It's been ten years since the HB Pier has seen a Katin Team Challenge event, and after the last couple days of insane surf and crazy surfing, everyone's hoping it won't be another decade before the next one.The main ingredient? Two days of classic, west-swell, wintertime HB, really, really fun peaky a-frames, carveable walls, all-day glass - even the occasional shack.
Hurley emerged as the clear winner with both Brett Simpson and Rob Machado dominating throughout the event. Simpson took the individual title and $4Gs beating out fellow team member and perfect-10 scorer Rob Machado in a hard fought Battle Royal in the final.
Today started off with the completion of Round 2 which saw the field narrowed to nine teams; all four of the Hurley team members, three Reef surfers, two Jack's surfers, two Darkride surfers, and one each from Huntington Beach High School, Glas, WSA Prime and Fox.
In Quarterfinal 1, Micah Byrne helped carry the torch for the Darkride team advancing in first. After finishing the day on top yesterday, the Darkride team lost two guys in Round 2, leaving Byrne and Jesse Evans. Brett Simpson (Hurley) nudged out Austin Ware (Reef) in the final minutes of the heat to advance for the Hurley crew and maintain their perfect run.
"It was an intense first Quarter," said Byrne. "I kind of bobbled the first one, but I was able to get over it. Stoked to come out of it. Three of my good buddies since I was 13 were out there, so we were just having fun. So many waves. . .it's awesome. It's my spot, it's my 'hood. I'm stoked to represent for Darkride."
Quarter 2 saw Brad Ettinger (Hurley) advance in first and Mike Losness (Reef) in second over former two-time Katin Champion Jeff Deffenbaugh (Huntington Beach High School) and Bruno Rodrigues (Jack's).
"I happened to get in rhythm, so it's good," says Brad Ettinger. Chris Waring (Reef) and Hurley Team Manager Brandon Guilmette advanced in Quarterfinal 3, knocking out the last of the Glas and O'Quinn team members. And Rob Machado (Hurley) and Jesse Evans (Darkride) advanced through the last heat of the Quarterfinals finishing off the WSA Prime and Fox teams.
"I was really surprised coming here," says Machado. "I had low expectations, but it's been good."
The field was shaved to three teams going into the Semifinals - all four of the Hurley team and two surfers each for both Darkride and Reef.
In Semifinal 1, an all regular footer heat, Brett Simpson continued to dominate, advancing with a solid 17.66 points along with Chris Waring with a 12.10, knocking out Micah Byrne (Darkride), and Brandon Guilmette, the first of the Hurley guys to go down.
In all goofy-footer Semifinal 2, Rob Machado opened with a solid 9.23 on his first wave, followed with an 8.50 for a total of 17.71 to combo the field and close the door on the Hurley team win. It was a hard fought battle for second place between Jesse Evans, Mike Losness and Brad Ettinger, but Evans was able to hang on with an 11.64 to advance into the Final.
Chris Waring opened the Final with a solid 7.33 wave, but that was just the beginning of what would be described by many as the greatest final ever at the North Side of the Huntington Beach Pier. Ten minutes in, Machado got barreled followed by a carving cutback for a Perfect10. Brett Simpson responded by landing a giant air to secure a 9.53, combined with a previous 8.50, it was good enough to hold on for the win despite an onslaught of solid maneuvers by both Chris Waring, who was nudged out by less than a quarter of a point, followed by Jesse Evans in fourth."I'm over the moon," said Simpson. "I came into it loose. Rob had a 10, and you can almost guarantee he's going to win with that. But he held back and gave me the wave so I just went for it and the judges liked it. The waves were going off and I finally got a win. I'm stoked."
"I was just having a good time, catching a lot of waves," said Machado. "I was looking for another barrel, but it didn't come.
"It's sick," said Hurley Team Manager Brad Guilmette. "This is what we came here to do. We're just stoked that these guys took it for the team."
FINAL RESULTS
TEAM
1st: Hurley
2nd: Reef
3rd: Darkride
4th: Fox
PRO/AM
1st: Brett Simpson (Hurley) - $4,000
2nd: Rob Machado (Hurley) - $2,000
3rd: Chris Waring (Reef) - $1,500
4th: Jesse Evans (Darkride) - $1,000
=5th: Mike Losness (Reef), Brandon Guilmette (Hurley) - $500 each
=7th: Micah Byrne (Darkride), Brad Ettinger (Hurley) - $250 each
MIKE MORGAN'S "MOST FUTURISTIC" MANEUVER
Chris Waring (Reef) - $500
