ROEDIGER REIGNS AND HUNTER MAKE HISTORY AS QUATRO MAUI PRO DELIVERS UNFORGETTABLE DAY TWO AT HO’OKIPA
Day 2: ROEDIGER REIGNS AND HUNTER MAKE HISTORY AT THE QUATRO MAUI PRO, AN UNFORGETTABLE SECOND DAY AT HO’OKIPA
The second day of the Quatro Maui Pro offered everything that makes Ho’okipa the spiritual home of wave windsurfing. With steady trade winds and powerful Hawaiian swells, the world’s best wave windsurfers traded wave after wave in a display of power, precision, and creativity that left spectators and judges searching for superlatives. When the spray finally cleared, Bernd Roediger (Flikka / Hot Sails Maui / Black Project Fins) of Hawaii and Marine Hunter (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) of France took the titles of the first 5-star event of the World Windsurfing Tour season.
MEN: A CHAMPIONS’ FINAL — ROEDIGER WINS WITH A MEMORABLE WAVE
The men’s final brought together four former Aloha Classic champions: Bernd Roediger, Antoine Martin (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing / MFC), Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) and Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins), in what head judge Luis Escribano later described as one of the most spectacular race heats ever seen at Ho’okipa.
It was Roediger, the Hawaiian local hero, who dominated the competition with a final score of 16.40, taking his second WWT victory this season, following his success at the Puerto Rico 3-Star, and adding another chapter to his legendary connection to this beach.
His decisive wave was nothing short of extraordinary. Entering the critical section with utmost determination, Roediger executed a taka in a one-handed turn under the crest of the wave, briefly releasing the sail while riding with maximum pressure on the rail: a radical, functional maneuver with breathtaking style. The judges awarded him a score of 8.93. Many spectators felt the score should have been higher.
“It’s really hard to reach that level of carefree sailing,” Roediger commented after his victory. “You feel the pressure, you feel the anticipation. I’ve noticed that since the last time I won, it’s become harder to compete, it’s become more complicated to manage expectations. But being able to get to the point where you feel completely carefree, completely detached from the outcome, as if to say, ‘I’ll just go in the water and see what happens,’ is something you can feel. I’m last in my heat. Good. It’s not going the way I thought it would. But I keep sailing and believing.”
Roediger also revealed an unusual omen from his opening heat. “The timing coincided perfectly with the launch of the Artemis mission, that rocket that just took off. I don’t know, I had a feeling it was a lucky day from start to finish. And this is Ho’okipa. It has good vibes, good energy.”
He concluded with heartfelt thanks: “I’m so grateful to be able to participate in this event. Last year was an experiment, this year it’s really happening, and it’s happening at this level. Shout out to Francisco and the team at Quatro and Goya, and to my team at Flikka and Hot Sails for supporting me this whole time. It’s incredible.”
Antoine Martin of Guadeloupe placed third with a score of 14.63, performing perhaps the most talked-about maneuver of the entire event. In the semifinals, Martin landed a no-handed goiter, completely releasing the sail mid-rotation, which caused awe among the spectators on shore. Head judge Luis Escribano cited the maneuver as one of those that pushed the scoring to the limit. “I think it was pushing the judges to give higher scores,” Escribano said. The maneuver received a score of 6.53, a score many felt was underestimated compared to what was one of the most technically challenging and visually stunning maneuvers ever attempted in a competition at Ho’okipa. In the final, Martin continued to push the limits with a series of one-handed goiters. As Escribano observed, “No-handed is better, but one-handed is also fantastic.”
Brazil’s Marcilio Browne, who led for much of the final and ultimately finished second with 14.74, narrowly missed out on second place due to the scorekeeping. Morgan Noireaux of Hawaii rounded out the podium in fourth place with 13.50, but his words perhaps summed up the day best: he described the level of sailing as one of the highest levels of windsurfing he’d seen at a competition in Ho’okipa in a long time.
WOMEN: HUNTER MAKES HISTORY; BEHRENS AND COCHRAN SHINE
France’s Marine Hunter earned her second consecutive victory at the spring event in Maui, successfully defending her title from last year’s 4-Star edition in this year’s 5-Star event. In the women’s final, Hunter proved to be a class above her weight, landing six waves with scores above 5 points for a total of 12.83, winning by a margin of 1.43 points.
His surfing received unanimous praise for its fluidity, power, and precise connection to the crest of the wave in a variety of conditions. “I’m super, super happy,” Hunter said after his victory. “We had really great conditions for the final: there was a crossover, super smooth waves. Fantastic.”
Germany’s Maria Behrens (Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) took second place with 11.40 points, earning her second podium at a Maui event – a remarkable achievement for a young athlete who
RESULTS
Pro Women:
1. Marine Hunter
2. Maria Behrens
3. Angela Cochran
4. Lina Erpenstein
5. Lisa Wermeister
6. Pauline Katz
7. Sol Degrieck, Coco Foveau
9. Maria Andres, Svenja Chudoba
11. Natsuki Wakasa, Julia Meijer
13. Sarah Kenyon, Kana Sasao
15. Colette Guadagnino, Sybille Bode
17. Milanka Linde
18. Fumi Akita
19. Sarah Jackson
Pro Men:
1. Bernd Roediger
2. Marcilio Browne
3. Antoine Martin
4. Morgan Noireaux
5. Robby Swift
6. Arthur Arutkin
7. Thomas Traversa, Liam Dunkerbeck
9. Moritz Mauch, Victor Fernandez, Levi Siver, Kai Lenny
13. Philip Köster, Takara Ishii, Takuma Sugi, Marc Pare Rico – reigning world champion
17. Camille Juban, Titouan Flechet, Russ Faurot, Federico Morisio
21.Casey Hauser, Graham Ezzy, Francisco Goya, Levi Lenz
25. Dieter van der Eyken, Julian Salmonn, Charlie Rovira
29. Nick Spangenberg, Anton Richter, Jake Ghiretti,Ryu Noguchi
33. Leon Maethner
34. Javier Escribano Toribio
35. Jazz Glickenhaus
36. Julius Byrne
37. Zdenek Maryzko
38. Yushi Shirakata, Michael Friedl senior, Samuele Ferraro
41. Jackson Holden, Max Ford, Laurent Gourier, Gregory Stathopoulos, Jahan Tyger
46. Koa Fabbio, Jason Papanikolaou
Masters:
1. Keith Teboul
2. Paul Karaolides
3. Stephane Queniart
Pro Junior Girls (U21):
1. Sol Degrieck
2. Sarah Kenyon – reigning junior and pro junior world champion
3. Natsuki Wakasa
Junior Girls (U18):
1. Sol Degrieck
2. Natsuki Wakasa
3. Fumi Akita
Pro Junior Boys (U21):
1. Leon Maethner
2. Ryu Noguchi
3. Anton Richter
Junior Boys (U18):
1. Koa Fabbio
2. Javier Escribano Toribio (Spain) – reigning Junior World Champion
3. Jason Papanikolaou (Greece)
