Kaua’i has a long history of being the home of world number-one surfers. The list of wahine top rippers is long, spanning back years before Chicks Who Rip was even a daydream. Margo Oberg and Sharron Weber come immediately to
Kaua’i has a long history of being the home of world number-one surfers.
The list of wahine top rippers is long, spanning back years before Chicks Who Rip was even a daydream.
Margo Oberg and Sharron Weber come immediately to mind, and Rochelle (Gordines) Ballard had been near or at the top of world rankings.
The next wave of outstanding wahine rippers has a decidedly North Shore bent, led by Hanalei native and Kapa’a High School graduate Keala Kennelly, the current world number one according to the Association of Surfing Professionals rankings.
But the daughter of Brian Kennelly of Hanalei has her work cut out for her if she plans to surf into 2004 with her number-one ranking in tact.
All she has to do is survive longer than Australian Layne Beachley, the five-time world champion, at the year’s final event, set for Honolua Bay on Maui next week.
The 2003 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT) crown is up for grabs, and Kennelly leads Beachley by just 36 points heading into the Billabong Pro Maui. The waiting period starts Monday, Dec. 8.
With a win at the event, Kennelly would win her first WCT title. She is also second in the race for the Triple Crown, so a strong showing in Honolua Bay could mean picking up the two most prestigious titles in women’s surfing at the same event.
Kennelly is coming off an impressive win in less-than-ideal conditions last week at the four-star World Qualifying Series (WQS) Turtle Bay Resort Women’s Pro, held on the North Shore of O’ahu. The event, the second of the Triple Crown events, had no bearing on the WCT title race.
“Heading to Maui, I think that any one of the girls in contention for the world title is good enough to win it,” said Kennelly after her win. “It’s pretty much going to come down to the day, the heat, the moment.”
As the last of three women’s surfing events in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the Billabong Pro Maui is the most unique, because three champions will be honored in the pineapple fields that adjoin this world-class break: The Billabong Pro Maui winner, the 2003 ASP world champion, and the 2003 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing champion.
Kennelly is in position to claim all three.
The Vans winner will be determined by this event based on the number of points accumulated in all three Women’s Vans Triple Crown of Surfing events.
As for the world crown, Kennelly is in new territory.
“I’ve never been in the lead heading into the last event. I’ve always been somewhere down near fourth, needing to do something drastic to win, so I haven’t really developed a strategy yet,” said Kennelly.
“But I have to wonder if Layne’s developed a strategy yet either, because she’s used to being the one in the lead and now she’s not.”
Better known for her tube-riding skills and ability to charge fearlessly on giant waves, the 25-year-old Kennelly proved to be untouchable in the strong onshore, 2-to-4-foot surf on O’ahu, posting her first-ever Vans Triple Crown of Surfing event win to earn $3,500.
The win moved her into second place in the Triple Crown Series ratings, behind Sofia Mulanovich (Peru).
“Turtle Bay is a really tough wave to surf,” said Kennelly after clinching the event. “If anyone thinks they can go out there and find a winning place in the lineup, they’re dead wrong.
“It’s impossible to read the lineup because there is no defined lineup. The swells just come in and peak up all over the place,” she said.
“My strategy was to just go out there and catch a million waves and hope that some of them would turn out. Thankfully, they did, and I had a few that linked up all the way and scored well.
“To be honest, I’ve been surfing like a bit of a kook in the WQS events this year,” laughed Kennelly. “I don’t think I’ve done any good in any of them. I’ve been leading the WCT, but I’ve had nothing on the WQS, so it’s pretty cool to do something like this now.”
Beachley comes into the final contest looking for a record sixth world title at the exceptional right point-break on the west shore of Maui.
She has the additional motivation of adding a Billabong Pro Maui victory to her impressive list of contest wins, a title that has eluded her since the inception of the event in 1998.
