The Maui Strong Aloha Classic (2023 edition)

The recap video of the final day


 

Day 5: Marcilio Browne claims back-to-back wave world titles after an intense final day results in heartbreak for Ricardo Campello

On the last day of the holding period for the 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final, the race for the Men’s Wave world title all boiled down the final heats, while the remaining two places on the overall podium for the women were also on the line. With so much riding on the day, emotions understandably ran high with some sailors experiencing pure elation, while others were left dealing with heartbreak as the curtain was brought down on the 2023 unified PWA / IWT Wave World Tour.

Women’s – Double Elimination

Sarah Hauser (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) mounted the comeback of the Women’s Double Elimination as the 34-year-old came storming back from a shock quarterfinal exit in the single to eventually finish 3rd at this year’s Aloha Classic after winning 6 consecutive heats. Unfortunately the Double Elimination couldn’t be completed meaning Hauser didn’t have the opportunity to climb even higher, but today marked an important comeback as fighting back into third place means she finishes the season as the vice-world champion – behind eventual Aloha Classic and newly crowned world champion – Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins).

Coco Foveau (Flikka / GUNSAILS) completes the prestigious podium of this year’s Aloha Classic, while she also clinches the final place in the overall rankings as she pips Maria Andrés (Duotone / Duotone Sails) to the overall top 3.

Elsewhere, Maria Behrens (Duotone / Duotone Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) just misses out on securing back-to-back podiums after losing a close fought battle against Sarah Hauser with just 0.23 of a point separating the two sailors come the end of the heat.

Men’s – Double Elimination

All eyes were on Ricardo Campello (Naish / Naish Sails) and Marc Paré (Duotone / Duotone Sails) at the start of the day with everyone eager to see if either of them could successfully make a come back and deny Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) the world title, while the Brazilian had to endure a nervous wait on the beach.

Both Campello and Paré successfully navigated their way through the opening heat of Round 4 to keep their world title aspirations alive, but unfortunately they both fell at the next hurdle with Maui locals – Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins) and Kai Lenny (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) securing the top two places with Campello missing out on a place in the next round by under a point. Campello still finishes the season as the vice-world champion, but this will be a bitter pill to swallow for the 38-year-old having led the title race for the majority of the season and he was just two heats away from securing a maiden wave world title.

Meanwhile, having had to watch from the beach Marcilio Browne’s nervous wait was brought to an end as the Brazilian pips his good friend and long term rival, Ricardo Campello to the world title as  he successfully defends his world crown from 2022, which means he now has 3 wave world titles to his name and 4 overall as he continues to write his name into the record books.

With the world title in the bag Browne was able to enjoy a relatively stress-free heat against Camille Juban (AV Boards / S2Maui) in the battle for third and fourth, which proved to be incredibly close, but Browne came out on top to claim the final place on the podium at the Aloha Classic, while Juban finishes fourth.

With the Double Elimination not being completed that means that Antoine Martin (Starboard / North Sails) walks away with his second Aloha Classic title – adding to his previous success from 2019, while victory here sees him leapfrog Marc Paré to the final place on the prestigious overall podium. Elsewhere, Bernd Roediger (Flikka / Hot Sails Maui / Black Project Fins) finishes this year’s Aloha Classic in second place.

Morgan Noireaux eventually finishes 5th this time around in Maui with Kai Lenny a further place back in 6th, while the top ten is completed by Ricardo Campello – 7th – Marc Paré – 8th and Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails) and Jake Schettewi (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins), who share joint 9th.

Master’s – Single Elimination

The final heat of the day saw an all-in Masters Final. 7 of the final 8 riders took to the water (unfortunately Josh Stone could not make it) for a very exciting conclusion to the Maui Strong Aloha Classic. It was action packed, and one of the more exciting heats of the day. Every set wave was ridden and the riders performed. Big aerials and searing cutbacks were on display in a tight race for the podium. Jeff Henderson started things off with a very good wave score to take the lead, and he soon followed that up with another solid ride, linking aerials and turns. In the end it would be Keith Teboul’s day though with a highlight wave nailing a big aerial hit, and his classic surf-style carves to take the highest wave score and the win. Paul Karaolides was right behind coming in 3rd place. Congrats to all the Masters. They put on quite a show.

Result 2023 Maui Strong

Aloha Classic Grand Final – Women’s

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Coco Foveau (FRA | Flikka / GUNSAILS)
3rd Sarah Hauser (NC | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
4th Maria Behrens (GER | Duotone / Duotone Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Shawna Cropas (USA | Duotone / Duotone)

Result 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final – Men’s

1st Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / North Sails)
2nd Bernd Roediger (USA | Flikka / Hot Sails Maui / Black Project Fins)
3rd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
4th Camille Juban (GPE | AV Boards / S2Maui)
5th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins)
6th Kai Lenny (HI | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
7th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN | Naish / Naish Sails)
8th Marc Paré (ESP | Duotone / Duotone Sails)
9th Takara Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Jake Schettewi (USA | JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins)

Result 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final – Master’s

1st Keith Teboul
2nd Jeff Henderson
3rd Paul Karaolides

Result 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final – Youth

1st Otis Buckingham
2nd Esteban De Cruz
3rd Liam Coralle

Text by IWT
Pics by Fishbowldiaries



 

Update: Day 2. Single Elimination results

Sarah-Quita Offringa becomes Wave World Champion for third time after winning single elimination, while Marcilio Browne edges into world title race lead

With a new 12 second swell hitting Ho’okipa on Sunday, day two of the 2023 The Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final saw the Men’s and Women’s single eliminations completed in solid logo to mast high surf, while the wind remained on the light side meaning timing and positioning were critical in order to succeed.

Women’s – Single Elimination

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) claimed a convincing victory in the Women’s single elimination to guarantee her the 2023 PWA/IWA Wave World Championship as the Aruban can now finish second at worst – meaning that she cannot be caught. Offringa’s latest world title means she has now amassed an incredible 23 world titles and counting, while her latest success means she has now held the Wave world crown since 2019. In the final, Offringa was able to pick off the best of the waves, while showing off a powerful variety of turns to deservedly claim the top spot on the podium in the single.

Coco Foveau (Flikka / GUNSAILS) and Maria Behrens (Duotone / Duotone Sails) endured an intense tussle for second place in the final with just 0.04 of a point separating the two of them by the end of the heat, however, in the end, Foveau just came out on top, while Behrens will still be delighted to have secured the final place on the podium – for now at least – in her first Aloha Classic. Shawna Cropas (Duotone / Duotone Sails) had to settle for fourth place after qualifying for the final as she was on too small gear in the light airs to be truly competitive in the final.

Men’s – Single Elimination 

Antoine Martin (Starboard / North Sails) did everything in his power to hurl his name into the world title race conversation by winning the single elimination, but with Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) now guaranteed at least fourth place in this year’s Aloha Classic that rules the Frenchman out of the running. Martin may be out of the running for the world title, but is firmly on course to win his second Aloha Classic after producing a brilliant display in the light airs. In the final the 30-year-old intricately linked together two waves in the excellent range – 8.53 and 8.43 points – to fend off Bernd Roediger (Flikka / Hot Sails Maui / Black Project Fins), Marcilio Browne and Camille Juban (AV Boards / S2Maui).

Antoine Martin immediately after winning the single elimination final: “It’s feels incredible. I was far from ready for this comp. This year has been really tough and I can’t even realise what has happened yet. It was super tough out there and all the guys were sailing super well, so now I just need to try and digest it all and believe that it’s real.”

Title Race

With Ricardo Campello (Naish / Naish Sails) being eliminated in the semifinals of the single elimination that left the door open for Marcilio Browne to move into the world title race lead, which is exactly what he did with the Brazilian finishing third in the final. That means that as things stand Browne would finish the season on 27,429 points, while Campello would agonisingly miss out on a maiden wave world title on 27,253 points having led the title race for the majority of the season.

However, things aren’t over and done with yet and the title race remains delicately poised on a knife edge. If Campello was able to defend his current 5th in the double elimination that would see the 38-year-old jump back into pole position as a 5th place in the double is worth 6,370 points compared to 6,150 points in the single. In the above scenario, Campello would finish the season on 27,473 points, while Browne would just miss out on 27,429 points. If Campello was to finish 4th or 5th, then Browne would have to finish at least second to be able to win the title.

If Campello was to fight back into third place then Browne would be required to win the Aloha Classic to deny Campello, while a top two finish guarantees Campello the title.

Kai Lenny (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) was the other standout sailor today as the all-round water-man impressed the judges with his surf style turns, but without the aerial trickery to go with it on this occasion, he just fell short in the semifinals.

With light to moderate trade winds predicted for tomorrow the green light has been given for tomorrow with the ground swell set to continue as well. The sailors meet at 10:30am (GMT-10) for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 11am onward.

 Current Event Ranking Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final – Women’s Single Elimination

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Coco Foveau (FRA | Flikka / GUNSAILS)
3rd Maria Behrens (GER | Duotone / Duotone Sails)
4th Shawna Cropas (USA | Duotone / Duotone)

Current Event Ranking Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final – Men’s Single Elimination

1st Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / North Sails)
2nd Bernd Roediger (USA | Flikka / Hot Sails Maui / Black Project Fins)
3rd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
4th Camille Juban (GPE | AV Boards / S2Maui)
5th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN | Naish / Naish Sails)
5th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins)
7th Kai Lenny (HI | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
7th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)

Text by: internationalwindsurfingtour.com/
Pics by: fishbowldiaries


 

Event Preview: Men’s & Women’s Wave World Titles on the Line as Finest Wave Sailors on the Planet Prepare For Final Battle of the Season at Iconic Ho’okipa Beach Park

The 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic holds special significance, being a major international event following the devastating fires in Lahaina and surrounding areas. With an annual positive economic impact estimated to be over 1.5 million dollars, this event is needed now more than ever for the island’s recovery. The Aloha Classic will take place from 23rd October to 3rd November, with the best 5 days over the 12 day holding period being cherry picked to see the 2023 unified PWA/IWT Wave World Champions crowned in the best conditions possible. Expect to see some of the best wave sailing on the planet with a combination of solid rail game and aerial antics likely being required to come out on top of the prestigious Aloha Classic.

Organized by the IWT (International Wave Tour) in association with the PWA (Professional Windsurfing Association), this event unifies the windsurfing world to stand with Maui. The global community’s heartfelt efforts will raise funds for Maui through the event’s major global broadcast. Across the event, we will promote local aid local groups, Maui Strong and The Maui Food Bank.. The 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final stands as a testament to the resilience and unity of both the windsurfing community and the people of Maui.

Ho’okipa (meaning ‘hospitality’) Beach Park, Maui, Hawaii is quintessentially the home of windsurfing. A place any windsurfer has hopes, dreams and aspirations of visiting at some point during their lifetime. What makes Maui so special is its clockwork like trade winds, which combine with some of the best, and biggest, waves on the planet to create the most spectacular windsurfing conditions — and all of this is then set against a stunning, luscious, tropical backdrop. It truly is a destination that every windsurfer must experience at least once in their lifetime.


Kai Lenny and Robby Naish sail Kona Winds
Photos by Fish Bowl Diaries


Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) enters the final wave event of the year with the world title race lead. The Aruban is also the defending event champion having won here last time in 2019 and she will be looking to repeat that performance as she looks to capture her third wave world title.

Maria Andrés (Duotone / Duotone Sails) is Offringa’s closest rival – trailing Offringa by 2,350 points coming into Maui and to have any shot of the title the Spaniard will need the reigning world champion to finish outside the top two, while winning the event herself.

Elsewhere, now Maui local – Sarah Hauser (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) – will be a major threat to the win the event. The New Caledonian has a wealth of experience at Ho’okipa and really comes into her own when the swell pulses, so you can expect to see her challenging for another Aloha Classic title come the end of the event, while she together with Jane Seman (Severne / Severne Sails) and Marine Hunter (Quatro / KA Sail), who won her first event in Sylt last month, both harbour outside hopes of snatching the world title. Elsewhere, Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) will be hoping to end the season on a high.

Title Race Connotations – Women’s

– A top two finish would guarantee Sarah-Quita Offringa a third wave world title and 22nd overall.
– If Offringa were to finish 3rd or 4th then Maria Andrés would have to win the event to deny the Aruban and claim the world title herself.
– If Offringa were to finish 5th then that really opens things up as; Andrés, Sarah Hauser, Jane Seman and Marine Hunter would all have a shot at the title.. In this scenario, whoever wins the event would also become world champion.

Men’s

The fight for the men’s world title looks likely to be a three-horse race between Ricardo Campello (Naish / Naish Sails), reigning world champion Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) and Marc Paré (Duotone / Duotone Sails). As things stand, Campello is leading the race to claim, what has until now proven to be an elusive first wave world title. The 38-year-old currently holds a 1,324 point lead over Browne at the top of the rankings and we’ve broken down some scenarios below to see who needs what to win:

Title Race Connotations – Men’s

– If Ricardo wins the event he wins his first wave world title, however, if he were to finish second then Marcilio Browne would be required to win the Aloha Classic to deny Campello and claim the world title himself.
– In the event that Campello was to finish third – then Browne would still be required to win the event to deny Campello.
– In the event that Campello was to finish 4th – Browne would need to finish second, while beating Paré as a victory for the Spaniard would see him pip both Browne and Campello to the world title.
– In the event Campello finishes 5th – The scenario is the same with Browne needing to finish at least second and ahead of Paré
– If Campello were to finish 6th – A top 3 finish for Browne would be enough to secure him the title as long as Paré didn’t win the event.
– If Campello were to finish joint 7th – Browne would need to finish at least 4th to overtake Campello, however a top 2 finish or better for Paré would see him steal the world title.

Outside Chance

– In the event that Ricardo Campello were to finish joint 9th, Browne finish 5th or worse and Paré finish 3rd or worse then 2019 Aloha Classic Champion – Antoine Martin (Starboard / North Sails) – would have an opportunity to snatch the world title, but he would be required to win the event in order to do so.

The world title contenders are not going to have an easy run at the title though with an exceptionally strong field on offer with names like previous Aloha Classic champions; Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins), Levi Siver (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing), Bernd Roediger (Flikka / Hot Sails Maui / Black Project Fins), Camille Juban (AV Boards / S2Maui) and Boujmaa Guilloul (Starboard / Severne Sails), all in the lineup, while global waterman – Kai Lenny (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) – together with Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde) and Graham Ezzy (Tabou / Ezzy Sails) will be serious threats!

Other notable names to look out for include 2014 world champion – Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), mutliple-time world champion – Victor Fernandez (Duotone / Duotone Sails), Leon Jamaer (Flikka / GUNSAILS), Federico Morisio (Severne / Severne Sails), Jake Schettewi (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins) and Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), while it will be interesting if the likes of Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails), Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS), Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing), Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins), Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) and newly crowned U20 Youth Wave World champion – Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) can make an impression on the star-studded lineup.

The forecast currently has the wind switching back to the northeast trades on Wednesday 25th October. Stay Tuned.

(Text by International Windsurfing Tour)