teboul struggled to find the set waves. Angulo managed
to catch several quality swells in the fifteen minute final; ripping each
wave to shreds with a series of incredible contorted airs and carving
gauges. Teboul fought back hitting a couple of clean bowls right off the
point but failed to match the quality and quantity of Angulo’s performance.
In the womens battle Motoko Sato advanced through to the final her taking
down Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North) and Maui local Jennifer Henderson
(Starboard) after two extremely close heats. Henderson had been
responsible for the exit of former world champion Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows)
in the previous quarter battle. On the bottom half of the ladder Jenny
Ellefson overcame challenges from Noriko Hubs of Canada and then Anne
Marie Reichmann (Naish, Naish) of Holland on her path to the final.
Despite tough conditions due to light wind on the inside section both
sailors picked up several quality waves in the final although the more
aggressive style of Motoko won the favor of the five man judges panel to
seal the deal for her first Hookipa title.
The wind is forecast to become variable tomorrow but pick up later in the
week with a new swell due to hit the Hawaiian Islands close to high surf
advisory levels. Stay tuned to the PWA web site for all the news, pictures
and results brought to you daily here from Hawaii.
Josh Angulo
I am pretty happy with the result, coming into the first event of the year
being the defending world champion adds a little more pressure. The heat
against Kevin was definitely a tight one. I really only scored two waves
in the whole heat. I had to score those two waves and fortunately they
were good enough. It was a close heat and it went my way. In the final I
felt I had more of an advantage because I took bigger equipment and I was
moving around a lot better than Keith. I scored all the sets and caught a
lot more waves than him. The conditions were pretty good. Just the fact
the fact that we were going front side and down the line is a blessing in
itself. It was pretty much perfect for a contest, 2-4 feet swell and windy
enough to get in and out. It was a little light in the final but I think
we were able to still do some good stuff out there. I enjoyed it& but its
not over, we still have five more days to go so we will see what happens
EVENT SPONSORS
Severne Sails, Da Kine, The Islands of Aloha, Maui Windsurf Company, Neil
Pryde Maui, Hi Tech, Second wind, 101.1
Reigning PWA world wave champion, Josh Angulo of Hawaii, has won the
opening single elimination here at the PWA Hawaii Pro presented by Severne
sails. With Hookipa continuing to deliver the goods, with 15-20 knot
trades and 2-4 feet clean peeling waves, Angulo defeated fellow Maui local
Keith Teboul in todays scintillating fifteen minute mens final. Meanwhile
Japanese sailor Motoko Sato took victory in the womens single elimination
final defeating Maui sailor Jenny Ellefson. Sato advanced over local
favorite Jennifer Henderson in the semis and scored two high scoring waves
to give her the edge over Ellefson to take first blood in the opening
round of the womens competition here at Hookipa. Despite a building swell
the wind eventually faded this afternoon and no more competition took
place after the final.
Angulo advanced through to the final today through heats after sailing
brilliantly against 17 year old Francisco Porcella and then pulling out
all the stops to eliminate former wave champion Kevin Pritchard (Gaastra,
Starboard) in the semis. The heat against Pritchard was the highest
scoring of the day with both sailors ripping every wave with mind blowing
moves right in front of the infamous Hookipa rocks. Both Pritchard and
Angulo threw contorted one-handed airs and milked each wave for all it was
worth with the judges favoring Angulos unique style with a narrow 2-1 decision.
On the other side of the draw Keith Teboul used his fluid surf style wave
riding skills to advance over Rick Steinick in the quarters and then a
mixture of better wave selection and bigger aerials took him through the
semis against Brazilian ripper Kauli Seadi (Naish, AHD).
The wind dropped off a notch in the final making it tough for the
competitors to stay upwind and catch the best sets. Angulo switched to a
larger sail and seemed to have the better equipment to suite the
conditions, while Teboul struggled to find the set waves. Angulo managed
to catch several quality swells in the fifteen minute final; ripping each
wave to shreds with a series of incredible contorted airs and carving
gauges. Teboul fought back hitting a couple of clean bowls right off the
point but failed to match the quality and quantity of Angulo’s performance.
In the womens battle Motoko Sato advanced through to the final her taking
down Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North) and Maui local Jennifer Henderson
(Starboard) after two extremely close heats. Henderson had been
responsible for the exit of former world champion Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows)
in the previous quarter battle. On the bottom half of the ladder Jenny
Ellefson overcame challenges from Noriko Hubs of Canada and then Anne
Marie Reichmann (Naish, Naish) of Holland on her path to the final.
Despite tough conditions due to light wind on the inside section both
sailors picked up several quality waves in the final although the more
aggressive style of Motoko won the favor of the five man judges panel to
seal the deal for her first Hookipa title.
The wind is forecast to become variable tomorrow but pick up later in the
week with a new swell due to hit the Hawaiian Islands close to high surf
advisory levels. Stay tuned to the PWA web site for all the news, pictures
and results brought to you daily here from Hawaii.
Josh Angulo
I am pretty happy with the result, coming into the first event of the year
being the defending world champion adds a little more pressure. The heat
against Kevin was definitely a tight one. I really only scored two waves
in the whole heat. I had to score those two waves and fortunately they
were good enough. It was a close heat and it went my way. In the final I
felt I had more of an advantage because I took bigger equipment and I was
moving around a lot better than Keith. I scored all the sets and caught a
lot more waves than him. The conditions were pretty good. Just the fact
the fact that we were going front side and down the line is a blessing in
itself. It was pretty much perfect for a contest, 2-4 feet swell and windy
enough to get in and out. It was a little light in the final but I think
we were able to still do some good stuff out there. I enjoyed it& but its
not over, we still have five more days to go so we will see what happens
EVENT SPONSORS
Severne Sails, Da Kine, The Islands of Aloha, Maui Windsurf Company, Neil
Pryde Maui, Hi Tech, Second wind, 101.1
