Who do ya got?
Round One went to Danny Ching in the OC1 race
Round Two went to Manoa Drollet in the Surfing (shortboard) event
I'm thinking Georges Cronsteadt may be the sleeper in this and will win overall
Submitted by TI on Mon, 03/16/2015 - 7:27am
I'd say Danny Ching and George will be tough, but hard to bet against Kai Lenny Who does it all. Especially when these guys have to go tow in surf, foil board, kite board, windsurf. Don't know many others that can do it all. He's pretty much the most well rounded of them all. Not sure how each event works. I know they have to sup surf and race, logboard surf, tow in surf, and not sure how the other events tie in. Not taking away from any of the other amazing talent that is there. Those guys must be having the times of their lives.
#1 Mon, 03/16/2015 - 8:06am
I think Kai Lenny takes it. There are four events remaining; sup surf (I think he will win), sup race (guessing second behind Danny), longboarding (top 4), and big wave surfing (guessing 2nd). And he has yet to use his double point multiplier. The SUP race is on 12'6s, which I think may favor Kai over Georges and Connor, given his size and weight.
#2 Tue, 03/17/2015 - 2:50pm
Kiwi Daniel Kereopa wins SUP discipline at The Ultimate Waterman
Please see below for overall points after two of six disciplines.
1, Kai Lenny (HAW)*, 3120
2, Danny Ching (USA)*, 3083
3, Manoa Drollet (TAH)*, 3083
4, Mark Visser (AUS)*, 2803
5, Georges Cronsteadt (TAH)*, 2723
6, Kala Alexander (HAW)*, 2518
7, Daniel Kereopa (NZL), 2253
8, Connor Baxter (HAW), 1955
*Denotes double whammy division completed
#3 Wed, 03/18/2015 - 5:24am
Impressive showing by the local boy Kereopa winning back to back disciplines. Just won the longboard division today at head high Raglan. Something to be said for water knowledge.
1, Daniel Kereopa (NZL)*, 4,253
2, Kai Lenny (HAW)*, 3,980
3, Manoa Drollet (TAH)*, 3,666
4, Danny Ching (USA)*, 3,611
5, Mark Visser (AUS)*, 3,533
6, Georges Cronsteadt (TAH)*, 3,251
7, Kala Alexander (HAW)*, 3,101
8, Connor Baxter (HAW), 2,625
Just SUP distance & Big Wave Surfing left.
#4 Thu, 03/19/2015 - 11:06am
I think they shined the Big wave category since the swell is gone.
I know the SUP distance race will be super competitive.
I heard there was going to be a Kite surfing and windsurfing Challenge.
#5 Thu, 03/19/2015 - 12:06pm
Aaron Napoleon, nuff said. Won on OC1's, paddleboards, SUP, SUP surfing, surfing, and an Eddie participant. Also kills it on a V1 before it became popular. Won pipe when it was the HPAC Pro or now the Volcom Pro. Had a quick cameo on the movie "North Shore". I still occasionally surf and sometimes paddle with the guy and he still rips! Plus he can catch Ahi's and other pelagic on his boat. And he surfs the OC1 like no other, with the exception of Karel Jr.. Suprised his name wasn't mentioned earlier. Dude excels and has won on almost anything that floats on the water.
Other notable mentions is Billy Lawson, Heath Hemmings, Timmy Twigg-Smith, John Foti.
CHelm
#6 Thu, 03/19/2015 - 2:40pm
Great event and great competitors. I hope in the future they open it up for guys like Aaron Napolean, Jamie Mitchell, Travis Grant, Bonga Perkins, etc. Also, wouldn't it be more "rounded" to have swimming, surfski, and prone paddleboard included? I believe they have 4 surfing disciplines (shortboard, longboard, SUP surfing, big wave surfing)...probably too many and favoring the true surfers.
#7 Fri, 03/20/2015 - 8:31am
maybe throw some life guarding type events in?
#8 Fri, 03/20/2015 - 1:15pm
certainly an interesting event. it's by invitation only, how they selected some of the competetors is beyond me, but it seems to be a NZ promoted event for sure. Some sick surf over there in NZ by the way. I'd have to agree with Canoesurf, I think they had too many "surfboard" events. If you didn't have surf skills, you wont win it with endurance paddling alone. I think DK won because of his home court advantage in the surf, but still an accomplishment especially to fend off Kai Lenny. They needed to have a more of a variety of disciplines, what about kite, swimming, or surfski? the term waterman needs to encompass all things water, and thats not just limited to paddling events
#9 Wed, 03/25/2015 - 7:30pm
I think it's easy to criticize the event now that it's done. Especially, if your hometown hero didn't come out on top.
Frankly, this was a pretty awesome event that drew an international audience. I look forward to seeing how they plan to continue this and what, if any, improvements are made to it.
The only thing that bummed me out was that Laird didn't compete!
#10 Thu, 03/26/2015 - 5:20am
Kileki, your passive-aggressive criticism of people’s observations, suggestions, and comments are always a delight.
The competition was really fun to watch and seeing as how this was their first go at this kind of competition, I’m sure they will be taking suggestions and adding more diversity for the next time. There's only so many events that can be crammed into a week-long competition.
#11 Thu, 03/26/2015 - 7:07am
So what are the qualities a person needs to be considered a "waterman"?
#12 Thu, 03/26/2015 - 9:26am
in my humble opinion, I'd like to see more In the water events (as oppose to atop some craft).
I'd create 3 events from each 'sub' discipline, 9 in total.
Surfing--
longboard event, shortboard event, bodysurfing event
Paddling--
oc1 race, SUP race, prone paddleboard race
Swimming--
rough water distance race, free-diving event, spear-fishing event
#13 Thu, 03/26/2015 - 1:05pm