Hawaiian local Morgan Noireaux won the single elimination at the PWA Starboard Severne Aloha Classic 2014. He impressed everyone with clean and flawless wave riding. His wave riding at Ho’okipa looks simple, but very dynamic, adapting to the speed of the wave. He was riding the wave with a lot of drive and nailing aerials above the horizon. Morgan not only was the best sailor in the final, he as well had the highest scores in previous heats. In the semifinal he scored 17.12 points, 0.36 points in front of Victor Fernandez.
Thomas Traversa, current PWA wave tour leader, was Morgan’s hardest opponent, always fighting for each single chance to nail a frontside wave 360, an aerial or a perfect cutback. At the end of the heat he missed 0.64 points to take the win. Victor Fernandez, who still is in the PWA overall wave title game, but must win the double elimination, showed really long wave rides during the final. Marcilio Browne, one of the most radical windsurfers at Ho’okipa took a lot of risk and crashed several times quite hard. He landed a perfect Goiter and a clean frontside wave 360 but was not able to find the waves to connect his moves to wave rides. In the end the 2013 PWA Wave World Champion finished in 4th despite a great show.
“It’s been my goal since hurting my foot in last years contest to take it all the way. It feels great to win the single elimination at Ho’okipa; I feel like the only place I know better than Ho’okipa is my own house. I haven’t actually won yet though, so I’m trying to not get too excited. I’m just really happy with how I sailed and hope that I can seal the deal in the double.” Morgan Noireaux
Result single elimination men:
1. Morgan Noireaux (18.25 points)
2. Thomas Traversa (17.62 points)
3. Victor Fernandez (16 points)
4. Marcilio Browne (15.63 points)
5. Robby Naish, Ricardo Campello
7. Alex Mussolini, Boujmaa Guilloul
full result here
WATCH THE CLIP OF TAM MULLEN ABOUT THE MEN’S FINAL IN THE SINGLE ELIMINATION:
Morgan appears to be the only competitor that is really dialed into this wave. By comparison, everybody else rides it a bit like – well – a tourist.
Morgan’s riding was out of reach in the single! Amazing guy.
Speaking on the double elimination early heats. Don’t you guys have the impression that Philip Koster’s waves were underscored? In my oppinion Philip and Levi should’ve advanced the elimination heat over Robby Swift.
What do you guys think?