DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
South Shore Open pro division winner Joey Valentin was congratulated by Rabbit Kekai yesterday at Waikiki Beach.
Valentin wins
at ‘home’
Veteran professional longboarder Joey Valentin has won more than a few contests in his career.
But it wasn't until yesterday that the Honolulu resident finally won a pro event in Waikiki, where he first learned to surf.
With a large swell hitting Oahu's South Shore and waves in the 8- to 16-foot face range, Valentin placed first and took home $600 for besting 31 other pros at the Hawaiian South Shore Open at the Queen's break of Kuhio Beach.
"The waves were very good for us to perform," Valentin, 34, said. "I've been surfing out here since I was a little kid. First time I won a pro event in Waikiki, so it feels really good. Winning a professional event at the place where I learned and grew up at -- it doesn't get better than that."
The South Shore Open was the first of five events in the 2003 Hawaiian Longboard Federation series. All competitors ride boards nine feet and longer, and the contest ends today with the finals of 12 amateur divisions.
Valentin, a former series overall champion, has won both contests he's entered this year. The first win came at the Quiksilver Makahiki event at Makaha three months ago.
Valentin said he practiced at Queen's heavily in the weeks leading up to the contest. Also important, according to Valentin, was that he was the only goofy-footed surfer (right foot forward) in the final and could face the waves when they broke left -- the predominant direction yesterday.
"I had a bit of an advantage with the knowledge of the set-up (of how the waves would break); I'm sure that came into play," Valentin said. "At the same time, the other (finalists) were regular-foots and I was the only goofy-foot. So I may have stood out a little different from them, may have caught the judges' eye."
Valentin totaled 17.2 points out of 20 for his top two scoring rides in the final. He routinely executed deep carves in the pocket of the wave and long noserides, and even managed a two-second barrel ride near the end of the 30-minute heat.
In the semifinals, Valentin scored a near-flawless 19 points, including a perfect 10 for one of his waves.
Nanakuli's Kekoa Auwae, 18, finished in second place in the final, his best career HLF series result.
"Everybody was ripping out there," he said. "I just decided to try and wait for the good sets, and try and pick it up and surf it all the way in (to shore). The waves were really good out there."
Ned Snow, of Diamond Head, took third, and 22-year-old Scotty Fong Jr., of Kapahulu, fourth. On his way to the final four, Snow, only 17, took down some of the biggest names in the event, including former world champion Bonga Perkins and former South Shore Open winner Kekoa Uemura.
"I just went out there, didn't fall, had good wave selection, pulled off the maneuvers," Snow said. "It just goes to show that anyone can win on any given day."
The next HLF event will be the Kewalos Kup at Kewalo Basin, June 21-22.
