Lake Honolua Bay - Billabong Pro Maui to hit Ho’okipa

Rosy Hodge : photo ASP Cestari/Covered Images

Billabong Pro Maui
Presented by Hawaiian Airlines

ASP Women's World Tour event #8
Honolua Bay Maui Hawaii
8 - 20 December 2008

Live Coverage | Results/Photos/Videos etc

No Surf at Honolua Bay, Billabong Pro Maui to Run at Ho’okipa Tomorrow

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 December, 2008 : - - Honolua Bay -- With no surf available at Honolua Bay, event organizers for the Billabong Pro Maui have called competition off for the day and have announced the relocation to Ho’okipa Beach Park on the northern side of Maui for tomorrow’s competition.

The final event of the 2008 ASP Women’s World Tour, the Billabong Pro Maui enjoyed excellent waves for the opening day of competition last Wednesday, but have since been in a holding pattern with no surf to speak of at Honolua Bay.

“Today marks the seventh day in a row that the Bay hasn’t had any waves,” Dino Andino, Billabong Pro Maui Contest Director, said. “We’re running out of time, and looking at the forecast, it doesn’t look like the swell is going to be big enough or the right direction until after the waiting period is finished.

With that in mind, we’ll be relocating the venue to Ho’okipa Beach Park on the other side of the island where we’ll be looking to get the final day of Billabong Pro Maui competition underway at roughly 8am.” In addition to being the final event of the 2008 ASP Dream Tour, the Billabong Pro Maui also marks the final stop on the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing (an ASP Specialty Series).

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 20, newly-crowned two-time ASP Women’s World Champion and current No. 2 on the Vans Triple Crown ratings, is disappointed that the Billabong Pro Maui won’t finish at Honolua Bay, but is still enthusiastic to get back in the water and claim another title before 2008 is finished.

“It’s a shame that we won’t be able to finish at the Bay but that’s how it is with surf contests,” Gilmore said. “We’re subject to swell patterns and Mother Nature and sometimes we need to make changes. It looks like tomorrow is going to be the biggest day at Ho’okipa which I’ve heard is a fun little wave so I’m stoked to get back in the water.”

Gilmore trails former seven-time ASP Women’s World Champion Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, by a scant 50 points in the race for the Vans Triple Crown Title, also leads Silvana Lima (BRA), 24, by just 125 points. “It’s really close at the top there and I think whoever finishes highest here in Maui is going to take the Vans Triple Crown Title,” Gilmore said. “It’s pretty exciting and I’m definitely gunning for one more win before the season finishes.”

Gilmore will face Rebecca Woods (AUS), 24, in Quarterfinal 2 when Billabong Pro Maui competition recommences.

“The Billabong Pro Maui has been lucky to have had great waves at Honolua for the past nine years,” Woods said. “There is a back-up plan and it’s a good one. A decent swell is predicted for tomorrow at Ho’okipa on the other side of the island and being a beachbreak, it will open up the field result-wise. There will be more tactics and wave selection will be crucial. It all adds to the flavor and it will be good to compete at another break on Maui. It’s not the Bay, but it’s still a great wave.”

Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7:30am at Ho’okipa Beach Park for a possible 8am start. First up will be seven-time ASP Women’s World Champion Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, up against Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), 21.

Check the Live Coverage

BILLABONG PRO MAUI QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS:
QF 1: Layne Beachley (AUS) vs. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
QF 2: Rebecca Woods (AUS) vs. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS)
QF 3: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Melanie Bartels (HAW)
QF 4: Megan Abubo (HAW) vs. Silvana Lima (BRA)

BILLABONG PRO MAUI ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Samantha Cornish (AUS) 12.50, Rosanne Hodge (ZAF) 12.15, Rebecca Woods (AUS) 11.25
Heat 2: Layne Beachley (AUS) 16.50, Jacqueline Silva (BRA), 9.75, Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS) 8.25
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 15.15, Nicola Atherton (AUS) 8.55, Paige Hareb (NZL) 7.95
Heat 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) 11.25, Megan Abubo (HAW) 10.90, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 7.65
Heat 5: Silvana Lima (BRA) 12.50, Melanie Bartels (HAW) 11.75, Serena Brooke (AUS) 9.65
Heat 6: Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 16.10, Karina Petroni (USA) 14.00, Amee Donohoe (AUS) 8.75

BILLABONG PRO MAUI ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Paige Hareb (NZL) 13.25, Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 13.00, Melanie Redman-Carr (AUS) 11.60
Heat 2: Amee Donohoe (AUS) 12.85, Rebecca Woods (AUS) 12.75, Serena Brooke (AUS) 10.15

BILLABONG PRO MAUI ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Layne Beachley (AUS) 15.00 def. Nicola Atherton (AUS) 11.65
Heat 2: Rosanne Hodge (AUS) 13.70 def. Samantha Cornish (AUS) 13.35
Heat 3: Rebecca Woods (AUS) 12.00 def. Jacqueline Silva (BRA) 7.75
Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 17.50 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 9.85
Heat 5: Carissa Moore (HAW) 12.50 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 5.75
Heat 6: Melanie Bartels (HAW) 16.80 def. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 15.50
Heat 7: Megan Abubo (HAW) 12.25 def. Amee Donohoe (AUS) 7.00
Heat 8: Silvana Lima (BRA) 18.00 def. Karina Petroni (USA) 11.75

Previous reports:
# 1 : Billabong Pro Maui set for Honolua - celebrates year 10
# 2 : ASP top 17 gear up for showdown at Billabong Pro Maui
# 3 : Womens Dreamtour qualification comes down to Maui

# 4 : Billabong Pro Maui gets day off, possible start on Weds
# 5 : Billabong Pro Maui quarterfinalists decided at Honolua
# 6 : Honolua Bay goes flat, Billabong Pro Maui gets lay day

# 7 : Triple Crown title to be won at the Billabong Pro Maui..
# 8 : Small surf forces another lay day for Billabong Pro Maui
# 9 : Billabong Pro Maui off today: organizers explore options

www.billabongpro.com
www.aspworldtour.com
www.triplecrownofsurfing.com

About Vans Triple Crown of Surfing:
The $815,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing consists of the Reef Hawaiian Pro, Haleiwa, Nov. 12-23 (6* WQS, men and women), the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing, Sunset Beach, Nov.24-Dec.6 (6*WQS men), The Roxy Pro, Sunset Beach, Nov.24-Dec.6 (WCT women), the Billabong Pipeline Masters (men), Pipeline, Dec. 8-20 (WCT); and the Billabong Pro Maui (women), Honolua Bay, Maui, Dec. 8-20 (WCT). In addition to $815,000 in prize money, which includes a $10,000 bonus for both the men’s and women’s Vans Triple Crown champions, the men’s champion will also receive a custom, one-of-a-kind Nixon tide watch featuring over two-carats of diamonds and valued at over $10,000.

About ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Japan, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.

www.billabongpro.com
www.aspworldtour.com
www.triplecrownofsurfing.com

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