Contest News - Tandem Hawaii

33rd Annual Buffalo's Big Board Surfing Classic – February 21-22, 2009

MAKAHA, Hawaii (Sunday, February 22, 2009) - In fickle two-feet surf conditions at Makaha Beach, Chuck Inman and Tiffany Rabacal advanced for the first time in three years of competition to the Finals of the famed Buffalo's Big Board Surfing Classic. The long-running, community-oriented contest is well known in the surfing world for its diversity of events - some of which happen nowhere else in the world. This year's contest included 15 events with unique categories showcasing wave-riding skils such as bully boarding (picture a giant boogie board), team bodysurfing, tandem surfing, canoe surfing, paipo boarding, and this year's newest division, alaia boarding.

To get to the Finals, Chuck and Tiffany had to beat ouf Makaha's own Duane Desoto and Ha'a Keaulana in their Semi-Final heat. This was no small task since the Buffalo does not follow the usual International Tandem Surfing Association rules and instead highly favors surfing over lift difficulty, which was a big advantage for Duane and Ha'a since they had just paired together and were relying more on Duane's winning waterman skills than technical lifting.

Chuck and Tiffany surfed strongly in a stacked Final heat catching a total of five waves back-to-back in the allotted 20-minutes and rode three of them all the way to the beach, doing lifts from start to finish. Also joining them in the heat were two other previous World Champions and a well-respected waterman and lifeguard from Makaha. Kalani and Ala Vierra (Kauai) surfed well in the Final and as usual put up a solid sequence of lifts consistently on their waves. Brian and Kathy (Makaha) caught their share of waves and surfed well, but struggled with some of their lifts. Mel Pu'u and Nani Kealoha (Makaha), opted to sit on the outside waiting for the larger sets, but didn't surf as well as in the Semi-Final where they really excelled.

In the end, the results were as can be predicted on the Westside with Mel & Nani coming in first, Brian & Kathy finishing second, Kalani & ala third, and Chuck & Tiffany in fourth. Even though the order of the results were a bit puzzling to most, Chuck and Tiffany made it to the Finals at last. Yay!!!

For more details on the contest, check out their blog post.

ITSA/ISA World Title – August 20-23, 2008 (Press Release)

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Saturday, August 23, 2008) – In front of a cheering hometown crowd at Waikiki Beach, Quiksilver/Roxy team-riders Chuck Inman and Tiffany Rabacal (Honolulu) became the International Surfing Association (ISA) Tandem Surfing World Champions after winning the International Tandem Surfing Association (ITSA)/ISA World Title of Tandem Surfing presented by the Waikiki Sandbox Bar.

Inman and Rabacal defeated runners-up Rico Leroy and Sarah Burel (Lacanau, France) in a tense 30-minute final to secure their first world crown together and the $1200 first prize. Coming in third for the second consecutive year was 2006’s world champions, Brian Keaulana and Kathy Terada (Makaha) who even after 20+ years of surfing together have still maintained their competitive edge by learning new and difficult lifts each year. Rounding out fourth place was the married team of Clay and Kristen Huntington (Dana Point, CA) whose hard work over the past year earned them a spot on the podium.

The final scores, based on each team’s top two scoring rides, had Rabacal/Inman on 16.85 points (17.00, 16.70), Leroy/Burel on 15.83 (16.81, 14.85), Keaulana/Terada on 14.35 (16.30, 12.41), and Huntington/Huntington on 12.17 (13.52, 10.81).

"Each team comes to the table with their individual strengths,” said Inman. “We have an idea of what everyone is capable of and it's just a matter of pushing harder and polishing our overall look to give us the best opportunity to perform when it counts."

Inman and Rabacal remained undefeated throughout the contest and were nearly flawless in the final putting together smooth bottom turns and risky cutbacks in overhead lifts while still managing to dismount cleanly on the board each time.

“We knew going into the final that it was going to come down to wave selection, surfing and quick lift transitions in order to beat Rico and Sarah,” said Rabacal. “”We’ve really concentrated on our surfing this past year and spent countless hours in the gym training and learning new lifts.”

Surf for the final was small at only one- to two-feet and inconsistent at best, which left teams scratching for waves when sets finally did roll through and playing the inside towards the end of the heat. Inman and Rabacal train in all conditions 300+ days a year, mostly on the same home break in Waikiki, so they were prepared.

"The small wave conditions pushed each team to execute their routine as quickly and efficiently as possible,” explained Inman. Our training and preparation gave us an edge. We practice for all types of situations."

Inman and Rabacal placed second at last year’s world championships and were highly favored as one of the teams to win this year.

“After coming so close last year, it makes winning the title this year all that much sweeter,” said Rabacal. “So many people told us that this was going to be our year and to be able to pull it off in front of our friends and family is absolutely amazing. Can you believe it? We’re World Champions!”

The ITSA/ISA World Title of Tandem Surfing was part of the 2008 Duke’s OceanFest, a celebration of surfing and water sports tradition inspired by legendary waterman Duke Kahanamoku. The ITSA/ISA World Title of Tandem Surfing is one of more than a dozen stops on the ITSA World Tandem Tour and is a single event world championship that is by far the most prestigious and highly contested title in the sport. This year it attracted more than 24 qualifying teams from around the world including Hawaii, California, Florida, France, and Costa Rica competing for the $3000 prize purse.

RESULTS: Teams listed in order of placing, first through fourth. Top 2 advance from each heat.
FINAL:
1st - $1200 – Chuck Inman/Tiffany Rabacal (HAW) – 16.85 points
2nd - $900 – Rico Leroy/Sarah Burel (FRA) – 15.83 points
3rd - $600 – Brian Keaulana/Kathy Terada (HAW) – 14.35 points
4th - $300 – Clay Huntington/Kristen Huntington (USA) – 12.17 points

Semi-Finals:
H1: Chuck Inman/Tiffany Rabacal (HAW); Clay Huntington/Kristen Huntington (USA); Brian McEvilly/Illa McEvilly (USA); Pauly Chambers/Karin Rushforth (CR)
H2: Rico Leroy/Sarah Burel (FRA); Brian Keaulana/Kathy Terada (HAW); Kalani Vierra/Ala Vierra (HAW); Ryan Reynolds/Jennifer Reynolds (USA)

Quarter-Finals:
H1: Chuck Inman/Tiffany Rabacal (HAW); Ryan Reynolds/Jennifer Reynolds (USA); Melvin Pu’u/Leimomi Pu’u (HAW)
H2: Pauly Chambers/Karin Rushforth (CR); Brian Keaulana/Kathy Terada (HAW); Archie Kalepa/Jaime Funakoshi (HAW)
H3: Rico Leroy/Sarah Burel (FRA); Brian McEvilly/Illa McEvilly (USA); Bear Woznick/Krystl Apeles (HAW)
H4: Kalani Vierra/Ala Vierra (HAW); Clay Huntington/Kristen Huntington (USA); Scotty Perez/Shannon O’neill (HAW)

Round 1:
H1: Chuck Inman/Tiffany Rabacal (HAW); Pauly Chambers/Karin Rushforth (CR); Charlie Christensen/Myra Burg (USA); Bobby Friedman/Tiare Friedman (HAW)
H2: Brian Keaulana/Kathy Terada (HAW); Ryan Reynolds/Jennifer Reynolds (USA); Bret Reinieg/Emilee Sutton (USA); Jim Wilson/Angela Amaro (HAW)
H3: Archie Kalepa/Jaime Funakoshi (HAW); Melvin Pu’u/Leimomi Pu’u (HAW); Mark Gale/Debbie Gale (USA); Christian Bartsch/Amy (HAW)
H4: Rico Leroy/Sarah Burel (FRA); Scotty Perez/Shannon O’neill (HAW); Jason Lusk/Lena Yada (USA); Luis Mejia/Asia Carpenter (USA)
H5: Kalani Vierra/Ala Vierra (HAW); Bear Woznick/Krystl Apeles (HAW); Carlos Martinez/Erin Sulkey (HAW); Keith Diama/Racquel (HAW)
H6: Clay Huntington/Kristen Huntington (USA); Brian McEvilly/Illa McEvilly (USA); Jim Moore/Anna Manuel (HAW); Kirk/Destiny (USA)

Noosa Festival of Surfing – March 3-9, 2008

The Noosa Festival of Surfing in Queensland, Australia was the first stop on the 2008 ITSA World Tandem Tour (WTT) and a 3* event according to the ITSA’s new ranking system. After experiencing last year’s great surf, gorgeous venue and Aussie hospitality, we eagerly anticipated returning to visit friends and ride the classic longboard waves at First Point. All four of the top finishers on last year's WTT were there to contend in Noosa and everyone was excited to do well. Our first place seeding was a big confidence booster, too!

This year the surf was extremely small for the majority of the contest and surfing backside on ankle snappers at the right point break proved tricky for us during the quarter finals. It was a bit nerve wracking waiting for the results to be announced due to our sub par performance and uncharacteristic falls, but it turned out that we easily won our heat against Eric & Ophelie (FRA) and Simon & Nicole (AUS). Our semi final heat pitted us against the legendary Brian & Kathy (HAW) and Dan & Sacha (AUS), but this time we were better able to negotiate the waves and post much improved scores that got us another heat win.

The day of finals brought a welcome surprise as we were greeted in the morning by the sound of breaking surf and lines of waist-high waves rolling through First Point. We were encouraged by the new incoming swell and had high hopes for our final heat despite changes being made to the ITSA lift chart just a day before the contest, which created a mathematical disadvantage for us to win. Several last minute tweaks were made to our lift sequences to improve our difficulty and our beach warm up went well.

As we made our way down to the beach to paddle out for the final heat with Brian & Kathy and Rico & Sarah, we were all concerned about Kalani & Ala since they still had not shown up to check in. We later found out that they were stuck in traffic and after hearing on the radio about the start of the tandem final, jumped out of their car and ran all the way to the contest site. From where we were waiting in the water next to the line up, we could see Kalani sprinting down the beach with his board and little Ala running as fast as she could to keep up. They paddled out just in time to make the horn and happened to turn and catch the first wave of the heat!

All four teams did well during the final and put on a great show for the spectators on the beach who had crowded around to watch one of the more anticipated heats of the day. We pulled off one of our difficult sequences (Arabesque, Front Arch Split, Americano, Flat, Back Angel), but weren’t able to put together a highly valued second wave (only a Star, Shoulder Stand, One Leg Shoulder Stand, Knee Stand). It was a solid showing, so we expected decent scores.

Our final scores were extremely disappointing when we saw that they were almost a third lower than what we had posted during the semi finals. Turns out that the ITSA head judge threw out literally half of our lifts in the final declaring them not held long enough to be validated. The frustrating issue that we often face is that the “three second rule” is often times subjective. Lifts that we definitely held long enough were thrown out while questionably timed lifts were counted. Brian & Kathy were also penalized similarly and surprised that some of their lifts were thrown out, too. We later heard from inside sources that the judge had possibly missed part or all of one of our waves and had written in scores afterwards. Final results were Rico & Sarah in first, Kalani & Ala a close second, Brian & Kathy third, and Chuck & I fourth.

Although we had hoped for better results, we enjoyed being in Noosa with new and old friends, soaked in the great surf vibe of the contest and actively participated in the different surf related events and clinics. We also had a great time getting accustomed to media exposure and were fortunate to be interviewed live on the radio on Queensland’s Zinc 96.1 and on camera for an upcoming episode of Getaway (a popular national Australian travel show). We also got a half-page spread in the sports section of The Courier-Mail (Brisbane’s largest circulating newspaper)! Like the headline sponsor of the Noosa Festival of Surfing says, “Life is better when you surf” -Global Surf Industries.