By Paul Honda
Editor
HondaReport.com
Saturday, July 31, 2004

HONOLULU—Snow in July is a good thing.

It is good even if mom can’t be around to enjoy Snow at its fullest on a scorching hot day at Kewalo Basin Park.

Ned Snow won the Nalu Hawaiian Spirit/SurfaHaus Open yesterday, outpointing Kekoa Uemura, Kai Sallas and Kapono Nahina in the final heat at Kewalo Basin Park.

Snow’s mother, Heidi, was at the meet from morning until mid-afternoon, but had to leave for a 3:30 p.m. appointment. She missed her son’s final heat—and the immaculate moment of his first professional longboard victory.

Ned Snow appreciated the situation with a laugh. “I’m gonna tell her she blew it,” he said.

The final heat was busy for the first 15 minutes, but slowed considerably in the final half. Snow, who outlasted a field of 16 surfers, scored three points and took home a first prize of $600. Uemura, with seven points, earned $300. Sallas placed third ($250) with nine points, and Nahina took fourth ($200) with 11.

“This is Kekoa’s home spot. I know just to be in the final (heat) was great,” said Snow, a 2003 graduate of the Academy of the Pacific.

Snow, 19, recently competed at the Nokia Biarritz Surf Festival in France, where he finished 38th. Uemura was runner-up at that event, considered the biggest in longboard surfing.

Yesterday’s conditions were relatively small early on, but strong gusts made the final heat much more interesting. “They were California-like,” public address announcer Judah Lopez noted.

In addition, Snow’s favorite spot, Diamond Head, has a lefty current. Kewalos comes from the right.

“I stayed focused the whole day. I sat in the shade and blocked everything out,” Snow said, crediting his coach, Rusty Keaulana. “He’s been helping me out a lot. He taught me a lot in France.”

Uemura couldn’t be disappointed with another second-place finish. “I’m stoked for him. He’s younger than me, so I didn’t want to lose to him,” said Uemura, 21. “But I surf with him pretty much every day. I don’t mind losing to him.”

The high finish at the Nokia Biarritz confirmed what local fans and competitors had long known about Uemura, who has total command of his board though he is just 5-foot-7. “If you’ve been surfing all your life, it doesn’t matter,” he said

The son of legendary longboard surfing figure China Uemura has done plenty of exploring within the ream of the sport. “A lot of my friends do it, so I’ve been shortboarding a lot,” Kekoa said. “It keeps me in condition for the progressive side of longboarding.”

Half the score in longboard scoring is in the classic category, and the other 50 percent comes in the progressive requirement.

Some of the best moves of the day weren’t sole property of younger competitors. Veteran Tommy Chun-Ming, 39, won one of his early heats and reached the semifinal round. “I’m just glad God lets me surf with these young guys. They’re my son’s age. I just feel honored to surf with guys like Bonga (Perkins),” said Chun-Ming, who works two full-time jobs. “I get to surf 15 minutes everyday on my break (at Kalaeloa).”

Perkins, a former world champion, reached the semifinal round, as well.

Sallas, 23, pulled off one of the most exciting moves in the final heat—a 180-degree turn, followed by another 180. “I’m stoked. It’s wasn’t that big (early), but everyone was catching waves,” said Sallas, who placed first at the recent China Uemura meet. He’s still looking for that first win at Kewalo.

He’ll get more chances in the years to come. Yesterday’s meet was the third in five events in the Steinlager Shaka Summer Longboard Series. The next meet in the series is the Ocean Club Cheater Five Classic at Ala Moana Bowls August 21-22.

Series coordinator Reid Inouye has been at the business and passion of promoting longboard surfing for two decades now. He returned to the Shaka series this year, bringing compelling elements together than ever before. Inouye is an integral part of Billabong Surf Televsion, which airs on OC16.

On August 15, Heavywater magazine makes its debut. The project is the brainchild of sportswriter Brandon Lee. Inouye dove into the waters of advertising sales and drummed up plenty of interest through his longtime connections in the community.

Gary Nakano supervises graphics work, and Rob Alston oversees the magazines finances, rounding out a small, but tight core of dedicated surf enthusiasts.

“We wanted to do something different, and it complements our TV show,” Inouye said. “Brandon kept talking about doing a magazine. I thought, I have too much on my plate.”

Eight months later, Inouye gave Lee the thumb’s up. The plate was still full, but it didn’t really matter. “I don’t think there are any cons. For me, I kind of knew (sponsorship) people through projects and promotions,” Inouye said.

The sponsors include Coors Light, Ocean Club, Hawaiian island Creations, Surf Life and Heavy State Industries. “They were pumped up,” Inouye said.

As for the Shaka Summer Longboard Series, Inouye hopes to have a meet on the North Shore next summer, despite the usual safety hazards. “This is a fun, relaxed contest,” he said of yesterday’s meet at Kewalo. “Not like the North Shore, where you have to stop contests.”

He also is in full support of surfing as a championship varsity sport. “If it keeps kids in school, I’m all for it,” Inouye said. “If it’s promoted as a school sport, you can take a kid who would quit school and keep him in school.”

Inouye and other surf aficionados are working diligently to make the vision of high school surfing a reality. He has helped a committee form a handbook for the sport’s growth. “It’s a manual for surfing as a varsity sport. A five-year plan,” he said.

Because of his TV show, Inouye is aware of interest in that medium. “OC16 would be all over that, if it became a (sanctioned) sport. They could do a lot of stories on kids who have come back from different challenges through surfing,” he said.

Inouye’s son, Matt, enjoyed tremendous success as a baseball standout at Mid-Pacific Institute and now plays for the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He’d like to see surfing provide another venue for youths to succeed.

“I know they—coaches, organizers, people like (state senator) Fred Hemmings—are hoping that it becomes a varsity sport next year,” Inouye said.

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