By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Dino Miranda rides a wave en route to the title of
the Oxbow Longboard Championship yesterday.

---

Miranda wraps up
Oxbow title

By Greg Ambrose
Star-Bulletin

Two years ago, Dino Miranda was carrying Rusty Keaulana on his shoulders on Reunion Island to celebrate Keaulana's third world title.

Now Miranda is on top of the world after winning the $55,000 Oxbow World Longboard Championship.

Big, booming waves at Makaha allowed the planet's best surfers to show their heavy mettle yesterday.

Miranda has the most eloquent surfing style of Hawaii's elite longboarders, but his victory was more a matter of endurance.

"We were just exhausted out there," he said. "After rides of 100 yards or longer, getting back out to the lineup against the current and set waves was terrible."

Waves of 6-feet with 10-foot sets offered few options.

Surfers who chose to wait far outside were picked off by big sets, or watched their competitors on the inside catch high-scoring waves.

Or they suffered the fate of Keaulana, who caught the biggest waves and was either slammed by the treacherous bowl, or sped past the bowl hanging five, failing to connect with the inside, where the waves lined up sweetly.

Australian Josh Ferris bumped Keaulana from the contest by an agonizing .05 point, dashing his hopes of a fourth world title.

Contestants who opted to hover on the inside and snag the well-mannered smaller waves endured Sion Milosky's nightmare in a semifinal heat with defending world champion Bonga Perkins. He was pounded by a 10-wave that ate up valuable time and left him drained.

Later in the contest, Milosky was able to benefit from his experience when Miranda and Perkins were caught by a huge set.

"We were both getting lickings beside each other in the whitewater trying to paddle outside," Miranda said. "I was dying. I told my caddy (Milosky) 'I can't paddle any more,' and he said 'You got to reach deep down inside your heart.' "

The rugged conditions took their toll. By the end of the quarterfinals, the last of an international contingent was eliminated. That left a hometown field of Perkins, Milosky, Miranda and Duane DeSoto, guaranteeing the title would remain in Hawaii for the fifth straight year.

It came down to Miranda and Perkins, and the two long-time friends sat beside each other in the lineup, telling stories between waves and savoring the moment.

"At Makaha, with only two people in the lineup, you better soak it up because it's not going to happen again in 30 years," Perkins said. "At least we can say we were the only two people out there catching all those waves."

Miranda was stressed, having suffered numerous defeats to Perkins. But he was encouraged as the final heat progressed.

"I was stoked that Bonga fell on a couple of waves," Miranda said. "It pumped me up. I was thinking to myself, 'This is my year.'

"I was watching him and I knew he was falling back when he began catching those little waves. So I caught some bigger waves and pulled ahead of him."

The clincher came when Miranda snared a rare tube ride, just as he had in his semifinal heat.

"I caught the only tube rides in the contest. They are hard to find at Makaha," he said.

After that, Perkins needed an improbable 9.6 ride to overtake Miranda.

"There was no strategy out there," Perkins said. "It was just a matter of who would crack first after a whole week of mental and physical exhaustion. I cracked first."

The defending champion also took his loss graciously.

"I couldn't have lost to anybody else," Perkins said. "I lost to the world champ, and I lost to my cousin. The title is in Hawaii and in the family."

Said Miranda: "I don't see too much of a change in my life. Maybe I'll be a little more famous. Now all the kids will look up to me, the way I have always looked up to Bonga and Rusty."