Kai Lenny wins again

[maui wave warrior]

The Sunset Pro saw a very close final with Kai just inching out his fellow competitor by .10 of a point when it was all said and done. Way to rip Kai!! So what makes Kai so good in the waves. Well on top of his experience and natural talent he is able to ride boards which are smaller and more maneuverable than most of his competitors because of his weight. Typically in small to medium surf he rides the Hokua 8' which is about as close to a prone short board as an SUP can get. It is narrow with very thin rails and not much flotation. Most riders can't even standup on the thing. With Kai's weight he is able to make it work and when you watch him in competition you can see the difference between him and the rest of the field. He hits the lip later, goes top to bottom more vertically, seems more fluid and can somehow make the sections that others are not able to. Great equipment coupled with awesome talent and you have a winning combination. Hats off again Kai!! Hope to see you on the water when your not traveling.

[trashinwb]

No disrespect to Kai, but I think his 8 in the semi's was over-scored. Kamaki Worthington was ripping. Either way, a close heat. Anyone who battled through the sheer variety of conditions, especially at Sunset, is a deserving champion.

[endlessfight]

^ i agree 8 was overscored, however i do think he got a better score then the 6.5 or whatever it was he needed to take 2nd. so in the end it wouldn't have mattered much. he did go all out and did some crazy critical turns, especially the last one on the closeout. i agree he is a cut above the rest though with his ability and style. pretty awesome to see how he rips a board that small

it was amazing the level of surfing in the finals. awesome to watch.

[VB]

I watched the contest last night online and I agree with Maui Wave Warrior a 100% on why Kai is ripping harder than anyone else.  It seems that the judges what to see a very progressive style of surfing vs. a more tradtional style (longboard type style).  Which I personally think makes for a more exciting contest to watch.  If SUP contests become just another version of a longboard contest, the competive side of SUP will not grow.  People want to see guys ripping on the waves.  So it seems the shortboard style and boards of SUP are the future of the competive side of the sport.          

[Beachbuddy]

Saw a guy, I think somewhere round 3,  doing a GREAT noseride on a double overhead sunset wave for good bunch of seconds, then another good turns in, only to be scored a 6 something.

I think they need to score for mixing things up, not just top to bottom turns, but add the noserides, slides etc into the scoring.

[jd]

Whatever explanation or excuses one wants to make just fails to take into account and minimizes Kai Lenny's great surfing ability.  All the surfing I watched, I didn't see more than a few turns by the other contestants that were anything like his.  Performance SUP surfing still has a ways to go before the "surfs like a shortboard" comments are actually reality. 

[tautologies]

also I think Lenny really scores on how he uses the whole wave, going from bottom all the way to the top. The wave he scored huge on in the semi he was really putting it out there..like someone with a good winner instinct will..when he makes his top turns his back leg is really extended putting the board horizontally on the wave. It is really radical for a SUP. In any case, I am no judge, but form the heats I saw the 4 best riders were in the finals.

Sure you might get 'advantage' reigning champ, but that is part of the game. Like any sport you have to beat the champ. In a draw the champ keeps his belt. :-)


Now I dunno exactly how they score the waves, but if you have a problem with the rules, that is one thing (and should be taken in a new thread). Either way I had so much fun watching, and it really inspired me.

In general I think all the different types of surfing is awesome to watch, and one of the huge advantages of SUP is that we have the opportunity to do them all..on the same board.

[trashinwb]

Nobody said Kai wasn't the best surfer in the final. I said I felt that his 8 in the semis was over scored based upon the scoring I had seen in the previous heats and rounds. That having been said, I don't know what criteria was set forth by the beach marshall and/or head judge, or if they use an ASP style 5 judge system (drop high and low scores) or a straight up 3 judge system. I'm assuming 5 judges.   Kai was the most progressive surfer riding the most progressive equipment. He was ripping and was rewarded for it.

Unless the board is straight up shortboard style, I see no problem utilizing every aspect of the board appropriately. Noseriding is very stylish, so are big hacks. There is a time and a place for each. Peyo Lizarazu, Bonga Perkins and Leco Salazar all demonstrated that. Antoinne Delperro, too. Kamaki Worthington. Zane Schweitzer and Robin Johnston seemed to favor the top to bottom shortboard approach , more or less.  It looked like Zane may have benefitted from a board more like Kai's.

A very entertaining contest, and a great start to the new contest season.

I just found the judging criteria on the standupworldtour.com website. It's an interesting read.  I found this interesting:
Judges will utilize a 75-25% ratio being that surfers will only ever get a maximum of 75% (7.5pts) of the scale for surfing only one aspect of Modern or Traditional, up to an additional 25% (2.5pts) can be added when the two aspects are combined. Incomplete maneuvers will not be rewarded.

I also like the bit about baton twirling not being rewarded much.

[808]

Performance SUP surfing still has a ways to go before the "surfs like a shortboard" comments are actually reality.  

I agree without wanting to show any disrespect because they all are great surfers. I think the equipment has further to go and really it looked like Kai was on the most progressive board and he won. To me it did not look much different than the good guys out at my local spot.  On the other hand, the guys at my local spot are not in front of a crowd with a time clock. I also live down the road from Sunset so their are good surfers all over. I like that their is so much room for improvement and excited to be able to watch it mature. I do think the surfing was better than last year. I did not know it was an open event. I am going to enter next year just to get to SUP at sunset with 3 other guys, although the trials were so big I probably would have given up my spot or wore a life jacket. Either way they are better surfers than me and I enjoyed watching and tried to learn a thing or too.

[maui wave warrior]

There are a lot of guys out there who totally rip in small to medium surf. To totally rip and push the limits in much larger surf really seperates the men from the boys as they say. I am probably a prime example of this. I have been told that I totally kill it in head high conditions. When I am out in the heavy stuff say double overhead everything changes. I pretty much just tuck and go. Way to much spped to do much on the face.  Kai on the other hand not only rips in small to medium suf but actually excells even more in the bigger stuff. When he is free surfing on SU out at some of the breaks I am at,  he is almost always deeper than anyone else and actually goes for some pretty serious turns and maneuvers on some massive sections. Personally I have not seen very many riders consistently pull off the moves in the heavier conditions as well as Kai.

[Strand Leper]

Didn't get to watch too much, but it seemed like Kai was using a pretty big blade.  Anyone else notice that.  Also, did anyone else notice the overall progression of the way that the boards were performing compared to last year?  Seemed pretty clear to me.

Tim

[SoCalSupper]

great comp and  fun to watch-but lets not kid ourselves-longboard contests-though stylish-are boring to watch unless you are a purist. And if youre a purist thats totally cool. Personally i like the short board style of SUP surfing-not that my suppin could ever be mistaken for shortboard style but lets face it-speed-big hacks-deep pits-vertical surfing is just flat out fun to watch-its exciting. Watching a kid like Kai or anyone else surf a SUP with reckless abandon and going for insane maneuvers is just freakin fun to watch-and it just inspires me to try to surf more like that. When its soft and rolly i like to try and get a little cheater five on my board-surf mellow-dance with the girl you brought. But when your girl shows up with leather pants on and has that look in her eye-yeah mellow goes bye-bye and its time to get freaky!
Square Dance or Slam Dance-yes its all dancing but one is just more fun!
Now get off the forum and go dance!!

[trashinwb]

Nice insight, SoCal. Maybe someone can shed some insight on what type of board Kai was riding on the final day of competition. It didn't look very big to me. It'll be interesting to watch his surfing progress as he "matures".   He appears to be on the spry (but well muscled, I'm sure, don't want to start another drama...) side. Pack 20 lbs of muscle on him and watch the power of his surfing go up exponentially.

[Smokey Carter]

Super fun to watch. Nice to see standup start doing webcasts.....I love the shortboard style but also think mixing styles work well....Notice Schweitzer had a couple of nose rides and turned them into big, gnarly, carving wrap arounds.....

Watch McPhillips or Tommy Lloy surf and they nose ride a ton but I'd say as much for set up as for style. Guys like that will start on the nose to get into a wave, walk it back and get over the fins for a big vertical  move off the lip......mixing both styles seamlessly.....that said, Kai's style is incredible. I love how he uses the paddle too.

Pretty sure he was on the Hokua series in the seven-foot range or so.....
http://www.naishsurfing.com/boards/hokua/
Might have had some personal modifications going.

 Another thing to think about is how light those boards are. Ever been on one? The windsurf companies definitely have the weight thing dialed.....

[maui wave warrior]

He was on the 8' Hokua the final day. Pretty much his board of choice in those type of conditions. If he adds 20 lbs of muscle then he may have to ride a larger board which may not perform quite as well as the 8'. But Kai can probably rip on a picnic table so it may not matter. I am very interested to see what he will be riding and how it will perform in a few years when he grows a bit. His Dad, who I know pretty well, is around 6' and 200lbs so if Kai follows after that side of the genes he will surely need to up size his board quiver in a few years.