A big thanks to Reid Inouye for emailing over this release and the photos:
(above) Gmac misses it, Bonga Perkins gets his winning wave
Three way traffic at Sunset, Bonga Perkins with right of way
Runner up Ikaika Kalama who earlier in the day escaped the Banzai axe
Jamie Mitchell from Australia, 3rd place
Paddle Core Fitness winner Bonga Perkins getting a fun workout
Bonga Perkins Wins Paddle Core Fitness Pro Presented By Hard Rock Cafe
At Sunset Beach
All images Allen Mozo/ Mozophoto.com
January 19th, 2008
Sunset Beach, Hawaii-
Bonga Perkins from Haleiwa took down a final of international big wave
riders on eighteen to twenty five foot westerly peaks at Sunset Beach
to claim the first ever Paddlecorefitness.com stand up surfing event
on the north shore of Oahu.
In a final which also featured Hawaiian SUP Pipe specialist Ikaika
Kalama, tow and big wave specialist Garrett McNamara and Australian
paddle board champion Jamie Mitchell, Perkins' knowledge for the break
and impeccable timing, got him the perfect wave and an 8.5 score to
move past the field of waterman in the 30 minute final.
"It was so hard out there," said Perkins, "the wind was howling as we
were trying to get down the faces and it just kept blowing us back up
the wave."
Proof of that was GMac as he was a quarter way down one of the large
twenty-five foot waves and got completely blown backwards allowing
Perkins to get a big score.
"I buckled my heavier board at Maverick's and was riding a lighter
board so it was so hard to drop down the faces. But this gave us an
idea of what it's like when those big peaks come in and the wind's
howling. I kept thinking, I wish I had my heavier the whole time,"
explained a stoked McNamara.
For Jaime Mitchell, the waterman from down under picked off five
inside 15 foot faces but couldn't muster enough points to amount any
kind of solid lead.
Finishing runner up to Perkins was Ikaika Kalama who earlier in the
day, escaped a death defying guillotine at the Banzai Pipeline when he
took off at the break on a twenty foot wave that just shut down on his
9'2" Paddle Surf Hawaii during peak low tide, narrowly missing some
serious career injuring knee injuries and his runner up board at
Sunset.
Said Kalama, "I'm so lucky man. So close to getting hurt at Pipe and
now surfing some gnarly Sunset. But I had fun out there. Four guys in
the final and big Sunset. What a day and completely unscathed."
Paddlecorefitness.com Results:
1st- Bonga Perkins, Haleiwa, Hawaii $500
2nd-Ikaika Kalama, Waialua, Hawaii
3rd-Jamie Mitchell, Australia
4th--Garrett McNamara, Sunset Beach, Hawaii
About Paddle Core Fitness LLC
Paddle Core Fitness is the premier flat water stand up paddle workout
company in Hawaii which teaches the health and fitness lifestyle in
Hawaiian waters through stand up paddling. Established in October 2007
Paddle Core Fitness launches five locations throughout the islands in
May 2008 including Oahu, Big Island, Maui and Kauai.
Paddle Core Fitness' goal is to get you stoked in the water while
getting a cardio-toned workout.
Live the lifestyle of a true Hawaiian waterman. Coming to a waterway near you.
For more information, go to: Www.Paddlecorefitness.com