Keaulana, Perkins hope
for longboard shootout

By Greg Ambrose
Star-Bulletin

The world longboard surfing title will be decided tomorrow during a full day of competition at Makaha Beach.

There's a good chance the title will remain in Hawaii as yesterday's action in the $55,000 Oxbow World Longboard Championship left six Hawaii surfers among the 16 finalists.

The two top contenders, Bonga Perkins and Rusty Keaulana, looked especially strong in the 2- to 4-foot, well-formed waves. They have four world titles between them, and it showed.

Keaulana looked especially casual and relaxed, relying on stylish noserides and mostly abandoning such frantic tricks as helicopter spins and 360-degree turns. Every move the Makaha veteran made was greeted with enthusiasm by his friends and family filling the beach.

"Bonga's points were higher than mine today, he had the bigger waves," Keaulana said. "I gave the crowd what they wanted, and it was great hearing the crowd going wild. It was just another day at home, relaxing and surfing."

Hawaii surfers Lance Hookano and Johnny Boy Gomes fell victim to poor strategy when they chased the smaller waves, leaving Joel Tudor and Steven Slater of Californian the opportunity to snag the bigger judge-pleasing waves.

Ageless wonder Michael Ho put on a noseriding clinic on a borrowed longboard, but was knocked out of his second heat by Keaulana and Joey Valentin, also of Hawaii.

Zane Aikau had impressed the judges and the crowd earlier in the contest, but yesterday was bounced out of contention by Perkins' power moves and a hard-charging performance by Californian Colin McPhillips.

The next round of competition starts with a wild heat: Perkins, Tudor, Slater and McPhillips; and ends with another spectacular matchup: Hawaii's Keaulana, Valentin, Dino Miranda and Australia's Josh Ferris.

While the title is up for grabs, Keaulana has a premonition.

"Me and Bonga are telling each other, 'It's time to go to work. Let's meet each other in the final and give everyone a good surf-off.' I would like to see a Hawaiian-Hawaiian final."