Windsurf MagazineTHE ALOHA CLASSIC: DISSECTED!

THE ALOHA CLASSIC: DISSECTED!

PWA / IWT ALOHA CLASSIC 2024

With a huge IWT / PWA tour calendar lined up for the 2025 season, we take an in depth look at the 2024 Aloha Classic Wave finals with candid insights from the key title contenders at the event!

Words: Bernd Roediger, Marcilio Browne, Victor Fernandez, Morgan Noireaux, Kai Lenny, Sarah Quita Offringa, Lina Erpenstein and Sarah Hauser.

Photos: Fish Bowl Diaries.

BERND ROEDIGER: THE SAMURAI STRIKES AGAIN

Winning the Aloha Classic means more to me than anyone, I’m sure. I say that because this is uncomplicated: it is undoubtedly the purest part of my life, the simplest pursuit. Contrasting with every other scheme I’ve hatched or wish I’ve yearned to fulfil and had postponed or corrupted. Out there on the water, things are clear, the wind chooses the moment, the wave provides the amplitude and the sailor rides in the pocket of this confluence; how does it feel? Like letting go and finding yourself there. I feel there isn’t much human error involved, not much choice, save for the choice to bring your awareness to reality, focus on the moment, ride what is there, take what comes. The mind is a battlefield, and on every other front I see the tides ebbing and flowing between the bastions of my peace and hordes of anxious doubts that besiege me. In the water I felt free from distress, I think all sailors feel this and name it freedom. I welcome the pleasure of riding well but take far greater satisfaction in my discerning what is and is not within my scope of control, adjusting my sails to the winds -as it were- and seeing where it takes me.

DEALING WITH NERVES

As I said, I am generally a bundle of nerves on multiple fronts. Going into Finals Day, I was taking with me a lot of energy from outside sources and “wigging out”. It took some time and water therapy but the stoke came, I began watching the waves intently, eagerly because it looked like such fun, and at that point most of my concerns melted.

The low point was probably my first heat of Finals Day, again I was stressed going in, and tried to override those feelings with aggression and speed: the shortest path to any desired point. But after a disastrous heat that very well could have been my last in this event, I was able to reset.

MUSICAL THERAPY

I listen to music from time to time while riding, and I always do so just with my phone speaker, I don’t like earphones or waterproof gadgets. I use a drybag that I picked up from some friends developing them in Fiji, they’re called Cyclone bags, it fits across the body very well and keeps my phone safe.

: Bernd taking it to a whole new level and listening to music while ripping at Ho’okipa Photo: Fish Bowl Diaries

I started out listening to Metallica, again I felt I had to hype myself up for some reason, which may have been true, but it was also almost a fail. Then changed to some of my favourite hits from the 80’s, as I was feeling happy and nostalgic and really just pleased to be out in the Quarter Finals with the best sailors. Then in the semis I listened to my favourite modern composer Martin O’Donnell, I guess I felt I had something to prove there or at least wanted the heat to feel “epic”. In the final I didn’t really feel much need for music, so I instead listened to some very peaceful chanting from Ananda.

IN THE MOMENT

I guess the music reflected my general feeling that the Finals Day of the Aloha Classic was something for me. For some context my parents weren’t attending for the first time since I started competing in the Aloha. I am in a very different point in my life, one in which the meaning of these events has changed. What people thought of me, whether my sponsors would be pleased, that’s kind of faded. I realized that now I am really going out of my way to be a pro windsurfer and doing it totally because it is what I love, and it is for me and I should really enjoy each moment with that in mind. I am a bit hesitant to admit fully how selfish I’ve become, in some ways I think I’m hiding it well but in others it is becoming evident, I’m doing all this because I feel I’ve found my own proverbial pot of gold and every moment I spend doing it is like dipping into that pot and finding it always overflowing.

: Camille Juban

CONDITIONS

Conditions changed more often than I have ever seen in an Aloha. Wind was up and down, constantly calling into question what gear to take. A few times it felt like the wind was going to fade with a coming squall, but the question was when? It would then die as soon as the heat started, so you’d be stuck out there with whatever call you made. Luckily, I had my KS3 Lithium! And this is not a “sails pitch” but rather a disclaimer I feel I must make. Because these new sails are 30% lighter, and are the lightest wave sails available in the world, there’s a bit of an advantage I exploited in these light-air conditions, and we’ll see whether other brands start to fully embrace this new material to keep up. Pair that with a Flikka board, which I still think are the lightest boards on any beach you’ll go to, and it’s certainly fair to say I had an upper hand.

: Liam Dunkerbeck

I think my best move came in the Final, which was nice to really build into a peak at the right moment. Again, I was looking for the opportunity but not trying to manufacture one, it was just a matter of seeing it. Morgan definitely saw his moment with a big 360 in the semis, it just didn’t go his way the rest of the time. But I really respect him for throwing the ‘big 3’ when the chips were down, because that’s what it takes, you have to be willing to shoot your shot and potentially wind up on the rocks; I think that honouring the moments the conditions give you is the embodiment of peak windsurfing and deserves to be scored high.

: Kai Lenny

THE TOUR

I am always going to be happy for myself and all the other riders to have as many opportunities to sail as possible. I think it’s a great thing for the committed tour guys to have these amazing overall results after a real-world tour. I think it’s cool for guys like me who kind of cherry pick and have fun in some epic places. It’s more windsurfing, what’s not to love?

MARCILLIO BROWNE: 2024 PWA / IWT WAVE CHAMPION

Going into the Aloha was a bit stressful, especially with the title race being so close. But I have been in the same situation in the past, so I was more relaxed and tried to stay focused on what needed to be done heat by heat.

For finals day, I was mostly on my Goya Banzai 11, 4.5m and 4.7m. In the semi-final heat it was very difficult as the wind fully died and we were all stuck floating on 4.5’s. With eighteen-minute heats there was no time to go in, change and get back out, so we all just had to try our best with what we were riding. Instead of going far out I stayed inside and luckily some waves went under the other guys, which I was able to take. There was no room for mistakes, I think I sailed had a total of three waves that heat.

TITLE MOMENT

I felt a massive sense of relief and happiness when I found out I was world champion. But a moment like that takes a few days for it all to sink in. The initial feeling was more like all that weight coming off …

WINNING FORMULA

I think my success comes down to a combination of factors. Living in Maui we get lots of conditions, so over the past five or six years my training schedule has become lot more organized, focused and productive. In a sense I have become more efficient. On top of that our gear at Goya improved. We made equipment lighter, faster and now I can get away with riding smaller gear in lighter winds, which is huge.

Having kids also really made me put things in perspective more and I don’t care for the contests the same way I did when I was younger! I still care about winning a lot, don’t get me wrong, I think and train for it every day, but i am not as nervous as I used to be when I was younger! The change happened after i had kids. Obviously, there are ups and downs, some events I will get more stressed than others, but I have more ways of dealing with it now.

THE FINALS DAY

Conditions in the final were solid, with plenty of wind and waves but for some reason I had a hard time lining up any decent waves. At least for me they were either closing out or not having too much wall to work with! Camile and Bernd rip and they are always favourites here, so it was cool to share the final with them.

The level this year, every rider was ripping hard. The level In Maui has raised once again I would say. Especially during the quarters finals, I felt like the conditions were the best all afternoon, Levi Siver and Kai Lenny had some of the best heats of the event in my eyes. It was amazing to watch. Their turns were so late and committed, and they were combining that with longer rides and tricks … that was incredible sailing. I was also stoked to see Liam Dunkerbeck making his first final. It only seems a few years ago he was just a kid, now he is one of the best in the sport, that is great to see.

Now the Aloha is over I will have a bit of a vacation on Maui now and enjoy my family. I would love to take kids for a snow trip, so will see if we can make that happen. Then I will get ready to compete again next year.

VICTOR FERNANDEZ: 2ND OVERALL 2024

DUOTONE WINDSURFING

The event went well, conditions were challenging, especially on finals day with the wind changing a lot, it was very difficult to come back to the beach and change gear with the offshore winds, so it was key to be on the right gear specially when the wind dropped drastically. Considering the conditions I am very happy with my performance and the result. My semi final was my worst heat as I was not in the rhythm with the sets.

The level was great from all riders. I was feeling good and calm, I had an awesome year and am having so much fun at this stage in my career. I am also very happy how my gear is working specially in wave riding conditions. I had some fun heats and felt good riding good size Ho’okipa, my low point was not being able to put a better heat in the semis, but I know this can happen, it is part of competition and we normally get tricky conditions when competing. I had some decent big airs and vertical turns, which are my favourite riding to do. I almost landed a good forward off the lip, but my foot came out of the strap. My favourite moves of the event were a very critical turn from Marcilio and some crazy rides from Kai Lenny and Levi Siver.

COMPLETE TOUR

I like the variety we had this year, side onshore wave riding in Japan, sick down the line Chile, nice fun onshore jumping and riding in Pozo and Tenerife, crazy onshore on Sylt and sick down the line starboard on Maui, it is a proper wave tour and most complete overall sailor wins.

Yes, I am very happy, it is my seventh, Vice World Championship in my career beside my three World Tittles. My plan is to keep windsurfing and learning and enjoy next season. I go home in five days to see my family in Almerimar, I will be there for a month and after I go to Cape Verde, one of my favourite places on earth for wave riding.

MORGAN NOIREAUX: 5^th OVERALL

DISSAPOINTMENT

Honestly, I’m really disappointed with my result at the Aloha. I won every one of my heats up until the semi’s and sailed really well in each of them but sailed a really poor semi-final. I was out of rhythm and had poor wave selection. Saying that though, I still nailed a decent first score and ended the heat with the best wave 360 of the event which only scored a 7. Watching the heat back I’m really confident in the fact I should have gotten through but obviously that is my own personal very biased opinion and leaving it up to the judges was my own fault. I ended up 5th which is a decent result but here at home if I’m not winning, I’m not happy and it’s been two years in a row where I’ve finished 5th in the event. In addition, finishing 5th in the Aloha means I finished 5th in the world again for the 2nd time in a row as well. Had I reached the final I had a great chance of jumping up into 3rd overall. What’s done is done though and I’m moving on to next year with a lot of motivation!

I think it was impossible not to have nerves, but I felt comfortable leading up to the event. I’ve put in so much time at Ho’okipa. I put in way more hours than anyone besides maybe Braw and I honestly just work really hard at being the best windsurfer I can be year-round. I was just telling myself to be confident after all of the time and effort I put in and that helped calm a lot of the nerves I was feeling. The event itself was awesome. We had some epic conditions and if the conditions are firing, it’s a lot harder to complain. From a rider’s perspective it felt like the event ran smoothly compared to last year, which was really nice.

HIGHS AND LOWS

My high point was my round five heat. I was against my friends Julien and Vincent, and we just had a blast. I think three-man heats should be more common. It feels like everyone gets way more opportunities to catch waves. The wave riding takes the front seat as opposed to wave catching tactics. Low point was obviously my semi-final. I really felt like this year was my year and when I landed that 360 in the last 30 seconds it gave me that little bit of hope, which ultimately didn’t lead to anything. It’s just windsurfing though so I can’t take it too hard, but it was a bit of a difficult pill to swallow.

The conditions were great. We had logo to over mast high waves every day. The wind was lighter the first two days but super contestable and we finished off with a pretty windy day. There were some tougher heats conditions wise, but I was fortunate in that aspect and got great waves and wind every time. I rode my 5.0 Combat and 89 Ultimate wave the first day. Same the second day and on finals day I sailed on my 4.7 and 89 in my first and then switched down to 4.2 and 85 in my last heat. All of my gear felt amazing, so I was really happy about that.

WAVE 3

My best move was my wave 360 in the semi’s. I saw a goiter from Kai that I thought was really cool. Really vertical rotation off a section I don’t think anyone else would have thought of doing a goiter off.

This year I think the number of events was perfect. I’d love a bit more starboard tack representation, but I think that might be a bit of a pipe dream ha-ha. Next year it almost seems like we will have the issue of having too many events. Everyone’s budgets are small and keep getting smaller which makes it hard to go to these events. If we’re going to have a problem, too many events, is probably a good one to have though.

: Marc Pare

SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA: PWA OVERALL WAVE CHAMPION

Normally I would have arrived in Maui a lot earlier before the contest, but Sylt ended pretty late and I still wanted some days at home in Aruba, so I only arrived about six days before the event. Lina Erpenstein arrived the day after me and we found a place to live in Haiku. We’ve stayed together for the past three Aloha Classics, and it’s always been fun. Thankfully, I got to sail a lot before the event. I actually over did it a bit and after day four of sailing, I could hardly get out of bed. I was so exhausted. There were some really fun early morning and evening sessions with the usual suspects out at that time like Maria Behrens, Takuma Sugi, Maria Andres, Lina and Pauline Katz.

I was so psyched to be back in Maui and also to be in the position to fight for the title. We scored a never-ending forecast so I could sail my heart out and get dialed in. I had two sessions a day every day for a week there was really nothing else I wanted to do than sail!

COACHING PAYS OFF!

My mindset was a bit less focused on competition and a bit more on learning as much as possible, so to make the best out of it I connected with Graham Ezzy to get some coaching and local knowledge. And I feel like in four to five days I learned heaps. His comments and observations kind of gave me a different perspective on wave sailing and what I need to look for to improve on different levels like reading the wave, setting myself up to get the most out of the wave and bottom to top turn technique. I’ve learnt everything intuitively over the years with some tips here and there, but it helps so much to have someone to analyze this stuff with. That was a good experience. It would be cool to see what the future holds in terms of professionals on tour having coaches.

MINDSET

I had so many good days on the water before the contest that I was just really keen to compete and for the first time ever I was actually excited to ride a big swell if that was going to be on the menu. Usually, I get a bit phased by the bigger waves and that’s the toughest challenge at Ho’okipa, but after Fiji something has switched for me, and I was actually looking forward to some solid swell. I will never forget seeing Coco Foveau’s face in Fiji after a massive wave and I could only see pure joy. I could not relate at all at the time, but something changed and I understand this excitement and rush 100% now and I was looking forward to it!

So, all week before the event I was in a really good headspace, on the first competition day I felt happy and free on the water and loved the conditions. Then we had a few days break before final day and that’s where I had a harder time to stay relaxed and happy. Because I started thinking a little bit more about the possible outcomes of the heats, it was quite a struggle mentally on the days that we were on hold before finals.

FINALS DAY

The finals day was a little bit rough! The wind kicked in early and after watching the first heats I was sure I was going to be on my 4,2m for the rest of the day, and after the first round of strong wind we saw it disappear to almost nothing. I guessed that that this was going to happen all day. So, I basically ended up rigging 4.2, 4.5, 4.7, 5.0 and my 5.3.

I would never have imagined sailing a heat at Ho’okipa on 4.7m and not being able to bottom turn being too overpowered to close the sail. Crucially my first heat of the day was the deciding heat for the title, and I actually went back to the beach to switch my 5.0 to my 4.7. I think I would not have been able to get the scores I needed being even more overpowered on the 5.0!

For the next heat I was just trying to read the wind. Usually looking upwind, you could see if there was more wind coming or not. Finals day felt pretty tense for me, looking back. More so because knowing that I would face Lina in the Semi-final and that I’d have to stay ahead of her if I wanted to win the title. Besides that, as soon as everyone realized how tricky the wind was going to be you could feel that riders were a little bit more indecisive on what gear to take. Unfortunately, it was really hard to choose the right sail and I think that cost some people their heat.

ALL-IN!

The way the year turned out I really didn’t have a choice but to go all in. I couldn’t make it to Chile, which in the beginning was fine, but then some other events on the calendar that I planned to go to were not happening. So, all of a sudden, I had zero breathing room and all the events I did mattered, so that brought a lot of pressure. Pozo, Sylt and Maui were all ‘go hard or go home’ situations. After Sylt I had 2 x 1^st places in the pocket, so I was mostly just grateful that I got back into the title race, but that still meant I couldn’t miss Maui.

And since I made it so far, I really wanted to end the year winning that title. Because Maui is a starboard tack spot felt like that gave me a bit of an advantage because it’s my natural stance. My main goal was to be patient and pick the ride waves and just trust my riding.

TEARS OF EMOTION

Mann…when I found out I had won the title I just started crying, I felt so much relief, and the tension just left my body. I felt like Jello. I still feel like Jello two days later. I still have mixed feelings about it. Especially realizing afterwards that it was my last wave in the last seconds that made that difference.

I had such a strong motivation to win the title coming from behind but at the same time Lina is one of my best friends on tour and I love training with her because I feel like we really push each other. She won the Chile event and her sailing in Tenerife was so solid and I just felt extremely happy for her performance this year. She definitely would have deserved the title this year! So winning was a relief, but at the same time I felt a bit heartbroken for her because it was SO close. I’ve done some trips with her over the years, and I just know how badly she wants it and I’ve seen her put in the hours. I’ve seen the progress and it all really did come together this year for her. She came up to me quite quickly after the heat and we both had a bit of a cry but soon also a little laugh on the beach. She told me not to feel bad and that she’d get me next time. I hope she feels proud of her achievements this year, especially juggling her final year in medical studies. It’s inspiring.

I still really wanted to win the final! I knew that Sarah Hauser as local rider was the one to beat. I chose the right sail size; I felt I actually sailed well and was patient enough to get on the bigger waves. I had two beautiful rides, which I felt were up there, but in the end it wasn’t enough. I think Sarah Hauser did some great sailing and she reads the waves well. Ultimately, I think it was the better way to end for me because I was happy with my sailing, which doesn’t happen all the time. And since that wasn’t enough to win it means I have some things to work on, and that keeps the fire burning to keep pushing for the next time around. I can’t wait!

GEAR

For board I sailed the KP (Kevin Pritchard) model from a few years back. My Starboard KP model board that I won the Aloha on in 2019 was damaged and because Ho’okipa is so specific and the event was do or die for me, I didn’t want to compromise, and I asked Kevin if he still had his. He did. And it was a great choice. Feeling comfortable on your gear means everything and it really allowed me to focus on just riding. I sailed my 5.3, 5.0 and 4.7 combat. I’m so happy with the NeilPryde sales this year, they feel softer and well balanced! Because I didn’t have so much time, I didn’t try anything else but would love to get more into the pure down the line sails and give the Zone a try in Maui.

CELEBRATION

I have not really been able to celebrate yet. It’s like I’m still processing everything. It’s my 4^th wave world title, but also my 3^rd title this year. One in every discipline. That’s surreal. I feel like such a load came off my shoulders, but I have also landed in an after-contest dip. I am off to Brazil after Maui for the usual end of season sailing. I’ll take some time to figure out what I want to do next year!

SARAH HAUSER ALOHA CLASSIC WINNER

BUILD UP

I was a little anxious before the event because I thought it would be really cool to win the Aloha Classic with the unified fleets. When the PWA sailors come to Maui I feel like we learn from each other. It pushes everybody and makes us better athletes. Because my chances at an overall podium were pretty much gone with my counter performance in Chile (9th) and the Fiji event being cancelled, I wanted to put a little pressure on myself, so aiming for a win at the Aloha felt like a solid goal. But as we know, anything can happen at Ho’okipa, and the competition is fierce in the women’s fleet.

This year we had stormy conditions with lots of rain squalls creating massive wind fluctuation. As a competitor, it’s a nightmare, it feels like flipping up a coin when you decide to go on big or small gear. I had rigged my 3.4, 3.7, and 4.0 Goya Banzaii Surf Carbon and had 61L, 63L and 68L custom Quatro boards ready for action. I picked my smallest equipment for the semi-final as the wind was nuking and that went well. Then I picked my medium size equipment (3.7 / 63L) for the final and the wind completely died at the beginning, so much that I was not even at the peak when the heat started (I was still trying to make it out).

MAKING IT COUNT

Luckily there were some remnants of the east swell, and those waves broke far into the channel so I was able to get a score at the beginning, but the wave faded quickly and I could only get two solid turns and a third “ok” turn. I spent the rest of the heat catching the same type of waves and I knew it probably wasn’t enough to take the lead. Five minutes before the end I was finally able to find a wave that opened, and I gave it my all. I stayed in the pocket and somehow managed to execute six decent turns on that wave. That said I had seen great turns here and there from the other women in the heat, so I had no idea who was leading until I got back to the beach.

Then I saw people cheering and I wondered if it was for me. When I realized it was, I just threw my hands up in the air and felt this huge relief and joy. I got carried on the beach by Adam and Casey and I was just trying to slow down time to stretch this happy moment.

LINA ERPENSTEIN: 2^nd OVERALL WAVES

WORK AND PLAY

I was leading the tour for a long time this season which is a success for me. This year I did full time medical studies so most of the year I was working in a hospital or with a GP. I did not have much time to train. Windsurfing was my second priority this year and I only really did the competitions. I finished second overall, so I am happy with that and now I am hungry for more. I am always a bit nervous going to Maui as I am a bit intimidated by big waves and we never know what we are going to get, it is cool how quick you get used to bigger waves, once you get to sail them.

HIGHS AND LOWS

The high point for me was the semi-final, even though I lost, I felt like I sailed a solid heat. My starboard sailing is not as strong as my port tack sailing so I was happy with what I could show. I guessed my sail sizes wrong twice on the final’s day. The wind was so up and down we had no idea what sail size to choose. It went from 5-30 knots. I was just concentrating on doing decent top and bottom turns. 2024 was a great year for events, we had a great variety of conditions with Chile, some awesome European events and finishing in Hawaii. The tour is a lot more versatile now and I was stoked to compete in so many different spots.

KAI LENNY

REFLECTIONS

The Aloha Classic this year was super fun! It is always amazing mixing it up with the world’s best. I was stoked to receive a wild card into the event. It would have been great to make the finals, but the level is incredibly high and from quarterfinals on, every hear could or been a final.

The board I was riding this year was a collaboration I did with Quatro. I designed / shaped the board, and they built it in an ultra-light construction. It is the closest thing to a surfboard I could make and it allowed me to draw lines I’ve been dreaming about. At the end of the day, I am competition you need ride the way the judges like to score. I could have or should have done more of that, but I was having too much fun riding the way my new board allowed me to.