Day 3: Masters Underway and Men’s Double begins

The third competition day at the 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final saw another solid day of sailing as the Masters fleet and Men’s Double Elimination got underway solid logo high waves. Thie first round of Masters and opening 3 rounds of the double were completed in excellent conditions.

Master’s – Single Elimination

The over 45s started the 3rd day of the Maui Strong Aloha Classic in light wind, but beautiful clean waves.  The field is quite stacked with traveling title contenders and as always, a very strong local Maui crew.  Jeff Henderson was well prepared with a big sail and floaty fish board, allowing him to show off in the first heat. Not to be outdone, Josh Stone put on an aerial and carving show to set the tone for the rest of the field. The full heat breakdown can be found on the main Aloha Classic page.  The Semifinal heats are set with Jeff Henderson, Josh Stone, Charlie Rovira, and Pierre Godet in the first heat, while Vincent Beauvarlet, Kai Katchadourian, Paul Karaolides, and Keith Teboul round out the second.

Men’s – Double Elimination 

After a disappointing first day, Marc Paré (Duotone / Duotone Sails) dusted himself off and set about fighting his way back through the double. The Spaniard qualified in second place in the opening round, but then went from strength-to-strength by winning this next two heats, while also laying down the highest scoring heat of the day in first heat of the third round – 13.23 points – after landing a massive frontside 360 to advance into the top 10, which will boost his hopes of being able to finish on the prestigious overall podium.

Paré will now go up against Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), Levi Siver (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) and Ricardo Campello (Naish / Naish Sails) for a place in the top 7. Like Paré, Siver advanced through three consecutive heats to mount a come back and you wouldn’t rule the 2013 Aloha Classic champion from going even further, while Campello faces a heat of death to keep his world title aspirations alive. It is absolutely imperative that the 38-year-old makes it through this heat – and a few more – if he is to fight back and claim his maiden wave world title, while denying Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing), who currently leads the title race as things stand.

In the bottom half of the draw, Japan’s Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails) will go up against three Maui locals – firstly 3-time Aloha Classic champion – Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins) – Kai Lenny (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) and Jake Schettewi (JP / NeilPryde), all of whom have been looking sharp and dangerous, so that will be another tough heat to call.

The next couple of days look as though they will be lay days with Wednesday already being called off, while by Thursday a new swell is forecast to hit Maui and the trade winds are set to return, which should hopefully provide a fitting finale to the 2023 Maui Strong Aloha Classic Grand Final.