Win or lose, everybody wins at the 2022 Da Hui Backdoor Shootout!
For example…Kala Grace and one of the best rides of the entire event…
Photo’s: Da Hui
2nd @_balaram
Hats off to Kala Grace for his 12-point ride!
The Da Hui Backdoor shootout concluded late Sunday and Pipe delivered…BIG Time. Waves were double-Triple ++ overhead, consistent, and clean most all day. Bethany Hamilton goes Richter, and awarded for it! Moana Wong, also was awarded not with cash, but a perfect Pipe bomb; she knifed into the beast gracefully in her final heat and got spat out.
The Da Hui Backdoor Shootout featured a unique format with 33-minute heats, scores were a bit sporadic, the boys underground and informative broadcast gave viewers a feel for the underground culture of the North Shore. It’s a grassroots Surf contest, but with superstars, at the world’s most deadly wave, with heavyweight commentary, and legitimate broadcast infrastructure to create an entertaining online event. Slab Mag.
There’s not a whole lot to say about the event really, other than, more please. Waves were pumping, performances were incredible, and the overall tone, by virtue of it being a contest run for surfers by surfers, featuring men and women, teams etc… worked. Really well.
What a great little innovation on a surf contest.
You can watch the full day replay here. Or wait patiently for the action-packed cutdown..stab mag
SL: January has been very kind to this intense little stretch of volcanic reef. And here on final’s day, there will be winners and there will be losers — but we know one thing for sure: the Da Hui Backdoor Shooutout in Memory of Duke see all kinds of great tuberiding, all day long, by the best tuberiders in the business.
Hit play above to watch live, and scroll below for highlights from today and past days.
Oh, current standings? Right here: *Note: Individual scores are top three waves; team scores are top four scores.
Team Florence (95) John Florence: 27.5 Eli Olson: 26 Ivan Florence: 21.5 Nate Florence: 20
Da Hui Japan (90) Guy Sato: 25 Daiki Matsunaga: 23 Riaru Ito: 22.5 Taichi Wakita: 19.5 Shinpei Horiguchi: 15
Quiksilver (89.5) Zeke Lau: 27 Reef McIntosh: 24 Koa Rothman: 20 Joey Johnson: 18.5 Cody Young: 16
Snapt4 (89) Mason Ho: 27 Barron Mamiya: 23 Benji Brand: 22 Parker Coffin: 17
Peruvian Tubos Team (84.5) Joaquin Del Castillo: 25 Alonso Correa: 23.5 Gabriel Villaran: 18.5 Cristobal del Col: 17.5 Alvaro Marlpartida: 16.5
Volcom (82) Balaram Stack: 24.5 Jack Robinson: 22.5 Makana Pang: 17.5 Kaimana Henry: 17.5 Mikey OShaughnessy: 5
Da Hui Wax (75.5) Billy Kemper: 28 Makua Rothman: 18 Kai Lenny: 16.5 Kala Grace: 13 Jamie O’Brien: 5
Mana Wahine (51.5) Moana Wong: 17 Bethany Hamilton: 12.5 Keala Kennely: 11.5 Bianca Valenti: 10.5
This year‘s competition for the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout 2022 was stacked and grateful so as we haven’t had much competition since Covid in the world of SUP surfing. Some of the entries in the all-invitational competition include Kai Lenny, Mo Freitas, Riggs Napoleon, Bullet Obra, Kainoa McGee, Zane Saenz and more! We had a
great battle and here’s a quick recap from the action!The Backdoor Shootout is known to be one of the most prestigious surf competitions out there, and is held at arguably the world‘s most aggressive and famous surf spot, Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu. This event is honor of Hawaiian Waterman, Duke Kahanamoku, and showcases surf crafts from shortboard surf, longboard surf and stand up paddle surfing! Being invited to this event once again is such a great honor and I am
so grateful not only to be considered for the competition but also for the chance to ride one of my favorite waves in the world with only a few people in the water.
The day started off with some solid 4-8ft (Hawaiian) surf but by the time our division was up, the conditions changed quite a bit and the barrels were a bit more technical than earlier in the morning with not as consistent of big surf. This of course is where our craft stands out and we were stoked to show our community what the sport is made of! On the beach I had my Starboard 6’8” Pro and 8’0” Pro and felt confident with this quiver no matter what the size was. Of course there was great action from Kai Lenny, but giving him a run for the money was the likes of Mo Freitas Riggs Napoleon, Zane Saenz and Bullet Obra getting some great back door barrels and some nice high-performance SUPSurfing maneuvers! In the end, I was able to put the stamp on the competition by showing the judges a great combination of committed barrel riding and high-performance SUP Surfing, and finally got to come home with the big win from this event after competing in it the last 3 or 4 years!
I arrived to the North Shore of Oahu well before the start of the holding. In order to get some good training in and prepare myself for the event. I had some Starboard SUP boards stashed under the house of my uncle Craig Yester‘s who lives near pipeline, so the first thing I did when I arrived was dust off my boards I had stashed on island. The swell was pumping when I arrived, much bigger than in competition and I was so stoked to get some amazing rides, probably some of the best waves I’ve had at pipeline yet on my Sup. It was messy and big but this gave me a chance to get a lot of good training on my Starboard SUP and also some great uncrowned windows at Pipeline and Backdoor! It felt so good to have a solid week of training in on the North Shore and spend time with my wife connecting with our friends and family that we haven’t had the pleasure of seeing since Covid hit. Normally we come to Oahu every year for this event and for others as well including the Sunset Beach pro on the APP world tour, but we’ve now had over 2 1/2 years away from our neighbor Island and North Shore, Oahu!
Of course winning this competition meant so much to me but being able to reconnect with the Northshore community and our friends and family including Riggs Napoleon and Mo Freitas was for sure a highlight of our trip! I’ve been working hard training through Covid and continuing to stay sharp on all my crafts, not only for big wave surfing but also for Sup surfing, and I sure have missed the sportsmanship and challenges of being in competition, so this was for sure a great way to start the New Year of 2022!
2022 Da Hui Backdoor Shootout Results:
- Zane Kekoa Schweitzer
- Riggs Napoleon
- Kai Lenny
- Mo Freitas
- Kainoa McGee
- Clay Everline
Big Mahalo to my sponsors for the support and great gear helping me with the win! Starboard SUP, Honolua Surf Co., BlackProject Fins, Now Foods, Head High Wines, Maui Jim Sunglasses and Fisker!