High scores and upsets were the rule on Day 2 of the Reef Hawaiian Pro Friday in Haleiwa.
International surfers accounted for 12 wins in the 15 heats during the Round of 96.
Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam won his heat and posted the only perfect 10 of the event thus far.
"The rip took me and put me in the right position for that wave," Boukhiam said. "Zeke (Ezekiel Lau) got the first one and I got the second one and I surfed it, took my time and hit it at the right part of the wave.
"It came out a 10. I don’t know if it was a 10, but I am super stoked with a 10 and it feels great to do a 10 in my first heat here in Hawaii."
Boukhiam’s 10-point ride consisted of two critical back-side snaps on the outside with a third going beyond vertical and ending right on top of the shallow reef section known as the "Toilet Bowl."
Boukhiam’s two-wave total of 17.83 was slightly better than Lau’s 15.57. The top two surfers in each heat advanced to the next round.
Brazil’s Jesse Mendes put up the day’s highest total — a 17.90 — on waves that scored 9.2 and 8.7.
Maui’s Billy Kemper ripped in his heat, starting it off with a 9.17 wave and backing that up with a 7.83.
"I feel great," Kemper said. "I was actually a bit nervous for an event in Hawaii. I was coming off of a pretty bad event up at Sunset. To come out here, get some waves and find my rhythm felt really good."
Hawaii’s Ian Walsh and Dylan Goodale also won their heats.
In the Clash of the Legends event, which took place over two days, Hawaii’s Sunny Garcia outdid Kaipo Jaquias, Michael Ho and Brad Gerlach. Garcia got a check for $10,000.
"It felt good," Garcia said. "I just went out there and had fun. I love competing and I hate losing, so for me it’s motivation to train harder."
Garcia, however, did not advance out of his Round of 96 heat.
Other notables to bow out were Hawaii’s Pancho Sullivan and Seth Moniz, Australian Jack Freestone, Brazilian Marco Fernandez and Kaito Ohashi of Japan.
When competition resumes, top seeds such as John John Florence, Sebastien Zeitz and Mick Fanning hit the waves.