SUP at Makaha (heavy pics and text)

General Discussion
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This past weekend was the 2nd annual BRADA MEL’S Canoe Surfing Championship benefit for Makaha friend Leighton Look who is very sick and may not be with us much longer and also for the late Big Rich’s kids… Another Makaha son who passed away a few months ago… A very emotional weekend for the family of Makaha…

Mel Puu and his family and friends put on a very cool contest for us and they also have a SUP surfing division. Almost 40 SUP competitors from all islands arrived at Makaha Saturday to see flat conditons so Mel had us having some fun doing relay races… We all had a blast and some good laughs…

Sunday the waves came up a little so the contest was on. The beach was packed with canoe competitors, media, photographers etc… The heat sheets were packed with talent. It was so hard to advance and some heats had long lulls. I have to admit that I was kinda intimidated by the caliber of surfers to surf against… I was in the first heat and I was lucky or unlucky (depending how you look at it) to have Titus Kinimaka from Kauai in my heat among others. Lucky because I get to watch him rip up close and unlucky because he’s ripping and were both trying to advance… We both got some decent waves and I was lucky enough to win that heat.

It was nice to go first because I got to watch everyone else tear it up and relax for the next heats… Highlights were watching, Leleo Kinimaka, Dave Parmenter, Brian Kealana, Bonga Perkins, Archie Kalepa, Rusty Keaulana, Todd Bradley, Dave Kalama, Nolan Keaulana, Titus Kinimaka etc, etc, etc just rip it up and do things that had the beach oooing and ahhhing the whole time… Even though the waves were so small everyone there was in agreement that what they were witnessing was the absolute state of the art SUP surfing. I saw sooo many radical turns, sick nose rides, helicopters, fin first take offs etc… I can just imagine how it would of been with real waves… Nobody was doing fluff paddle spins, just hardcore surfing… It was game on and only good surfing advanced… In the end it was 1st-Bonga Perkins, 2nd Brian Keaulana, 3rd Leleo Kinimaka, 4th Keone Keaulana, 5th Dave Parmenter, 6th Dave Kalama, 7th Me, 8th Craig Davidson, 9th Nolan Keaulana.

Here’s some pics of the fun weekend… (sorry about the quality of the pics I took with my little digi camera) Plenty professional pictures will arise later…

Contest director and Makaha beach boy Mel Puu. This guy is a bull!

Mel on the outside and a peeler on the inside…

Dave Kalama

Dave K bottom turning on the inside…

Dave K noseride…

Bonga’s fancy footwork… He had some big powerful turns but they came out all blurry… Oh well…

Archie Kalepa

Brian Keaulana

Big turn in the afternoon sun…

Brian on the inside…

Surfer Magazine editor Chris Mauro having fun…

Chris after his heat…

Dave Parmenter on his old 10’-6" board. He still rips it…

Keone Keaulana had some of the sickest nose rides to helicopters…

Leleo Kinimaka

Kona’s Makana Delovio ripped…

Makana

Todd Bradley cuts back…

Nolan Keaulana

Surfer Magazine online’s editor Scott Bass

Makana, Titus and Leleo hanging out…

Dave Parmenter talks about the SUP board he shaped for Todd Bradley with Surfer Magazine Online editor Scott Bass and Chris Mauro…

Some canoe shots…

Jimmy Keaulana’s boat ready to punch through…

Tiare, Keone Downing, Dave Parmenter and Brian Keaulana scoring points on their way to winning

the canoe surfing division and $1000 which they donated back to the fund for Leighton Look and Big Rich’s kids…

Aloha

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Howzit Carve, Mel is one great guy, he introduced himself to me a few years back at Titus's Kinimaka's wedding and was impressed by his humility and Aloha. Aloha,Kokua
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great pics, thx Carve

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Carve,

Great pics, great cause, great event- now why am I stuck inside at work on a beautiful afternoon again?

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beautiful surfing. beautiful people. aloha & stoke. it must be good soul food, hanging out & surfing at makaha on a day like that.

a question: is brian k’s board a quad?

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Hi oldy,

Brians board which was shaped by Dave Parmenter is a 2+1 10 footer. Brian surfs it very well… There was so much good surfing yesterday I just wish I had a good camera. I’m sure the pro photographers there got good pictures though… I would finish a heat then grab my camera, shoot pics till I heard my name called then run back, grab my board, go surf then run back get my camera etc… I got tons of pics of Brian ripping that board but very poor quality… Everybody for that matter… Shucks… The heaviest move of the day was a vertical snap by Leleo Kinimaka… He did it in our heat as I was paddling out and it was so crisp and tight… He pulled it and the whole beach was hooting!

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Carve, Thanks for taking the time to post the great pictures. I get the feeling that Stand Up is here to stay. I was hoping Leleo Kinimaka would get a mention, since he came to Cardiff Reef and tore the place up on his Stand Up Paddle board.

The board he had when I saw him was red, and the logo was: F.B.I. From Big Island

I thought that was pretty clever. Do you know who makes those boards?

Also, was anyone else riding your boards that day?

Doug

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Quote:

Carve, Thanks for taking the time to post the great pictures. I get the feeling that Stand Up is here to stay. I was hoping Leleo Kinimaka would get a mention, since he came to Cardiff Reef and tore the place up on his Stand Up Paddle board.

The board he had when I saw him was red, and the logo was: F.B.I. From Big Island

I thought that was pretty clever. Do you know who makes those boards?

Also, was anyone else riding your boards that day?

Doug

Hi Doug,

Not sure who made Leleo’s board he had up there… FBI is a common thing for Big Island guys to display…

These guys were riding Paddle Surf Hawaii boards… Brian Keaulana, Archie Kalepa, Leleo Kinimaka, Makana Delovio, Todd Bradley, Keone Downing, Scott Bass… Leleo, Makana, Todd and Keone were on my customs… I got a few orders over the weekend… Most notable would be Titus Kinimaka and Kamaki Worthington. Makana D ordered another new one with a pulled in nose for gnarly Big Island breaks on Kona side.

I just received a picture of Brian K from yesterday that is so awesome! It will be on Surfer Magazine Online maybe by tomorrow… I’ll post it here when I get the OK to do so. Its a classic, beautiful Makaha shot!

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Quote:

Big turn in the afternoon sun…

this shot’s my favourite. on-rail surfing with style on a big board. grace & strength. pure inspiration.

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Carve, Congratulations for having so many of your boards represented. You are truly one of the pioneers of this new phase of surfing.

We’re glad you are still with us here at Swaylocks. It shows the true spirit of the craftsman that you share your ideas, progress, and passion for what you do. Have great success, and thanks for spreading some true Aloha. Doug

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Thanks Doug! You are very kind…

Oldy, that wave with Brian is the one that was sent to me but taken from the point without the glare and it is a classic shot for the ages… It was taken by Scott Bass and will be revealed probably today sometime on the Surfer Magazine Online. Soon as it does, I’ll post it here… Such a beautiful move… During the contest there were moves that were a lot more radical than that turn. I hope to see pictures of them soon from Brian Bielman, Allan Mozo, Bernie Baker etc…

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Quote:
Carve, Congratulations for having so many of your boards represented. You are truly one of the pioneers of this new phase of surfing.

We’re glad you are still with us here at Swaylocks. It shows the true spirit of the craftsman that you share your ideas, progress, and passion for what you do. Have great success, and thanks for spreading some true Aloha. Doug

ditto that!

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i always get excited when i see a thread by CarveNalu.

this one definitely didn’t let me down! awsome pics CN

and congratulations on getting your boards out there

and known.

thanks for the great thread CN

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Thanks guys! I was talking to Parmenter about past events and asking how this one stacked up as far as surfing abilities etc… He assured me what we we’re seeing was state of the art… We all wished the waves were bigger but still had fun anyway… The heats were very tough to get through… My hats off to all the finalists… I tried to get in that final but lacked the one most important thing… A good second wave! Hahaha!! Below is the awesome picture from Surfer Magazine Online…

Brian Keaulana at home… Makaha

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such a bold, innovative approach to use the paddle like that. it’s a great photo but i actually prefer the other angle, as it shows how far ahead of the curl he is, which evidences the great speed he’s achieving through the turn. very hot surfing i reckon. i like it.

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More cool stuff…

Titus with the Ukulele that can be taken out into the surf… Titus can rip on the Uke!! Todd Bradley looks on… We put tape on the drain hole to see how it sounded with water in it… It sounded cool!

The start of a relay race on Sat. This was sooo fun! Uncle Mel in the background yelling, “Get ready! Get Set!” I was my teams lead off man so I was eyeing up the first buoy… Brian K let our team use his tandem board… Thanks Brian!

After rounding the second buoy it was a sprint to the beach into the offshore wind… Bonga Perkins was in the lead and we were all neck and neck! Bonga and I choked up on the paddles to stay low to cut thru the wind…

Near the beach Bonga got a little wave that I missed and he was gone… Right about here I thought I was gonna puke!! Hahahaha!! In the end our team got second and I scored a new leash… Stoked!

A cool sequence of Ekolu Kalama doing a Helicopter on a 12’ log. This guy is super strong and talented ocean person… He is Dave Kalama’s cousin and partner in open ocean races…

Thanks to Franco for the pics I borrowed from www.hawaiianswell.com

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unbelievable pics…

and i love the uke–I’ve got to make a guitar like that!

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This is why i love Sways, we have every ability represented here in both surfing and shaping. some real pioneers in design too, and Carve Nalu you are definetly a pioneer for SUP.

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BC-

Hey, Bassy here. Sweet thread!

Don’t be so humble, you were ripping!

this morning’s session was all time!

Left my paddle over there though.

May need to borrow one.

You have my cell, no?

Scott

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Here are a few more of my pics from the final:

Leleo Kinimaka

Dave Parmenter