Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 11, 1 November 1996 — Hawaiian surfers clean-up French [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian surfers clean-up French

longboara champiow3nips

By Kelli Meskin Hawai'i swept the Oxbow World Longboard Championships in France last month. For starters Bonga Perkins, a Hawaiian grown surfer, dis- .

played his unique style and abil- , ity upon a backdrop of six-to W eight-foot waves and earned f the title of Oxbow World Long- L board Ohampion. 9 Perkins advanced into a w tough heat but he said he felt W confident although he was l competing against two big « wave loeal taients, Clyde Aikau *

and Duane Desoto. Perkins moved ahead to the finals against Braziiian surfer Alex Salazar. "I was in synch with Mother Nature," Perkins said. He won the 40-minute final heat by being in the right spot when the perfect wave eame

through and carried him to the beach. Perkins won $8,000 along with his title. The team from HawaLi, composed of Duane Desoto, Rusty Keaulana, Lanee Ho'okano, Alika

Grady, Joey Valentin, Chris Vandervoot, Melvin Pu'u and Sion Milosky, won the Overall Team Award. Everyone on the Hawai'i Team did their part to win the team overall title, said Sion Milosky, a longboarder from Kaual. "All the Hawaiians had difficult heats and they all stuck together," Milosky said. The Hawai'i team was awarded a

shepherd's crook. The curved part of the crook opens to reveal a spear. . ' ' ■ " ' r '

' All the Hawaiians had difficult heats and they ali stuck together. Sion Milosky > longboarder