Bill Bryan broke what was his longest losing streak in years in Hawaii this past weekend (two contests).  In winning the contest he also sealed his victory in the UST and ISC tours.  George Bryan was able to pick off second place again, not only in the contest but also in the UST and ISC tours.  Jus Martel made a strong statement by earning third place in his first contest since he broke his leg last spring.  These were the top six contest placings:

1. Bill Bryan
2. George Bryan
3. Jus Martel
4. Erik Christensen
5. Jamie Lovett
6. Murray Grounds

The contest started on Thursday morning at Sandy Beach on Oahu.  Rain and gale force winds were the order of the day but the contest had to go on.  This contest had a very unorthodox  judging system which can be seen at skimhawaii.com.  

Contestants competed once on Thursday and once on Friday.  Their points from each heat were then added together and the top six were then selected to compete in the "finals".  The "finals" were actually three separate two man heats, with each competitor skimming only once.  The order of the top six was determined by their scores for the heat.  Like any system, this one had its benefits and detriments.  The most obvious benefit appeared to be very ordered wave priority and separate judging for the different components of a ride (manuever, distance, size etc).  The most obvious and perhaps serious detriment appeared to be that points were compared based on varying conditions.  For instance heat one might have much better waves than heat eight, so the riders in heat eight would be at a serious disadvantage.  Perhaps I will do a full write up of this in the future.

For this contest however, this did not seem to be much of a problem, because the conditions were pretty similar  throughout the day.  Unfortunately, intermitent rain combined with the strong wind shut down many of the planned side show events like the bikini contest and put a hamper on spectator turnout.

Even though the contest suffered from the wind weather and wave conditions, visiting riders were able to score some good waves elsewhere on the island.  Check back soon for a write up of the whole trip.

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Contest overview on day one.

Bill Bryan starting things off in the finals.

George Bryan following his brothers lead.

Jus Martel switch re-entry.

Erik Christensen landing in fourth.

Day Three.