Stewart wins Ledges Pro

posted by Keith Sasaki on 6th January 2007

January 6, 2007
Kahalui, Maui, USA

On the very last day of it allowed waiting period, the highly anticipated Men's division of the fifth and final stop of the USBA Tour, the Water Channel Ledges Pro presented by Body Glove Bodyboards got underway and rewrote another chapter in bodyboarding's history books.

Before the start of the event, there was a two way race for the Men's division title, being highly contested by the Hubbard brothers, Jeff and David. Going in to the event they were at a virtual dead lock, with momentum on younger brother David's side as he had previously finished higher than Jeff at the last two events.

Action started with great performances by a bevy of Australians notably Andrew Lester, Alex Leon, Dave Winchester and Eli Beach. Contestants from around the world were present to compete at Ledges in gnarly 4-8 feet wind blown surf which still provided high performance riding.

Jeff Hubbard did not have to wait long to start his victory lap as newly crowned USBA Tour Champion when David failed to advance into the quarter-final rounds. Jeff totally dominated his heat with a convincing win over Hugo Pinheiro of Portugal, Andrew Lester and local favorite Jonah Romero. Dave fell to the hands of Brazilian Uri Validao and Mark McCarthy of South Africa.

As Hubbard basked in the sun, eyes and attention slowly shifted on to another potential story in the making. Mike Stewart from the Big Island of Hawaii, the sports most successful bodyboarder and considered the best wave rider in the world was making his presence known. Seeded only in to the first round of the main event, Stewart squeaked through to round two with virtually fifteen seconds remaining after blasting a big inverted aerial. An elated Stewart was visually shocked and relieved to have advanced on.

Great riding went on from riders such as McCarthy who also kept advancing all the way from the early trials rounds. Erisberto Abrantes of Brazil also looked strong.

Stewart pulled another trick out of his hat in round two won by current World Champion Ben Player. Again as seconds ticked away, he blasted yet another inverted aerial to sneak past Mitch Rawlins. He then found himself in the quarter-finals and everyone was starting to wonder if his steam would run out. In a stacked heat, filled with current and former World Champions, Stewarts looked to be in real trouble against Hubbard, Player and Lester. In Stewarts heyday his domination was so apparent from the very beginning of any heat but at the Water Channel Ledges Pro it was a combination of raw skill, some luck and experience that was holding him together and he duplicated his magicians ways and soon found himself one round away from his first final in many years.
Before the start of the event Roberta Bitzer of Brazil had been crowned winner of the USBA Tour after two convincing wins on the East Coast. Dave Hubbard was untouchable in the Drop-knee Division. Previous Tour stops included Sandy Beach, New Jersey, New York and Imperial Beach in California.

Another former World Champion, Guilherme Tamega was looking extremely dangerous with convincing heat wins and he too found himself in semi-final action with two of his protégés Validao and Magno Oliveira.

Semi-final one action saw Winchester score perfect tens across the board after a late take off into a long tube, finishing off his ride with two huge turns. Everyone in the heat was looking good including Michael Honeybone of Australia. In the end, Winchester marched through and yet again with five seconds remaining, Stewart took off from the furthest outside peak, backdoored a section, went for another invert, landed, before getting closed out on, enough to put him in the final four.

Semi two saw Tamegas luck run out in a super tight heat which was won by Oliviera. Making the final four was McCarthy who came all the way from the trials.

Thirty minutes separated four riders from contest victory and it looked like Winchester had a solid grip on everyone as he started off strongly while everyone else scrapped. Half way through, things started to change as everyone by now had found one high score. With seven minutes remaining, Stewart threw down the gauntlet with a long tube which scored 9.87 points forcing everyone else to find rides in the 9 point range to overtake the veteran. Stewart was in the zone and controlled the remaining minutes and with it walked away with his first victory in several years.

The victory was later described by Stewart as "just as sweet as any of my World Titles".

The Water Channel Ledges Pro was a dual sanctioned event between the USBA and the IBA Tour. Competitors head over to the island of Oahu to compete at the season ending event at Pipeline.

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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