• Pu‘uwai season ends with strong finish
• Irons beaten in WCT first round
Pu‘uwai season ends with strong finish
The women of Pu‘uwai Canoe Club based at the Wailua River closed their season on a high note as they finished 22nd in a field of 72 at the 25th “Na Wahine O Ke Kai” recently.
Competing in the Open division, the wahine finished 22nd overall while the women of Kawaikini Canoe Club assisted the Senior Master Pu‘uwai crew to a second place finish in their division.
Pu‘uwai also entered two teams in the Queen Lili‘uokalani 18-mile long distance race, finishing 12th and 33rd out of a field of 100 teams.
Members of the Pu‘uwai Canoe Club are honored to perpetuate the ancient sport of outrigger canoe paddling and encourage new members to join them at Wailua River.
Pu‘uwai wahine crew members include Laura Anderson, Ilikea Handley, Joanne Woltman, Pamela Phillips, Carol Havens, Teri Kolder, Sarah Newton, Midge Hoorwood, Christine Bandsma, Julie Hale, Beth Sharp, and Franki Hudson.
Don Moomay, Kalani Dawson, and Brian Carter are the coaches.
For more information, contact Brian Curll at 635-6311.
Irons beaten in WCT first round
MUNDAKA, Euskadi, Spain — Andy Irons, defending Billabong Pro Mundaka winner and reigning world champion was defeated by Phil MacDonald of Australia in the first round elimination.
The $250,000 World Championship Tournament started Tuesday morning and ran through 10 heats before conditions forced an overnight postponement.
Irons, who claimed his fourth WCT of the year in France last week, got an early lead in the crucial heat, continuing to catch smaller rides that ultimately closed out and allowed little room for maneuvers.
Billabong USA wildcard Nathan Yeomans was able to find a great set wave and lock in the top score for an 8.0 before MacDonald found some good waves and floated his way to a narrow victory in good 4-5 foot surf that was the offering for the early heats.
Light onshore winds increased and messed up the lineup before higher tides returned to virtually stop the waves from breaking as Irons continued to search for the 6.17 score he needed.
Irons didn’t catch another good wave until seconds after the siren sounded, launching a huge aerial and breaking his favorite surfboard on landing to add more insult to his poor result.
“The waves were terrible on the low tide, and it was pretty much a closeout,” Irons said. “There were a couple of waves, but frontsiders definitely had the advantage. Nathan caught a wave from the outside, but I sat wide and couldn’t get over a four – pretty much a bad heat.”
“I’m sure Kelly (Slater) or Taj (Burrow) will win now,” he added. “It will make it exciting, but for me it’s a bummer. I’ll just have to shake it off and look forward to Brazil (next WCT).”
