Deep bottom turns in front of blue, smooth walls of water, high aerials, late hits and lots of spray! The Hookipa open-air stage is open! Sofie and Paul from Fish Bowl Diaries were on hand as usual to capture some epic moments on camera over the last few days - these photos are just the thing to get you in the mood for next week's magical contest. Click through. Hopefully the contest will be blessed with similar conditions to the warm-up during its window from 23 October to 03 November. Last Wednesday, the swell was even too big for Hookipa and some pros were drawn to another legendary spot: The monster wave of Jaws came to life for the first time this season. Also spectacular. But for now, all eyes are on Hookipa.
Specialists versus all-rounders
The Aloha Classic is one of the most The most prestigious contest in windsurfing can look back on almost forty years of windsurfing history. A victory is for eternity. Who will take the title this year? Robby Naish still holds the record with four wins, closely followed by the young Hawaiian Morgan Noireaux, who is regarded as an absolute hookipa specialist and has already won the Aloha Classic three times. Names such as Bernd Roediger, Camille Juban and the world's best-known waterman, Kai Lenny, spring to mind as other hookipa specialists and potential champions.
For them it would be about a stand-alone event win, but this year's Aloha Classic is about much more: the wave world title of the combined IWT/PWA Tour. The top four all-rounders: Ricardo Campello, Marcilio Browne, Marc Pare and Antoine Martin, who have already proven themselves this year at spots such as Pozo, Fiji and Sylt, will be competing for the world title next week in the amphitheatre of Hookipa Beach Park. At any time on their way to the title, they could come up against riders who do nothing else all year but carve up clean waves with wind from the right - and that's exactly what makes the Aloha Classic so exciting. Here, all-rounders have to prove themselves against specialists. The same applies to the women: The reigning world champion Sarah-Quita has to hold her own in Hookipa against ladies like Sarah Hauser, Maria Andres, or Shawna Cropas, who have specialised solely in wave riding. The original freestyler from the Caribbean island of Aruba has already proven several times that she has what it takes.
The men's candidates for the world title are by no means Hookipa newcomers either - on the contrary, some of them are based on Maui and hold Aloha Classic trophies, among others. It will be exciting to see who holds their nerve against the dangerous wild carders and wins the world title.
From a German perspective
Unfortunately, Philip Köster is still recovering from a foot injury and will not be competing. Instead, the youngsters Julian Salmonn, Henri Kolberg and Nick Spangenberg have already been warming up in Maui's waves for a few days. Julian Salmonn from Giessen, who lives on Tenerife, has a lot of experience with powerful waves. Even though wind from the right is his least favourite wind direction, the 25-year-old should not be underestimated. On the Cape Verde Islands and at the Tiree Wave Classic, he showed that he can not only surf with wind from the left.
From a German perspective, Robby Seeger used to play the leading male role on the Hookipa stage. The super talent from the 90s still lives on Maui today. He even managed to beat Grandmaster Naish and jumped onto the podium - no other German man after him has managed this at the Aloha Classic. Leon Jamaer from Kiel came fifth in 2019. The 33-year-old will be travelling last-minute this year, having made his way to Maui this morning. His powerful and uncompromising style is somewhat reminiscent of the days of Robby Seeger.
Maria Behrens and Lina Erpenstein, who fought one of the most spectacular duels of the wave elimination at the World Cup Sylt last month, are two top riders for Germany ahead of Hookipa. Lina narrowly missed out on the podium in fourth place in her first appearance at the Aloha Classic 2019. The only German to triumph at the Aloha Classic to date was Jutta Müller in 1993. However, no wave classification could be held that year, so she played to her strengths in the slalom. There are no more slalom races at the Aloha Classic these days, the event has developed into a pure wave contest.
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