In the Lineup: Champions Carissa Moore, Stephanie Gilmore say Honolua surf was fearsome but fun

Call it fate, or Maui mana: For the second year in a row, the world championship of women’s surfing was decided by the last contest of the tour, the World Surf League’s Beachwaver Maui Pro, held Nov. 26-27 in the natural arena beneath the cliffs at Honolua Bay.

In glorious waves, Australian Stephanie Gilmore made history, clinching her seventh world title to tie her countrywoman Layne Beachley for the most world championships won by any surfer except Kelly Slater, the record holder with 11 titles.

The big swell was historic, as well, pumping out smooth, hollow waves up to triple- overhead in size. “It was definitely the best surf we’ve had for Honolua, big and clean and perfect,” an ebullient Gilmore said in a phone interview from Southern California. “Just to get that opportunity to surf waves like that was the dreamiest end to the season.”

Gilmore’s world championship, based on points accumulated throughout the 10-contest tour, was ensured after second-ranked Lakey Peterson, from California, lost to Hawaii’s Alana Blanchard in the Maui Pro second round. But the event winner was Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, the three-time world champion, who soared in the big, powerful waves, from an enormous double barrel on Day 1 to a stand-up barrel in the final. Moore had already won the contest on points when a grand melee of hacks and swoops received a perfect 10, the only one awarded to anyone on the 2018 women’s championship tour, for her last ride and the tour’s last wave. “I was just really, really honored and so elated,” Moore said in a phone interview. “When I took off on the last wave, it wasn’t about the result for me, it was about performing my best.”

Gilmore also kept competing hard, even after she learned she’d won the title on the first day. Asked how she regrouped to win her quarterfinal heat with a long barrel, “I was losing and I had to keep my composure,” she said. “I was thinking that if I made it through the heat I could get another session at Honolua Bay. That was the reward.”

As graceful on the winner’s podium as in the waves, she also acknowledged not only Beachley but her peers. “The cool part is all us girls are competitors and rivals and yet we have such respect for one another. That’s what makes it so entertaining and so interesting and pushes us to new levels,” she said, noting her “incredible” rivalry with Peterson “and how, at Honolua, “just watching Carissa, Tatiana (Weston-Webb, a Brazilian) and Courtney (Conlogue, a Californian) surfing so good inspired me to continue on.”

ON that same epic Monday and Tuesday, the WSL’s Jaws Challenge at Peahi was held in 30- to 50-foot wave faces, and early Monday before the Beachwaver Pro there was talk that Honolua might get too big and the contest would have to to be called off. All the women, however, showed they could handle it with style.

Asked if they felt apprehensive, Gilmore and Moore acknowledged the fear factor but said they had a lot of fun. “It was definitely a little nerve-wracking at times, but nice to surf in conditions that gave us butterflies,” Moore said, “to step outside our comfort zone but in a controlled environment.”

Moore also appreciated the strong showing from Hawaii, with a raft of contestants including Blanchard, Coco Ho, Bethany Hamilton, Summer Macedo, Zoe McDougall and Malia Manuel, who dispatched Gilmore in the semifinals, making the final an all-Hawaii duet.

Looking forward to vying for her eighth title next year, “I’m sure it will be tough but I love what I do,” Gilmore said, “representing female surfing and all the great things WSL is doing. Equal pay (pledged by the WSL for men’s and women’s prize money in 2019) is a huge moment for us to move forward, to set a better standard not only for the surfing industry but for all sports and to try and use my voice to make things better for the rest of the world.”

Sometimes waves speak more than words.

“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.