Maui’s Billy Kemper got off to a fast start in the Vans World Cup of Surfing on Sunday at Sunset Beach, scoring a perfect 10.0 in his heat victory.
Kemper barely has time to celebrate because he is going to Maui today to compete in the Jaws Challenge at Pe‘ahi as a power-packed swell hits the North Shore.
Wave-face heights reached 20 feet by midday Sunday at Sunset Beach and the swell is likely to continue to build today. World Cup contest organizers are expecting wash-through sets and unmanageable conditions, though, and that gives Kemper the flexibility he needs for the one-day Jaws event, which is a part of the World Surf League’s Big Wave Tour. Kemper won at Jaws in 2015 and ’16.
The World Cup is stop No. 2 of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and it’s also the last stop on the WSL’s qualifying series. Surfers are trying to pile up points in order to get onto the championship tour for 2019.
“I really want to put a good run in at the Triple Crown,” Kemper said.
Australia’s Joel Parkinson won the Hawaiian Pro — the first leg of the Triple Crown — last week, which gave him the lead in the standings for the Triple Crown title, which goes to the best surfer in the three events combined. The final Triple Crown contest — the Billabong Pipe Masters — in December is also the last stop on the WSL’s championship tour. Three surfers in that field — No. 1 Gabriel Medina of Brazil, No. 2 Julian Wilson of Australia and No. 3 Filipe Toledo of Brazil — are in the chase for the world title that will be decided there at Ehukai Beach.
On Sunday, Kemper got that 10-point ride in a 12-foot tube. Today, he’ll be in monster-size waves.
“Just really get to put my body through a marathon of some hell waves,” he said. “This is what it’s all about.”
The World Cup resumes when there are contestable waves. It will get the green or red light today at 8 a.m.
Along with Kemper, Evan Valiere, Joshua Moniz and Finn McGill were among 10 from Hawaii to win their heats and advance to the third round.