The 40- to 50-foot waves on display Sunday took top billing in the Pe‘ahi Challenge, and Maui’s Billy Kemper took on the co-star role by winning the $25,000 first prize.

Kemper caught the first wave of the event in the treacherous conditions at the Pe‘ahi break on Maui’s North Shore, which is famous for its gigantic waves as well as its nickname, Jaws. He continued to build on it throughout the day, winning his first six-man heat and finishing second behind Greg Long in his semifinal heat.

“This is a dream come true,” Kemper, 25, said. “We’ve been talking about this moment for years and to have a paddle (non tow-in) event in my backyard at, to me, one of the most premier, outstanding waves in the world means everything to me. To paddle Pe‘ahi (as opposed to being towed into the wave by a jet-ski) has been a dream of mine for a very long time and to be out there with some of my favorite surfers and best friends, I’m just speechless.”

The day was filled with wipeouts, keeping the water safety staff busy.

“We passed the word, talking out there,” Kemper added. “I told the boys we can always surf another big day at Jaws, but we can never replace each other. The main thing at the end of the day is to come back to our families. I’m there for everyone and they’re all there for me. It’s a feeling you can’t reproduce or explain to people. Just a feeling of breaking through a fear factor where it’s all adrenaline. I’m over the moon. I’m just happy to be sitting here doing this interview.

Albee Layer, another Maui surfer, finished second. Earlier in the day, he was on fire and looked unstoppable after a tube ride with the shortest board in the contest — 8 feet, 8 inches — that earned a 7.60.

“I’m just really trying to get in the barrel,” Layer said. “I’m not trying to get the biggest wave. (Barrels) are a little harder to find, but eventually you’ll get one.”

Long finished third and had the highest scoring wave of the day, a 9.00, in the semifinals with a critical drop and a massive tube that he was unable to come out of. Long also had the highest heat score of the day — a 24.50 in the first round.

Kemper finished with a 22.77 in the final, followed by Layer (19.33), Long (16.26), Maui’s Ian Walsh, Peru’s Gabriel Villaran and Hawaii’s Shane Dorian.

On his 8.0 ride in the final, Kemper took a clean line into the tube and eventually kicked out unscathed.

With the win Kemper passed Hawaii’s Makuakai Rothman into first place in the World Surf League’s Big Wave Tour standings.