Ledges Pro Day 2 Report

posted by Keith Sasaki on 30th December 2006

December 29, 2006
Kahalui, Maui, USA

As chilly north winds subsided, competition at the Water Channel Ledges Pro, presented by Body Glove Bodyboards got underway in contestable 2-4 foot surf, once again at Kahalui Harbor. Women’s action started with an international field coming from faraway locations such as Brazil and Chile to challenge a group of talented local riders such as Gloria Madden, Kelly Gordon and Lyndsey Yasui.

Roberta Bitzer, the already crowned USBA Women’s Champion found her streak of wins come to an end in semi-final action as her clean carving style, mostly ridden on the longer lefts didn’t quite catch the judges attention.

At the very start of the 25 minute Women’s final, a double interference was called against Claudia Ferrari and Kelly Gordon. Normally, riders are scored on their top two waves, unfortunately for them only their top ride and half or their second scoring ride would be counted.

Jessica Becker of Brazil made it known from the very beginning she was going to be the person to beat and on her first wave blasted a big roll. Kelly Gordon (Hawaii) rode super consistent throughout, sneaked in a couple tubes and big rolls. Claudia Ferrari, the veteran looked good in the final, but the penalty against her was too much for her to recuperate and eventually she had to settle for fourth. Carolina Casemiro, (BRA) knowing the interference situation between the two Hawaiians stayed conservative, yet found her share of clean maneuvers, pushing her to second. Gordon’s hard work salvaged third and Becker stood victorious.

Some fierce Drop-knee action also went down which saw a surprise elimination of Australian, Mason Rose in round one. Rose, voted best drop-knee rider by his peers would have preferred heavier conditions than those on hand. Fellow Aussie Kim Feast also found misfortune and was sent home early as well.

Hubbard, the already crowned Drop-knee Tour Champion saw his luck run out in his semi final heat which was stacked with Leroy Kaiwi and Bud Miyamoto who finished second and first respectively. Joining them and thus making it an all Hawaiian final was Ricky Alvarez and Miles Kauhaahaa.

Alvarez, quietly dominated the heat, throwing the tail on his first wave to set the pace. His second and higher score of 8 points was another super sweet floater which basically set up his eventual win. Miyamoto’ first high score was a nice backside floater and on his tenth and final wave threw buckets of water with a hard, carving snap, sealing runner up position. Kaiwi’s two best waves came in the form of a big backside snap and a critical tail slide floater, enough for third. Kauhaahaa found a couple clean open faced waves but couldn’t link his maneuvers and had to settle for fourth place.

The Water Channel Ledges Pro is the fifth and final stop of the USBA Championship Tour and also awards crucial points towards the IBA Tour which will end its season at Pipeline, following the Water Channel Ledges Pro.

This event is made possible thanks to sponsors The Water Channel, Body Glove Bodyboards, The Foam Company, Insane Cycle Imports and Rockstar Games.

For further information, please contact [email protected]

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