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AlohaClassic -day6
13th November – day 6
On the penultimate day of competition at Ho’okipa the battle for improved positions in the wave contest continued.
The opening heat of the day was a crucial one for Nik Baker K-66 (Mistral, North). After entering the Chilli Aloha Classic in second place overall Nik has to win through to the finals of the double elimination in order to recover his position in the PWA Wave Rankings.
Nik suffered some bad luck before the competition begun. During the warm up his foot slipped out of the footstrap leaving Nik with a twisted knee. Despite this he sailed a winning heat and advanced to the next round.
Nik: ”I did what I knew I needed to. I wasn’t going to push it and knew it was going to be tough. On the last wave I just gave it all I had and figured I had nothing to loose.”
In his next heat Nik faced a challenge from Kevin Pritchard US-3 (Bic,Gaastra) who selected two of the biggest waves of the heat and made some smooth bottom turns with high gliding aerials into the critical section. Nik also found good waves to count sailing through the pain, lining himself up on the first bottom turn and cranking several tight cutbacks ahead of the white water. Micah Buzianis US-34 (Drops, North) also caught at least one good sized wave but was less fortunate in his selection and was left with far fewer options as waves lost there power and closed out on him. Pritchard and Baker advanced dispatching Buzianis and Jesse Brown USA-55 (RRD).
Kai Katchadourian US-33 (Simmer) sailed with the rhythm expected from the drum playing Californian.
Kai:” In the heat against Levi Siver and Sierra Emory I told myself before I went out that I was going to get two good set waves and that’ just what I went out and did. I know Alex (Aguera) caught about eight waves and I guess my strategy of picking good waves and concentrating on good turns paid off. In a fifteen minute set your going to get maybe four waves that are considerably bigger than the others are. They are the ones you have to pick.
” The moves that seem to score are the carving turns with a really vertical bottom turn and wrapping it all the way round. In a wave riding contest its back to basics. Right now I couldn’t be happier. I’m looking for a position in the top eight for the year and I’ll be calling Mum tonight!”
Scott Fenton KZ-1 (Gaastra) had a good day and looked fluid on the face of the waves.
Scott:” I’m feeling better than I did on previous days and think I’ve finally got my act together. I’m feeling comfortable and spent some time out there on the water this morning and got in sync with the wave patterns. I know that if I get two good waves in the heat then I can rip harder than anyone else. I’m still in there!”
In the women’s contest Junko Nagoshi J-11set off to a flying start and made it through with Keala Bryant HI-14 (Simmer) who dominated wave selection to advance.In the next heat Anick Foster KC-96 (Naish) rode with style and wasted no time in her transitions between waves, picking up two waves very close to each other. However it was Jenny Kay Ellefson US-129 and Tomoko Okazaki J-8 that advanced.
Jenny Kay: ” I didn’t feel like I had good wave rides and spent a bit of time down by the rocks. I wasn’t confident that I’d made it through so I’m not sure what I did to win.”
With one day to go there is still a chance that the second round will be completed. If not then there is already a result to fall back on. The same situation exists in racing and the final day of the Chilli Aloha Classic will now deliver results for the event and overalls for the season in both wave and race disciplines. The superb wave riding conditions have made this a fantastic event with truly memorable performances.
Currently Francisco Goya A-211 (Fanatic, Arrows) leads in the contest and holds the overall wave title. Kevin Pritchard US-3 (Bic,Gaastra) leads in the racing and also has a good wave performance to keep him in the overall top spot, combining the two disciplines. Twelve time overall champion Bjorn Dunkerbeck E-11 (F2, Neil Pryde) is still one of the most consistent performers in the contest with a third in race and fourth in waves.
In the women’s contest Daida Moreno E-64 (Mistral,North) still has a chance to take the event title and currently sits in the top overall spot for waves. Lucienne Ernst H-444 (Mistral,Arrows) has a lead in the overall race and is leading in the contest on the final day.
With champions waiting in the wings there is still a chance of some upsets tomorrow before titleholders are announced and the end of season party begins.
All the latest news from the Chilli Aloha Classic can be viewed on http://www.world-windsurfing.com together with pictures from Ho’okipa.
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