NoveNove Maui Aloha Classic
Day 5: Finals day sees Sarah Hauser and Kevin Pritchard triumph
The world’s best sailors took Ho’okipa to pieces again on finals day of the 2016 NoveNove Maui Aloha Classic as the sizeable swell and trade winds continued, although there were a more than a few victims along the way as Ho’okipa’s infamous rocks took more than its fair share of victims today, after not fulfilling their quota yesterday. After an intense set of finals, Kevin Pritchard (Starboard / Ezzy / MFC) and Sarah Hauser (Tabou / Simmer / MFC) sit proudly at the top of the vent rankings after the single elimination. Women’s Sarah Hauser used her big wave knowledge and experience to her maximum advantage today as she consistently selected the biggest waves she could find, while effortlessly negotiating her way back out, which as the downfall of many others today with the channel frequently closing out. The New Caledonian beauty combined stylish bottom turns with fluid top turns to earn wave scores of 8.5 and 6.38 points to earn victory in the single elimination and she was clearly delighted with her efforts — as this also puts her on course to win the AWT title. Japan’s Junko Nagoshi secured second place on the podium as she consistently attacked the lip to be rewarded with two 7 point waves by the judges, while her fellow compatriot Motoko Sato (Starboard / Severne) completed the top four. Top seed, Fiona Wylde (Starboard / Sailworks) won her semifinal in style, but after a bright start to the final, things, unfortunately, ended sourly with the 19-year-old landing an aerial awkwardly, which resulted in three broken bones in her foot. Wylde has finished the last two seasons in second place and even after sustaining a serious injury she stills currently holds third place. Everyone from the PWA would like to wish Fiona a speedy recovery. Men’s Kevin Pritchard produced a buzzer-beater in the semifinals to book his place in the final at the expense Kai Lenny (Naish / Naish Sails / MFC) by just quarter of a point. Pritchard looked to initially struggle slightly with wave selection in the semifinal but got things together just in the nick of time with his last two waves to advance. In the final KP continued to consistently pick out the biggest bombs he could find and with his timing now he in sync he unleashed several trademark super late hits off the lip to keep himself firmly in contention. The 40-year-old saved his best wave until his penultimate effort as he opened with two raking turns before tweaking a sick aerial, before jamming another solid hack in the pocket to earn 9.45 points, which saw him overtake Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) and with almost no time to respond KP earned a hard-fought victory in the single elimination as his fearless approach paid off. Marcilio Browne finished second in the final, which now means the Brazilian is guaranteed third place in the overall rankings as he leapfrogs Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) and Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses). Browne almost earned a perfect score in the final after landing a massive aerial straight into a gouging rail turn, but couldn’t quite sail away from an air taka to complete the wave. The 2013 world champion was leading for much of the heat, but was unable to put the contest to bed with a couple of air game crashes off the end bowl, which left him vulnerable and with 6 minutes to go Pritchard turned the tables. However, Brawzinho will still be delighted with his efforts and still has a shot at the Aloha Classic title in the double elimination. Browne also wins the award for wipe out of the day after almost replicating Boujmaa Guilloul's emergency exit yesterday. Levi Siver’s (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing / MFC) day began less than ideally as he broke a mast on his opening wave in the semifinal after bouncing out on his bottom turn and getting sucked over the falls on a set wave. Luckily for the American, Diony Guadagnino (AHD / Loft Sails / MFC) was on hand, as he has so many times over the last four days, to supply Siver with a new set of gear and the American soon responded with a 9.43 point wave as he combined a vert snap in the pocket before stalling and waiting for the wave to steepen up again before executing a perfect frontside 360. Siver went on to win his semifinal before finishing third in the single elimination. Bernd Roediger (Naish / Naish Sails / MFC) was in superb form in the semifinals and he opened his account with one of the waves of the day as he linked two slashy cutty’s straight into a textbook goiter to earn 9.43 points, which set the 20-year-old firmly on the road to winning the second semifinal. In the final, Roediger, made another flying start as he quickly racked up a 9 point wave after linking two or three snappy turns before somehow wrestling a goiter free of the whitewater when it looked for all the world as though he should crash. Over the remainder of the heat, Roediger didn’t look quite as relaxed as he had done throughout the contest and seemed to try and force the issue a little more and eventually finished the single in 4th place. Double Elimination After a one heat break, the men’s double elimination began and the first four heats were completed. Josh Angulo (Angulo / S2Maui) was the standout sailor in the opening heat as he earned two waves in the excellent range with a combination of ultra late hits off the lip and aerials. In the same heat, Loick Lesauvage (Goya Windsurfing / Shamal Sunglasses) was unlucky as after a strong first wave the 16-year-old got caught out on the inside and with no immediate caddy he, unfortunately, ended up on the rocks. Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) won Heat 25 ahead of Julien Taboulet (Goya Windsurfing / MFC). For a while there was some discrepancy of an interference by Martin against Zane Schweitzer (Starboard), but after much discussion it eventually led to nothing and Martin and Taboulet will now face the legendary figures of Jason Polakow (JP / NeilPryde) and Robby Naish (Naish / Naish Sails) in the next round after they safely passed through Heat 26 Meanwhile, Bryan Metcalf-Perez (JP / S2Maui) claimed a comprehensive victory in Heat 27, while Kevin McGillivray (Tabou / GA Sails) claimed the remaining qualifying place in the next round despite his board and rig separating. The wind and waves are set to continue tomorrow and the skippers’ meeting will once again be held at 10am with the action commencing from 11am (GMT-10) onwards. Make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to follow all of the epic action as it happens via the PWA live stream. To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Maui — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Result Women’s Single Elimination Maui Aloha Classic: 1st Sarah Hauser (Tabou / Simmer / MFC Hawaii) 2nd Junko Nagoshi (Goya Windsurfing) 3rd Fiona Wylde (Starboard / Sailworks) 4th Motoko Sato (Starboard / Severne) 5th Ingrid Larouche (Fanatic / Ezzy) 5th Alice Arutkin (Fanatic / NorthSails) Result Men’s Single Elimination Maui Aloha Classic: 1st Kevin Pritchard (Starboard / Ezzy / MFC) 2nd Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) 3rd Levi Siver (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing / MFC) 4th Bernd Roediger (Naish / Naish Sails / MFC) 5th Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX) 5th Kai Lenny (Naish / Naish Sails / MFC) 7th Morgan Noireaux (JP / Hot Sails Maui) 7th Graham Ezzy (Tabou / Ezzy) 9th Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) 9th Camille Juban (Quatro / Simmer / MFC) 9th Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) 9th Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC)