Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam – Highlights, Results and more…

It has been an incredible week of competition for the Californian stage of the Waterman League held in Huntington Beach. Check out the highlights and final results.

Jake Jensen scores an incredible win in the long distance race at the Huntington Beach Pro

Jake Jensen (Fanatic) from Australia storms to victory in what was an epic long distance race yesterday just south of the pier at Huntington Beach. In an intensely fought out battle between the Top 6, where the lead changed so many times during the 5 lap course, Jake found himself ahead as the others stumbled on the second to last buoy and took the opportunity to make a break and shoot out into the lead, a lead he was able to hold until the finish line to take the win on Day 2 of the Stand Up World Series in Surf City USA. An incredible performance by the young Australian and combined with his 4th place finish in the sprints, this result puts him in 4th place overall for the event and 6th overall in the World Series overall rankings leading into the Final event at Turtle Bay.

Jake Jensen scores an incredible win in the long distance race at the Huntington Beach Pro © supworldmag.com/ watermanleague

Kai Lenny turns it on for the final day of action to secure the overall win in Surf City USA

Kai Lenny (Naish) from Maui, Hawaii put together an impressive race for the long distance component of this Stand Up World Series event, leading off the start, and then once again going head to head with Connor Baxter (Starboard) through the first half of the course. Things started to get switched up on the leg through the surf, as Connor got the edge on the first lap, Kai on the second, but then the Top 6 bunched up and battled for the lead throughout the remaining laps of the course to make it one of the most exciting, fiercely competitive and dramatic races yet on the Stand Up World Series. Kai ended up getting caught up around that second to last buoy, but powered back to take an impressive 2nd place in the long distance, making it a strong win overall for the young Champion from Maui, and a double victory for the Grand Slam event for both World Tour Surf and World Series Racing. Kai is lying in a close second to Connor Baxter coming into the Finals at Turtle Bay, so it will all come down to the wire as the World Championship crown for 2013 is decided.

Kai Lenny turns it on for the final day of action to secure the overall win in Surf City USA © supworldmag.com / watermanleague

Casper Steinfath continues to make his presence felt on the Stand Up World Series

Another impressive performance from the Viking from Denmark, Casper Steinfath (Naish), as he battles through the stacked long distance race to finish in 3rd place, which combine with his 4th in the Sprints gives him another 3rd place overall for the event. As winner of the European Trilogy (France, Spain, Germany), Casper has been one of the most consistent athletes this year on the Series, posting Top 5 finishes at every single event he has entered. After a great performance at last year’s Turtle Bay Finals, make sure to watch out for the ‘Great Dane’ as he heads back out to Oahu’s fabled North Shore for the climactic close to the 2013 season at Turtle Bay. Casper is now lying in 3rd place overall in the World Series Ratings coming into Turtle Bay.

Casper Steinfath continues to make his presence felt on the Stand Up World Series © supworldmag/ watermanleague

Halie Harrison reigns supreme in the Long Distance Race

The young Halie Harrison (Focus SUP) proved that she is a force to be reckoned with in the challenging course that was the long distance race of the Huntington Beach Pro World Series, as she secured a well deserved win in Surf City USA. Finishing well up the fleet, Halie proved that she has what it takes to take on the World’s best, and this combined with her 2nd place overall for the World Series Sprint Racing puts her in equal 1st place overall for the World Series event. After a disappointing (for her) performance in the World Tour Surfing, this strong finish in the racing will be a great confidence booster for Halie: a great performance from this young talent from Oahu, as we expect great things from her coming into the World Series Final at Turtle Bay next month.

Halie Harrison reigns supreme in the Long Distance Race © supworldmag/ watermanleague

Ke’ale Dorries, the revelation of the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam

Ke’ale Dorries not only put on a great performance in the World Tour Surf event, finishing in 5th place and only going down to Candice Appleby, but powered through the sprint course to take victory on the 1st day of this World Series event, and made it through the long distance to finish in 2nd place. These two impressive results have her tied for 1st place overall in the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam – an incredible performance from this young talent from down under. We look forward to seeing her at the next event in Turtle Bay and increasingly through 2014. Her father also deserves a mention, having made the final of the World Series Sprint Racing against the young field of exceptional talent – a mind blowing performance from Peter Dorries that had the crowds on their feet.

Ke’ale Dorries, the revelation of the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam © supworldmag.com / watermanleague

Caroline Angibaud excels in the World Series Sprints and is leader of the pack for the overall

After an impressive 3rd place finish in the World Tour Surfing event, narrowly missing out on advancing through to the Finals, Caroline then went onto post another 3rd place overall in Racing, with a 3rd in both sprints and long distance making her without doubt the most consistent female athlete at the Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam. Posting some of the highest scores in the surfing event and proving that she is right up there in the Racing, Caroline is a double threat and will be looking to reassert her position as such at the next stop on the 2013 Stand Up World Tour at home in La Torche in France.

Far left, Caroline Angibaud excels in the World Series Sprints and is leader of the pack for the overall © supworldmag.com / watermanleague

Recognition of the leading Overall Grand Slam athletes

Although we don’t have an Official overall World Title as yet for the World Tour Surfing and World Series Racing combined, we feel it necessary to recognize the phenomenal achievements of our leading athletes across both the Tour and the Series, as they make history in the sport of Stand Up Paddling and take the performance to a whole new level. Here are the Top 10 male athletes and Top 3 female athletes overall from this Huntington Beach Pro Grand Slam, calculated from their World Tour Surf & Race results. A big congratulations goes out to all our athletes who took part in this epic and action packed Grand Slam event.

MEN’S OVERALL GRAND SLAM RESULTS

Position	Athlete	Nation	Patron	Surf	Race	Overall
1	Kai Lenny	Hawaii	Naish	0.7	0.7	1.4
2	Mo Freitas	Hawaii	Focus SUP/Body Glove	3	4	7
3	Kody Kerbox	Hawaii	Naish	5	5	10
4	Zane Schweitzer	Hawaii	Starboard	5	8	13
5	Daniel Hughes	US		5	21	26
6	Josh Riccio	US		12	18	30
7	Riggs Napoleon	Hawaii	Naish	13	18	31
8	Noa Ginella	Hawaii	Naish	25	7	32
9	Fernando Stalla	Mexico	Rogue	13	21	34
10	Toby Cracknell	Australia	Naish	25	10	35