On Friday evening the Ecuadorian team hosted all of us at a hotel with a fabulous buffet, games, music for the kids and plenty of chances for interaction. Getting to know them was a joy.  There is a feeling from the heart that we in Hawaii call Aloha that they too share. Showing us pictures of amazing unridden surf spots, as well as a welcoming and invitation for us to all come back, from the heart. There is a surf magazine called Radical that features their surfers and secluded points and sandbars. They have very little additional coverage of the sport or their world team, which is sponsored by the local, state, and national government.  It is a fledgling sport in Ecuador with a huge upside because of their quality of waves.  Their goal is to build a program and get a surfer on the WCT within the next 8 years and have him or her gain a championship crown. The desire and natural resources are there, so is the talent potential.

The following morning, day seven found us with 7 surfers remaining and a first place position at sunrise.  We got to the beach early to secure shade and a prime position to see the waves at Podium One.  It was a day of many heats in the repercharge rounds, a few qualifying rounds to further the event as well as a two hour ALOHA CUP tag team competition. The surf was drastically to reduced to waist and shoulder high sets and up to 5 minute lulls.

The Repercharge for the boys under 16 had Keanu Asing continuing to light up the waves and his strong paddling and relentless hits continue to keep him in the mix.  Because he is in the repercharge it is keeping him totally in the game at all times with only one thing in mind: winning. The kid is an animal in heats and trains just as hard on land.  Keanu got thru three repercharge heats yesterday after remaining on the beach for close to 10 hours and he surfed his last wave of the day as relentless and powerful as his first wave ridden at 8:20am.

Kaimana Jaquias remained unbeaten in the very same division. He appears to be over his minor knee injury, as he further advances towards a championship crown.  In this division Kolohe Andino, and Davey Brand appear fine tuned and ready to give our boys a run for the trophy.

In the under 18 division we have one remaining surfer. Dylan Goodales advantage is that he too remains undefeated.  His backside hits remain crisp.  His wave selection is near perfect and his overall insight into what is needed to get thru heats keeps us continuously in the mix along with his constant flow on the waves.  Dylan advanced in his one heat of the day, and has a Sunday day of competition that could bring him and the team a crown.
Dylan will be facing some tough competitors including a French National champion, Nat Young of the United States and a Brazilian 17 year old who is highly ranked on the WQS,

Nage Melamed in the womens division was in a repercharge heat early at 9am , and captured 2nd place advancing to a heat that was to begin at 12:20.. then it was time for the qualifier women to surf with a rapidly rising tide.  In heat one at a peak 11am high tide of 7.6 feet, the waves backed off and meandered their way to shore and against the cliff.  Malia was in a heat with Laura Enever and Tyler Wright. And though Malia’s surfing was up to snuff, the waves were not.  And with just seconds to go Laura scored a wave that knocked Malia into the repercharge round.  She gathered her senses, her drive and emotion and was ready to continue her quest in the repercharge.

In the second heat the tide was still very high and so the judges added 5 minutes to the heat.  Leila and Alessa were in the heat together against a French rider who found herself at a major disadvantage after Leila scored a solid 7.5 within the first minute of the heat. Alessa was also able to put up some strong numbers and our two ladies in the qualifying round continued their quest into Sunday…unbeaten.

Because the tide was so high, the judges postponed the podium competition until 2pm, letting the Aloha Cup run its course instead.  With Hawaii not advancing in this tag team fun-filled event that features lots of additional action. 

The day was beginning to stretch. And the girls repercharge round 8 was held at 2:20 pm.  Malia was on fire.. scoring solid 8’s and 9’s and moving onto the next round scheduled for 6pm that evening.  Nage who had a 5 hour waiting period between heats was up next.  And after 5 minutes of no surf a set came that saw Janine Dupont and Courtney Conologue open with solid scores. Nage moved inside to where the other girls sat and then a set came to where she had been sitting. Some heats find motivated surfers somewhat frustrated..and her scores throughout the competiton reflected her strong hits and transitions but in this case for the next 15 minutes she never really got a wave of consequence. Nage finished her quest with a 6-2 record in her first experience of such stature.

Malia’s next heat in the repercharge featured Courtney Conologue and  Cannell Bullard from France.  Malia was inspired and animated and ready to rumble.  The waves were not however in her favor.  With  Cannell and Conologue scoring 8’s and 9’s and Malia making the most of waves that did not connect as well. By the end of the heat Malia returned to the beach with a final record of 7-2. 

Hawaii remains in first place going into the last day, with four unbeaten surfers and a highly charged Keanu Asing lurking in the repercharge round.  What will determine a crown for Hawaii will be how we fare leading up to and during the most crucial day in Hawaii’s history of this event. With the finals waiting for our surfers to act and react to what mother nature has to offer.