Poulsen and Hack earn double wins at Sunday Surfbash event at Hoʻokipa, Maui

Zolten Poulsen and Mayli Hack were double winners at the 36th annual Vissla / Hi-Tech / Lopez Surfbash Saturday and Sunday at Hoʻokipa Beach Park on Maui.

It was a tale of two contrasting contests as Saturday was a beautiful day with head-high surf in calm conditions while the wind filled back in, and the surf increased to a series of close-out conditions on Sunday.

Poulsen, who won the open longboard on Saturday and the boys 16-17 shortboard on Sunday, described it the best. “It was almost like polar opposites. Yesterday was small and really nice conditions, Today was completely the opposite, really big, super windy.

“It might be one of the most challenging comps I’ve ever competed in,” said Poulsen, a senior at Maui Prep, who was the Maui Interscholastic League surfer of the year a year ago. Poulsen caught a scoring wave right after the horn to start his final heat.

“Lucky I was sitting deepest, it paid off for me that time. It seems like most finals kind of go that way. It’s really nice to be on the first wave and set the tone, super psyched to be on that first wave,” he said

Hack won the girls 14-15 on Saturday and braved the conditions to claim the Open Women on Sunday. Hack, an eighth grade home-schooler, plans to attend King Kekaulike next year and join her sister, Ayla Daian, on the MIL champion Aliʻi surf team. Hack said she wouldn’t have surfed those conditions if it weren’t for the contest.

“I would never surf it like that if it was not a contest. It was very challenging, close-out everywhere, coming out of nowhere,” she said. “It was big and very scary. My first heat I was really nervous. I was like really scared as I paddled out, but I caught the set. I couldn’t get back out, I was like terrified the whole heat and I could never get to the peak. I got out of my heat, I actually got second. I was happy but I was really frustrated with myself. I wasn’t even going to compete, but my mom was like, ‘just go out there and do your best’. I was still really freaked out. I don’t know how, but I won.”

Hack actually tied with Kaja Przeciechowska, another Aliʻi surfer, but Hack had a higher scoring wave to break the tie.

Hack’s sister, Daian, won the girls 16-17 division.

Cody Young won his second straight Open Men title. His younger brother, Levi, was fourth. Levi beat Cody in 2023 for the title.

“It’s always fun to get him,” Young said. “Today was kind of crazy, it was a pretty big, short period north swell with a little bit of north wind. It made it choppy and pretty stormy. It was still really fun, there were some diamonds in the rough for sure, got a couple in the final that panned out.

Young, 25, who was the first MIL surf champion as a freshman at King Kekaulike in 2014, now competes on the World Surf League regional qualifying series. He travels to Oʻahu next week for the start of three contests in which he hopes to qualify for the WSL Challenger Series.

“This was a great warm-up,” Young said. “I always try to run mock heats, but there’s nothing that really compares to actually being in a real jersey and in a real contest. Especially here because honestly it feels like I have more pressure in these events because I’m kind of expected to beat my little brother.”

Young is currently 9th in the Hawaiʻi/Tahiti region. “I’m looking to get into the top five,” he said.“But really the goal is to win the Hawaiʻi region.”

Kamiel Dereave, a Belgian citizen living in the Canarie Islands, won the boys 12-13. The 13-year-old had been on Maui a week. He leaves next week for a training camp in Ireland before returning to Maui for another three weeks. He has tow-surfed at the famous big wave spot, Nazarre, Portugal.

Deraeve looked impressive in his first contest on Maui. “It was super fun and a great experience,” Deraeve said. “When I come back, I would love to surf Jaws.”

Results

Boys and Girls

U10 (non-priority)

1. J.J. Lucas 13.93
2. Xavier Young 13.10
3. Guide Udell 10.77
4. Felix Swift 8.77
5. Alice Grier 8.57
6. Bandit Udell 5.86

Open Longboard (non-priority)

1. Zolten Poulsen 15.20
2. Bode Davis 13.40
3. Aiden Haas 11.20
4. Lila Sloan 10.84
5. Talia Sloan 7.37
6. Delia Lin Chapman 5.74

Boys

U12 (non-priority)

1. Bryce Martins 14.00
2. Axel Goya 12.67
3. Greyson DaProza 10.94
4. Lachlan Filan 10.17
5. Aukan Messera 9.70
6. Rocco Swift 5.66

12-13 (priority)

1. Kamiel Deraeve 15.67
2. Kona Yamada 13.26
3. Rael Pinere-Schooley 9.13
4. Kai Martins 8.04
   14-15 (priority)
5. Bode Davis 12.34
6. Matias Banto 11.07
7. Asher McClenahan 8.74
8. Seth Jucker 7.70

16-17 (priority)

1. Zolten Poulsen 12.53
2. Memphis Brown 10.77
3. Kai Nelson 9.10
4. Kingston Panebianco 7.83

Open (non-priority)

1. Cody Young 14.17
2. Logan Bediamol 11.27
3. Kalaokahaku Willard 10.30
4. Levi Young 10.16
5. Hans Vandervoort 9.34
6. Kai Nelson 7.70

Girls

U12 (non-priority)

1. Sayler Udell 14.66
2. Coco Bitoun 9.84
3. Avery Stelow 8.66
4. Tiare Sloan 8.00
5. Skylar Kottke 5.97
6. Kajarine Edelhertz 4.69

12-13 (non-priority)

1. Kalli Sprenger 9.17
2. Halia Barnes 7.27
3. Lucia de Castro 6.33
4. Peata Lee-Hubin 6.97
5. Della Lin Chapman

14-15 (priority)

1. Mayli Hack 13.70
2. Baylee Brown 12.90
3. Kaja Przeciechowska 5.93

16-17 (priority)

1. Ayla Daian 15.26
2. Ione LaTurner 12.83
3. Talia Sloan 8.40
4. Lila Sloan 7.50

Open (non-priority)

1. Mayli Hack 9.80
2. Kaja Przeciechowska 9.80
3. Ione LaTurner 9.67
4. Baylee Brown 8.33
5. Ocean Lipstein 6.84
6. Ayla Daian 5.96