Hawaii surfers do well in HIC Pro opening day

Hawaii surfers were dominant Thursday on the opening day of the HIC Pro at Sunset Beach.

With unruly, chunky waves in the 6- to 8-foot range, Haiku, Maui’s Billy Kemper earned a decisive heat win in the event that serves as a qualifier for the upcoming, prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

"This event right here, especially for the local surfers, is everything," Kemper said. "It really paves the way of your winner because it sets the path for the Triple Crown to see if you can get in."

Kemper took control of his heat, racking up a 7.0 for two big power hacks on a solid 6-footer right off the bat. He then backed it up with a 6.0 ride minutes later with some more committed power surfing. He was throwing around his 6-foot-8 Glenn Pang like it was a shortboard.

"I just wanted to come out here and free surf," Kemper said. "I told myself that I wanted to start out the heat out by getting two good scores above average in the first 10 minutes and luckily I lucked into that."

Huelo, Maui’s Tom Dosland opened his heat with some strong, open-face turns and continued to hammer away at the waves. He scored a 6-point ride for one massive turn, which had the crowd cheering.

While most of his competitors were riding boards in the 6-6 and up range, Dosland rode much smaller equipment.

"Usually the last thing you do at Sunset is ride a small board, but I had to go with what works for me, so don’t fix nothing if it isn’t broke, I guess," said Dosland, who started with a 6-1 and switched to a 6-4. "I am feeling good, really stoked to make my heat."

Imaikalani DeVault, a 16-year-old from Hookipa, Maui, also captured his heat.

"I was just trying to stay busy and make whatever I could out of anything because guys were making heats with two 4-point rides," DeVault said. "It’s really tough out at Sunset, but it’s really just about getting the right wave. This contest is a big one for me because this is how I could get into the Triple Crown and everyone really wants to do good in this event."

Big-name top seeds join the fray on the next day of competition, which could be Friday, including Fred Patacchia, Jamie O’Brien, Evan Valiere, Pancho Sullivan, Makua Rothman and Kekoa Bacalso.

Two more days of competition are needed to complete the HIC Pro.