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Monday, August 21, 2000
Kalahiki back in Danny Kalahiki may be a wave-stoked longboarder who tries to spend as much time in the water as he can, but he is in no way a single-minded surf bum.
longboard form
The Maui-based surfer is settled
into family life and again a force in
the Ocean Club series after a
victory in the South
Shore OpenBy Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinThe man has his priorities straight.
After spending most of last year with his wife and newborn daughter, as well as establishing himself at his new job as a chef at the Sheraton Maui, Kalahiki is once again competing regularly among the state's best professional longboarders. After poor results last year in the few events he did compete in, Kalahiki showed that he has regained his top form by winning the Hawaiian South Shore Open on Saturday at Kewalo Basin.
The professional division of the HSS Open -- the third of four events in the Hawaii Longboard Federation's Ocean Club Series -- concluded Saturday, while the amateur finals went off yesterday. The top finishers in the professional division after the four events qualify for the Oxbow World Longboard Championship to be held in Brazil in two months. The final event of the series will take place Sept. 2-3 at the Queen's break of Kuhio Beach.Kalahiki's victory propelled him near the top of the leader board for a spot in the world championship, though he is still undecided if he will go should he qualify.
"Last year I didn't have a chance to practice or surf too much because my wife and I had our first child and I was just starting my new career," Kalahiki said. "This year I'm coming on because my daughter is older now and she can come to the beach with my wife and I.
"I've been winning a few contests on Maui, but it feels good to be back on the podium with the big boys in the HLF again."
In 2- to 3-foot waves with occasional 4-foot sets, Kalahiki didn't catch as many waves as the other finalists, but he did catch the better ones.
Tucking into the barreling section of a wave and coming safely out of the pocket into the flats is one of the higher-scoring maneuvers in surf contests, and Kalahiki got one of the best barrel rides of the contest during the finals. Though conditions went from windy and messy to fairly clean as the day progressed, Kalahiki managed to consistently get barreled.Indeed, Kalahiki won every single heat he was in on his way to victory.
"Getting barreled and making all of my rides to the inside was the key," Kalahiki said. "Always the noserides, too -- gotta put one in there on every wave -- but the barrels are the big points in any surf meet. I happened to find one in every heat and that helped me out."
Sion Milosky finished a narrow second to Kalahiki, while Duane DeSoto -- still the overall HLF series professional division points leader -- went down in the quarterfinals for 13th.
The winds returned, blowing stiffly offshore when the amateur finals began yesterday. The big swell that had been predicted to hit did show early signs of its arrival, as the heats got started at 11 a.m. in 2- to 3-foot surf, but finished with 4- and even 5-foot sets pounding across the reef and into the channel.
The drops on the waves were steep and critical as the wahine, weekend warriors, those 225 pounds and up, and other amateurs reveled in some end- of-summer south shore juice.
Pinoi Makalena, three-time defending wahine division series champion, captured her second consecutive event this year with a victory in yesterday's finals.
The victory boosted Makalena into the ratings lead over Desiree DeSoto. DeSoto placed second after a first- and third-place finish, respectively, in the first two contests.
"It's a competition out there, but it's fun at the heart of it," Makalena said. "I want to beat Desiree and the others out there, but as soon as we get out of the water it's a different story. Then we're just a bunch of girls hanging out."