It was just about two years ago that Alana Blanchard hit a high-water mark hot streak in competition. And for a period of about seven months, she won or came close to winning just about every competition she paddled into.
It was just about two years ago that Alana Blanchard hit a high-water mark hot streak in competition. And for a period of about seven months, she won or came close to winning just about every competition she paddled into.
Right now, there is another hot Kaua‘i amateur surfer experiencing the same sort of hot streak — only his is just beginning.
After returning with a first-place trophy in the Rip Curl Grom Search in Newport Beach, Calif., earning a trip to Australia and berths in some prestigious contests, Tyler Newton paddled out and was just about untouchable in Saturday’s HSF contest No. 2 at Pine Trees in Hanalei.
The waves were pumping, but they were also shutting down, closing out across the beach and creating some spectacular rides and wipeouts across the board. The conditions created an advantage for those who were experienced riders of the beach break.
Newton won the Junior Men’s division rather easily as well as the Open Men’s division. Then in the most prestigious 4a Pro Am division, a division that features Kaua‘i’s most competitive elite class of amateur riders, Newton found himself trailing Dylan Melamed with four minutes remaining. He went left on a 4-foot Hawaiian-style bomb that held up just long enough for him to score a 7-point ride and charge into first place, putting the stress on Melamed, who then needed a 5.5 or better to win the heralded division.
With 10 seconds left, the set of the day charged through Mauna Lau and Melamed won the paddle battle with Nathan Rex and took the drop, faded and blasted a bottom turn that smacked spray through the air, and then landed the maneuver at the buzzer. Tension mounted as the contestants and spectators gazed on to see the outcome of the judges’ tally. Newton won by five-tenths of a point, just nudging out his surfing buddy for the past nine years, and he humbly left the beach with three first-place trophies, valuable points towards next years Excel Pro, plus $225 dollars in his pocket.
Newton is on a roll, and it’s going to take some exceptional surfing by other island competitors to bring their game and bring him down. They will all have a chance at the NSSA event at the same Pine Trees beach park on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.
Some other first-place finishers who deserve much recognition for their rides in some treacherous conditions include the gritty Travis Smith and Nainoa Thomas, for boogie boarding home to victory through an ocean full of currents and riptides. Luke Hitchcock came in first place in the 11-and-under division and continues to destroy competitors in his wake, providing some exciting challenges for Koa Smith, who took down the older boys in the aggressive 12- to 14-year-old division.
In the girls division, Kristen Steiner picked off some inside peelers while the rest of the finalists tried their luck at the bigger closeouts. Steiner’s strategy paid off in the judges’ eyes and she had her first-place trophy sitting in the truck beside her on the way home to Kilauea.
Sponsors of the event included Kai Kane, the YMCA, Surfco — whose rider of the contest was Spencer Kaplanis — and Nalu Underground, the title sponsor for the season for HSF.
