‘Hana Hank’ is back.

Hank Gaskell, the 2009 champion, scored 9.46 points to win his heat in the third round of the HIC Pro presented by Vans at Sunset Beach.

Gaskell has a mellow demeanor and a Gumby-like approach to riding waves, contorting his body to whatever situation he happens to be in. Gaskell does a lot of yoga and it helped in the tricky conditions.

“It was very warbly out there. I mean, there are good waves to be had, but it was really hard to position yourself right, and when you get on them they are really bumpy so timing is critical, “ said Gaskell about the conditions.

Gaskell needed every point he got, beating fellow Hawaii surfer Noa Mizuno by 0.23 points. He will surf in the fourth round with fellow island surfers Gavin Gillette and Kaito Kino, and Chris Ward of California.

Even though he is a past champion, Gaskell does not feel he has an advantage over his competitors.

“I feel like it gets harder as I get older because there is more and more good kids coming up and the old guys are still ripping too, “ said Gaskell. “I am feeling the urgency now that I am almost 30.”

On the opposite end you have college kid Kylen Yamakawa, who made it through to the final day with his happy-go-lucky approach. He secured 9.24 points in the third round to finish behind Ward.

“It is my graduating semester and I am taking six classes, with all the winter events falling during my midterms, so I have been going back and forth from UH to the contest,” Yamakawa said. “I haven’t been surfing that much, I have just been staying up all night doing my homework, begging my teacher to let me skip and then go into the heat with zero pressure and just have fun. I have been falling and laughing.”

Top seeds that advanced were Joel Centeio, Chris Ward, Ian Walsh, Koa Smith, Myles Padaca and Olamana Eleogram.

Walsh had the high total wave score of the day with 16.5 points, beating fellow Hawaii surfers Gregg Nakamura, Kamalei Alexander and Schuyler Allen.