Unless they’re anxious to knock out a few heats on the early side, there probably won’t be much action at the Hawaiian Pro before a substantial swell begins to fill in next week. That’s according to the latest Surfline forecast
Unless they’re anxious to knock out a few heats on the early side, there probably won’t be much action at the Hawaiian Pro before a substantial swell begins to fill in next week. That’s according to the latest Surfline forecast model that shows a very small bump today, but nothing of note until Wednesday at the earliest.
That all means it could be a little while before the 2015 Triple Crown of Surfing gets its feet wet at Haleiwa, where the Hawaiian Pro annually opens the festivities. As a QS 10,000 contest, it offers the most potential points for all the competitors hoping to move up the Qualifying Series leaderboard for a spot on next year’s world tour.
But those hopefuls will likely have to wait a bit for their opportunity. Whenever organizers determine the waves are worthy, Kauai’s Dylan Goodale will be in the event’s very first heat. Despite there being 128 surfers in the contest, Goodale wasn’t done any favors with his early draw. He’ll be going up against Portugal’s Tiago Pires and the Maui duo of Granger Larsen and Kevin Sullivan.
Seven Kauai surfers are slated to compete in the Hawaii heavy field. The top seed of that group is obviously Sebastian Zietz, who is the only one on the Championship Tour and the 2012 Triple Crown champion. Zietz receives a bye directly into round three, where he and fellow Hawaii CT rider Keanu Asing await two more competitors for their four-man heat.
Zietz’s best opportunity for re-qualification would simply be a strong finish at the Pipe Masters in December, but he still has an outside chance at using his QS ranking, which currently sits at 35. A run similar to 2012 would give him a chance to move up towards the 12-15 range where the cut line will ultimately sit.
The rest of the Garden Isle contingent all begin in round one. Two are paddling out together when Evan Valiere and Gavin Gillette take on a Brazilian pair in Hizunome Bettero and Ian Gouveia. Each has been much less active in their competitive surfing this season compared to years past, but both are contenders to make heats on Oahu. Gillette is a former finalist at the HIC Pro and reached the round of 32 at the World Cup two years ago, so Sunset Beach seems to be his wave of choice. Valiere has surfed just three contests this year, but made the quarterfinals two years ago at Haleiwa.
Kaimana Jaquias has improved his QS rank every year since 2011 and could crack the top 100 with a couple of solid results to finish 2015. He’ll begin that quest in round one against Aussie Yadin Nicol, Brazil’s Thiago Camarao and Oahu’s Kekoa “Koa-Boi” Cazimero.
Brothers Alex and Koa Smith round out the Kauai crew. Alex has an eclectic group with style and personality as he takes on Brazil’s Willian Cardoso, former Team Hawaii ISA Junior gold medalist Josh Moniz and Pipeline specialist Mikey Bruneau.
Koa goes in the final heat of round one against Australia’s Thomas Woods, Spain’s Gony Zubizarreta and Maui youngster Ian Gentil. Koa comes in on the heels of a quarterfinal appearance at the HIC Pro, though he was slightly pipped by Alex’s semifinal finish.
Other notables starting off in round one include Mason Ho, Jamie O’Brien, Sunny Garcia, Ola Eleogram, Kalani David, Myles Padaca, Joel Centeio and Billy Kemper.
The Triple Crown, and specifically the Hawaiian Pro and World Cup legs, gives a chance for the world’s most recognizable surfers to go up against many of Hawaii’s incredible but lesser known talents. Haleiwa is the first glimpse of that annual process and though the swell may not hit with much impact for a few days, we’re in for a fun show when the horn sounds.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
