Caldwell seeks kupuna input on surf contest reform

In mid-February, when the World Surf League canceled its 2019 Pipe Masters contest after the City & County of Honolulu rejected its bid to switch dates from December to January with its Pipe Pro meet, Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced he would found an advisory committee to revise the city’s surf meet permitting rules.

He’s been doing some informal outreach, since.

“I’ve sat down with a group of senior surfers, including Keone Downing, Brian Keaulana and Tony Moniz, about how to form a (committee) to advise the city on reforming the process,” the mayor said in a phone interview March 2.

The group requested a list of all surf competitions on Oahu and copies of the different rules for the North, West and South shores. One way to streamline the system might be to have one set of rules for the whole island.

“I hear that Waikiki has been having the same problem as the North Shore, with a few limited breaks that are only available a few weeks a year,” Caldwell said.

A surfer himself, he wants to balance the interests of competitive and recreational surfers. He also asked the senior surfers to explore ways to ensure local surfers get to compete in more events at home.

Other ideas include making the application simpler and shorter — currently there are 24 pages of North Shore rules to wade through — and a vetting process in which contest organizers meet with a group of stakeholders to explain the event’s purpose and how it ties into Native Hawaiian culture and the ocean.

The mayor said he also received a visit from young local pro surfers Ezekiel Lau and brothers Seth and Joshua Moniz. Joshua Moniz had recently won the 2018 Volcom Pipe Pro.

“They explained the challenges they face as young local surfers competing on an international stage,” he said, and how Hawaii contests provide critical career opportunities for up-and-coming local surfers, who have fewer resources to fly thousands of miles.

“Their humility and wanting to make things better really stirred me up,” Caldwell said.

Perhaps, he added, a payment system for the use of the city’s beach parks by surf contest organizers could support a grant program for younger surfers.

NORTH SHORE native Coco Ho, 26, got a good start to the year by winning the Grandstand Sports Clinic Women’s Pro in Newcastle, Australia, last month.

“I think it definitely sounded like just a big miscommunication,” Ho said when asked about WSL’s dispute with the city, speaking by phone from Manley Beach, Australia, where she was advancing in the Vissla Sydney Surf Pro.

Moving the 47-year-old Pipe Masters to January had been part of WSL’s plan to shorten the championship tour from 10 months to nine, which “I think will be beneficial to everyone,” Ho said.

During her 10 years on tour, she’s been home pretty much only in winter. And she misses home.

“Obviously we’re the best place to surf in the world,” Ho said.

Her favorite wave is Honolua Bay, Maui, where the tour’s final women’s championship contest is held in November.

The Pipe Masters cancellation is “tough to swallow, but maybe we’ll get through it,” Ho said.

The mayor said he hopes WSL will change its mind. Meanwhile, “All this pilikia has opened up a window to take a fresh look at the whole process.”

Regarding his own surfing, Caldwell said he isn’t very good, but he loves the water.

“I’m a South Shore guy; my preference is Pops. And I’m on a big board.”

Turns out he has an impressive quiver, including boards by Ben Aipa and Gerry Lopez.

But he’s been surfing less since he became mayor and his schedule filled up.

“And when I paddle out, I don’t want to talk about the issues: the roads, the homeless. But it’s human nature to ask and I can’t be impolite and say no.”

So he jogs instead.

Maybe this pilikia is also a chance for the mayor to get back in the water and talk with his constituents between sets.

“In the Lineup” features Hawaii’s oceangoers and their regular hangouts, from the beach to the deep blue sea. Reach Mindy Pennybacker at mpennybacker@staradvertiser.com or call 529-4772.