WSL Hawaii/Tahiti Nui is eager to announce a growing lineup of professional surfing events at Oahu's Turtle Bay Resort this October 14 - 20 in partnership with the Hurley Surf Club and Hawaii Youth Surfing Development Organization. The lineup includes three new competitive divisions - a Women's QS1,000 and a Men's and Women's Longboard QS1,000. The Men's and Women's Hurley Surf Club Pro Junior will round out the series; collectively, these events will provide a golden opportunity for regional athletes to earn a slot into the upcoming World Championships and ultimately a hard-earned travel scholarship to start 2018 off strong.
As the final event of the 2017 Regional QS season for Women, Juniors and Longboarders, multiple titles are on the line at the Turtle Bay Resort Pro including the Women's Regional QS Champion and the Men's and Women's Regional Junior Champion. It will also determine six slots into the 2018 World Junior Championship along with qualification into the 2018 World Longboard Championship.
Barron Mamiya, 17, has dominated the regional Junior events this year. - WSL / Keoki Saguibo
Forty athletes are confirmed for the Men's junior division including North Shore's Barron Mamiya who leads the rankings by nearly 1,000 points and is in strong, if not unbeatable, contention for the regional title after winning three of the four WSL Hawaii/Tahiti Nui junior events this year at Sunset Beach, Tahiti and Pipeline. 2017 marks Mamiya's final year competing as a junior and he is determined to bow out with an unprecedented sweep of the Men's Pro Junior regional series.
For the junior women, regional front runner Zoe McDougallof Sunset Beach has also been on a winning streak after her maiden professional victory at the Sunset Pro Junior in January. McDougall went on to secure five more first-place finishes and an additional four podium appearances in the Junior and QS circuits in 2017 and will be among the stacked field of female competitors in both the QS1,000 division and Women's Pro Junior at the Turtle Bay Resort Pro.
Zoe McDougall, 17, returns home to Hawaii after a year of traveling for the International QS and Junior series. - WSL / Kelly Cestari
McDougall sits less than 200 points behind regional QS pacesetter Savanna Stone from Maui, who took home the inaugural Papara Pro Vahine Open Tahiti title in Tahiti earlier this year to secure the top slot. However, with 32 hungry competitors the likes of Brisa Hennessy and last year's Turtle Bay Resort Pro Junior winner and 2014 World Junior Champion Mahina Maeda entered, the QS1,000 competition will surely deliver fast-paced performances from some of Hawaii's most talented crop of young professionals.
Tahitian surfers currently rule the Men's Regional Longboard rankings, with Michel Demont and Tereva David sitting in the No. 2 and No. 3 positions respectively. Both surfers are entered to compete in the Turtle Bay Resort Pro Men's Longboard division for the chance to earn a slot into the 2018 World Championships in Papa New Guinea alongside Hawaii's Kai Sallas, who is second in the world after a runner-up finish at the 2017 Men's Kumul PNG World Longboard Championships in March.
Sisters Ashley and Stacia Ahina and Lola and Mason Schremmer will go against 12 other longboarders in the Women's division to put surfing's most traditional style of wave riding in the competitive limelight to feature its evolution. The addition of the Men's and Women's Longboard events to the Turtle Bay Resort Pro demonstrates the WSL's push toward representing the traditional sport among its other professional tours and the region's desire to offer more opportunities to a broader range of athletes.
The iconic point break at Turtle Bay Resort is positioned to welcome the North Shore surf season. - WSL / Turtle Bay
Turtle Bay Resort is the North Shore's gathering place for waves, entertainment and accommodations during the prime big wave season and features a right-hand point break that will challenge the progression and prowess of athletes. Known as a swell magnet, Pool Bars lights up the Northern tip of Oahu on N, NW and NNE swell directions and can handle wave face heights of up to fifteen feet. The venue is favorable to high-performance surfing and fine-tuned fundamentals and will deliver an exhilarating show for resort guests, local fans, surfers and their families.
The Turtle Bay Resort Pro will kick off an exciting calendar of surf-centric events, including the Vans Presents the HIC Pro (October 27 - November 9) and the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing (November 12 - December 20). WSL Hawaii/Tahiti Nui will also host a variety of junior and community-related activations during the Turtle Bay Resort Pro including a Youth Development Day Presented by Hurley Surf Club on October 7 and public screenings of Kai Lenny's new film ‘Paradigm Lost' and Clark Little's 'Shorebreak', all of which are free and open to Turtle Bay Resort guests and community members. For visitors, fans and locals alike, Turtle Bay Resort is an official partner of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and offers exclusive pricing on rooms at (http:///www.turtlebayresort.com/wsl)