Kaua‘i’s Kalani Vierra and Blanche Yoshida won their quarter-final heat in the World Title of Tandem Surfing yesterday at Waikiki Beach. The contest is part of the Duke’s OceanFest, a weeklong celebration of the life of legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku.
Kaua‘i’s Kalani Vierra and Blanche Yoshida won their quarter-final heat in the World Title of Tandem Surfing yesterday at Waikiki Beach.
The contest is part of the Duke’s OceanFest, a weeklong celebration of the life of legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku.
Vierra, 41, and Yoshida, 54, won two tandem competitions earlier this year — one on Maui and the Guy Takayama LongBoard ProAm in Huntington Beach, Calif. Yoshida was part of the world champion tandem team back in 1968, holding the title through 1973.
“I’m really enjoying this, way more than before I think,” said Yoshida in a release. “I just took it for granted before but now I appreciate every minute I get out there. We do more lifts per wave than we did back then, but we did some pretty difficult lifts back then as well.”
In today’s final, they will now surf off against defending world title of tandem surfing champions Brian Keaulana and Kathy Terada of Makaha, Caleb Wilborn and Wendy Lynn of California and Chuck Inman and Tiffany Rabacal of Honolulu.
