Gonsalves and Valenti take Women’s Pro events at Pipe

Nasty weather and angry surf made for an inartistic day, but Alisha Gonsalves and Bianca Valenti took home titles on Friday at the SeaHawaii Women’s Pro at Pipeline.

Surfers dealt with plenty of rain, wind and strong currents in the 4- to 6-foot surf.

"I feel on top of the world right now, best feeling ever," said Gonsalves, 19, of Honolulu, who took the pro junior event. "It’s my first pro junior win, first ASP win, first for all of that.

"The conditions were probably as bad as it could be out there in my opinion. It was chocolate water, storming, big waves with lots of big closeouts."

With such a disorganized lineup Gonsalves had to use a strategy that helped her make heats throughout the contest.

"I was just trying to get two waves that were open and didn’t close out," she said. "Don’t ride it in too far, because you would have trouble paddling back out. Not even the Jet Skis could get you back out."

The current was so strong that after every ride competitors would end up coming in at Off the Wall, then run up the beach to Ehukai to make it back out to the lineup at Pipeline.

Oahu’s Kallee Krebbs took second.

In the women’s pro, Valenti, 26, of Dana Point, Calif., came out with the win.

"I feel stoked," Valenti enthused. "I came out here just for this event. It’s my first win in a shortboard event.

"I was just trying my hardest to catch some waves. It was big and stormy, but there was still some nice big walls to ride."

Oahu’s Alessa Quizon took second.

Tatiana Weston-Webb, 16, of Kauai made the finals in both divisions, finishing third in each. She surfed for 2 hours straight, competing in back-to-back semifinals and then back-to-back finals.