KauaiWorld.com Report Four Kaua’i surfers were named among the best in the world this week by Dana Point, Calif.-based Surfer magazine. Over 10,000 readers voted in the 29th annual Surfer poll that determines who the magazine considers the best surfers
KauaiWorld.com Report
Four Kaua’i surfers were named among the best in the world this week by Dana Point, Calif.-based Surfer magazine.
Over 10,000 readers voted in the 29th annual Surfer poll that determines who the magazine considers the best surfers in the world.
Taking top spot in the women’s poll was Rochelle Ballard, 30, who grew up on Kaua’i surfing the South Shore. Ballard is a graduate of Kaua’i High School.
Ballard’s father is Bob French. French owns two popular Po’ipu businesses, the Nukumoi Surf Shop and Brennecke’s Restaurant, and grew up on the West Side. He’s been involved in surfing on Kaua’i for decades.
Ballard is now married to surf video maker Bob Ballard and lives at Sunset Beach on the North Shore of O’ahu.
French said his daughter spends most of the year on the women’s professional surf tour, traveling the world to compete. Surf wear endorsements and various sponsorships help underwrite her idyllic career.
Keala Kennelly, daughter of Brian Kennelly of Hanalei, also competes on the tour and is rated in the top 10 list of women’s surf worldwide.
Margo Oberg of Omao, who is often rated as the best overall women surfer of all time, regularly placed high in the poll in during the peak of her surfing career in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
In the men’s poll, Bruce Irons, 22, of Hanalei placed third, and his brother Andy Irons, 23, placed sixth. The brothers attended Kapaa High School and have a home at Princeville.
The Irons brothers hale from a family with roots in Southern California and Hawai’i who are well-known in the world of surfing. Their uncle Rick Irons, now a pastor on O’ahu, was U.S. surfing champion in the mid-1960s.
The brothers are prominently featured in surf wear advertisements in Surfer and o other surfing publications. They are known for their radical, yet graceful, style of surfing and are considered among the best in the water at Pipeline on the North Shore of O’ahu and other world-class surf spots.
Placing fifth in the poll is current world pro surfing champion Sunny Garcia, 29, who resides at Kalihiwai. Garcia grew up on the Waianae Coast in Leeward, O’ahu and moved to Kaua’i several years ago.
Garcia also competes in moto-cross events during off-time from the pro tour. He’s currently battling to retain his world pro title.
