The World Surf League Longboard Tour is getting ready to crown its world champions and what better place to do so than Malibu, Calif.? The Malibu Classic Longboard Championship has officially been called on for October 4-5, with a great-looking forecast.
Currently leading the world title race on the women’s side with one event win apiece are Kelis Kaleopa’a and Honolua Blomfield – Honolua took home her win at the Sydney Surf Pro in May, and Kelis kept things interesting by taking Honolua down in the final of the US Open Duct Tape Invitational in Huntington Beach this August. However, given the format of the tour (double points – 10,000 – for winning Malibu, and the lowest event score dropped for each competitor), the field is still wide-open. Whoever wins in Malibu will almost certainly be taking home the title.
On the men’s side, Taylor Jensen is coming off of an impressive win at the US Open. He sits at the top of the rankings with Harrison Roach (who won at Sydney). That being said, it’s still anyone’s ball game.
“I think we’re going to see those surfers who tend to thrive at a traditional wave like Malibu really find more success than they did at Huntington,” says WSL commentator Shannon Hughes.
