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Beachboy surfing goes high performance and extra large EVENT: QuiksilverEdition Ku Ikaika Challenge Presented by C4 Waterman and Red Bull DATE: Feb. 14, 2008 LOCATION: Makaha Point CONDITIONS: 6- to 15-foot and epic Garrett McNamara walked up the hot sand from the water’s edge with his 10-foot signature model stand up paddleboard balanced perfectly on his shoulder. He walked under the twisted low branches of the trees on the beach and chucked his board in the sand like it was a seven-pound shortboard. “Does anyone have any resin? My leash plug pulled out,” he asked indiscriminately to the other competitors and spectators hanging around, watching the action and waiting for their heat. Garrett had just come in from his second heat, where he took first with one huge wave, and a solid score, under his belt. He spent most of the heat swimming for his board after the leash plug blew out. “Garrett needs some resin. Does anyone have any resin?” the announcer’s voice boomed over the PA system. Garrett fidgeted with the plug and looked out at Makaha, where 10-foot walls of water raced across the bay. Brian Keaulana dropped into the first wave of his heat, dwarfed by the whitewater trailing just behind his paddle. He was jamming down the line mid-face, like he was riding a Sunset gun, not a stand up paddle board. Although the swell had peaked earlier that morning at 15-foot, the big-wave chargers and watermen who braved the warping rights on their stand up paddleboards were stoked to have six- to ten-foot waves for the inaugural Ku Ikaika Challenge, the world’s first big-wave stand up paddle surfing event. Competitors from Hawai‘i, Tahiti, California and Australia converged upon the idyllic shores of Makaha to compete and honor the break's heritage of legendary surfers and watermen. Ku Ikaika, the name of this big-wave event, means to stand strong and is named after the non-profit foundation established by C4 Waterman to benefit the youth and the Junior Lifeguard Foundation on the West Side. So being good role models, the competitors definitely stood strong in the grinding rights, pushing each other deeper and deeper up the point. This made for some extremely long rides, huge floaters over triple overhead sections and few closeouts on the head. Aaron Napoleon, the oldest competitor in the final at 41, charged through five rounds to win the all-Hawaiian final and $4,000. It was a close contest and Keoni Keaulana was right on his heels the entire heat, but Napoleon kept coming through with the biggest and most critical waves, drawing a high line across huge expanses of the racing wall. —KW QuiksilverEdition Ku Ikaika Challenge Presented by C4 Waterman and Red Bull Results: 1) Aaron Napoleon, $4,000 2) Keoni Keaulana, $350 3) Ikaika Kalama, $350 4) Kamu Auwae, $350
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