Perkins is a winner

World champion longboarder Bonga Perkins of Honolulu won his first standup paddleboard title Monday by besting some of the sport’s best in the final of the Sunset Beach Pro.

The first stop of the Standup World Tour had epic conditions with clean 10- to 12-foot surf that played to the 39-year-old Perkins’ strengths. He earned $3,500 after the 35-minute final heat that included two-time defending world champion Kai Lenny of Maui, France’s Peyo Lizarazu and Ikaika Kalama from the Big Island.

Lenny finished second, Lizarazu third and Kalama fourth.