Thursday, November 19, 1998
World’s top longboarders
By Greg Ambrose
gather in Canary Islands
Special to the Star-BulletinThe planet's best longboard riders are gathering in the Canary Islands for the annual futility of trying to crown as longboard champion of the world someone other than a Hawaii surfer .
Ever since 1992, when a young pack of Hawaii surfers took notice of the event and halted the practice of sending only Randy Rarick to represent the Aloha State in the championships, Hawaii longboarders have won the title five straight years out of six.
Joey Hawkins of California won the off-year, which was understandable because the waves in France were so small that the Hawaii riders could scarcely see, let alone ride, them.
Many contestants have been frustrated and perplexed by Hawaii's dominance of the Oxbow World Longboard Championship, but California's Josh Baxter has it all figured out. He has been defeated every year by the Hawaiians, and has spent a great deal of time contemplating the situation.
"They are all powerful surfers who know all about the ocean," says Baxter. "Basically, I think it comes down to the kinds of conditions. Malibu really defined what longboarding was all about, walking the board. All the others had huge waves, and they turned into a wave-riding contest.
"We don't get big waves here in California, and if we do, it's playful big. I hope that the waves will cooperate a little bit this time and stay in the 6-foot range. Anything bigger than 6 feet, and I believe a Hawaiian will win."
Regardless of what the waves are like, the chances are excellent that the world crown will remain in Hawaii. The Islands will be represented by the strongest team ever, with more surfers than any other nation.
The four finalists in last year's championship at Makaha will be there: Dino Miranda, Bonga Perkins, Duane DeSoto and Sion Milosky. The five top finishers in local longboard contests also will be in the main event: Rusty Keaulana, Lance Hookano, Ezra Rodrigues, Kanoa Dahlin and Joey Valentine, plus wild card Mel Pu'u, and trialists Guy Perry, Chris Vandervoort and Rob Farrow.
Even more chilling for the other competitors, for the first time, the surfers from Hawaii have been training as a team this year.
Of course, the local surfers have their own insights into their monopoly of the longboard championship.
"Nowadays we have a lot of dedicated surfers going on to the circuit and competing," says defending champion Miranda.
"A few years ago, we didn't have anybody to express the longboard surfing for Hawaii. We saw an open door."
"We really train hard to make sure the title comes back to Hawaii," said Keaulana, a three-time world champion. "We're really proud to have the title, because we didn't have it for a long time."
One disadvantage for the Hawaii surfers is that few of them have ridden the waves at the contest site, 70 miles off the coast of Morocco on Fuerteventura Island, where the reefs attract the North Atlantic Ocean's booming winter swells.
Baxter has hypnotized himself watching a detailed video of the contest area, and he likes what he has seen. "It's a right and left peak that breaks on a reef. The right has a mushy flat section, then a bowly hollow section, then another flat section for more maneuvers.
"The left is like Ala Moana Bowl, hollow all the way through. It will be interesting how the judges score it, maneuvers on the rights versus barrels on the lefts. I'm encouraged that the rights have a real performance component. It suits my high performance surfing, just like Lower Trestles where I surf all the time."
DeSoto has surfed in the Canary Islands with his traveling partner and California competitor, Zack Howard, and although he has not ridden the waves at the Fuerteventura contest site, DeSoto likes what he has sampled elsewhere in the Canaries.
"They get awesome swells along that coast, they have some big waves," DeSoto says. "The water is cold, but not freezing."
Former world champion Perkins echoes a sentiment popular among the mainland and foreign surfers about the venue for this year's coronation contest. "It's much better when it's overseas. That way you have neutral ground, a neutral crowd, and no complaints."
In what may be a daunting foreshadowing for contestants eager to dethrone the Hawaii surfers, the Canary Islands are known in the surfing world as the Hawaii of the Atlantic for their big wintertime surf.
Even worse, the Hawaii boys are ready to kick okole.
"I'm dying to get the title back already," says Keaulana, who shocked the surfing world when he was narrowly ousted from last year's championship in his own back yard waves at Makaha.
"It's going to make me feel like I'm in Reunion (where he won the world title in 1995). I was focused, not too much stress, it was easier to relax."
DeSoto, meanwhile, is primed to win his first world title. "I have a high level of desire to be world champion. I'm really hungry for it. Last season I finished third, even though I wasn't really hungry to win it. It worked out perfectly. I wasn't ready to have the world title last year."
He will have to get past Miranda, who is definitely not tired of being the world champion.
"This year I feel really good, my weight is down, I'm in good shape. I want to keep my title," he said.
World Longboard
ChampionshipWhen: Nov. 20-29
