HONOLULU — Despite a perfect 10 by Kilauea’s Evan Valiere, Hale‘iwa’s Flynn Novak pulled off the victory yesterday in the finals of the Macy’s E-Series at Ala Moana Bowls. Novak pocketed $2,500 with the win. Second went to Bowls local
HONOLULU — Despite a perfect 10 by Kilauea’s Evan Valiere, Hale‘iwa’s Flynn Novak pulled off the victory yesterday in the finals of the Macy’s E-Series at Ala Moana Bowls.
Novak pocketed $2,500 with the win. Second went to Bowls local David Gonsalves of Honolulu, Jason Shibata of Hale‘iwa got third and Lihu‘e’s Kaipo Jaquias took fourth.
Wave face heights of 6- to 8-feet rolled up consistently throughout the day. The top of the swell peaked during the semifinals where the average scoring ride for all competitors across the board came in at 9.25 points out of a possible 10 — a first for pro surfing here in Hawai‘i.
Heat after heat, round after round surfers pumped out the moves. Three perfect 10-point wave scores were reserved for Valiere (Round 3), Gonsalves (quarterfinals), and Novak (semifinals). The highest two-wave heat total went to Jaquias: 19.65 points in his semifinal heat (9.85 and 9.8 points).
Novak was the lone goofy-footer in the 30-minute final and capitalized on the better waves by locking into lengthy tube rides before systematically shredding his rides to pieces. The blistering, vertical back-side attack of his rivals was barely kept at an arm’s length and Novak was just fortunate to secure the larger set waves that tipped the scales in his favor. The final score-line showed 16.85 out of 20 for Novak (9.1, 7.75); 15.1 for Gonsalves (8.5, 6.6); 15 for Shibata (7.5, 7.5); and 13.3 for Jaquias (7.25, 6.05).
“It came down to surfing,” said Novak. “I didn’t battle with anybody the whole time and usually I’m kind of a snake in heats. This was nerve-wracking enough just seeing perfect waves go by and having the chance to actually get them.”
Macy’s E-Series
July 15, Ala Moana Bowls
Final
1 Flynn Novak (Hale‘iwa), $2,500
2 David Gonsalves (Honolulu), $1,000
3 Jason Shibata (Hale‘iwa), $800
4 Kaipo Jaquias (Lihu‘e), $700
Semifinals
SF1: Kaipo Jaquias (Lihu‘e), Flynn Novak (Hale‘iwa), Randall Paulson (Honolulu), Kekoa Cazimero (Waimanalo)
SF2: David Gonsalves (Honolulu), Jason Shibata (Hale‘iwa), Joel Centeio (Hale‘iwa), Daniel Jones (Honolulu)
Quarterfinals
QF1: Flynn Novak (Hale‘iwa), Kekoa Cazimero (Waimanalo) Dustin Cuizon (Ewa), Makuakai Rothman (Hale‘iwa)
QF2: Kaipo Jaquias (Lihue, HI), Randall Paulson (Honolulu), TJ Barron (Hale‘iwa), Edrick Baldwin Jr. (Honolulu)
QF3: Daniel Jones (Honolulu), Jason Shibata (Haleiwa, HI), Wesley Larsen (Lahaina, Maui), Brennan Boudreau (Kapolei, HI)
QF4: Joel Centeio (Hale‘iwa, David Gonsalves ( Honolulu) Evan Valiere (Kilauea) Kekoa Bacalso (Mililani)
