NAMOTU WORLD PADDLE CHALLENGE : Kai Lenny wins the Surf Slalom at Namotu Island

19 year old, 2 x Stand Up Paddlesurfing Wolrd Champion and second place finisher in the Long distance, Kai Lenny storms to victory at the challenging Surf Slalom race of the Namotu World Paddle Challenge Fiji, presented by Air Pacific. In a nail biting finish, Kai found the wave he needed to overtake Long Distance Champion Connor Baxter and secure victory on the all important last leg of the course.

« That was challenging and I was lucky to find the right waves. I could feel Connor breathing down my neck on the race to the finish as I know how fast he can catch up. »

Off the start and through the first half of the course, Connor Baxter found the right line and lead the star studded final. Howver a few critical mistakes on the 2nd leg allowed Kai Lenny and Zane Schweitzer to catch up in the creation of an exciting 3rd and final leg battle that kept the audience at the edge of their seats.

In an impressive display of surf riding and swell negotiation, North Shore Paddle Challenge Champion Zane Schweitzer battles it out with Kai and Connor for a well earned 3rd place.

In the familiar heat elimination format, athletes were pushed to their limits on a course that required stamina, surf riding skills, strategy and extreme balance and power to punch through the surf on the way out,

Slater Trout puts together another great performance here in Fiji to finish in 4th place, with a memorable battle with Kai Lenny in their first round heat, and a solid performance from start to finish.

Also with a notable performance on this surf slalom course, much like the long distance, was North Shore stand out, Noa Ginella from Oahu. Clearly the Hawaiian contingent were revelling in some of the most challenging surf conditions imaginable for the Stand Up World Series Sprint Course.

Current Standings at the Namotu World Paddle Challenge

So the current standings at the Namotu World Paddle Challenge FIji, presented by Air Pacific are that Maui Boys Connor Baxter and Kai Lenny are in equal first, each with a 1st and 2nd place finish. It will now all come down to a last duel between the 2 Champions that will be announced tomorrow and contested Friday morning, to decide the Namotu World Paddle Challenge Champion for 2011, so stay tuned....

In 3rd equal are Australian Jake Jenson who secured a 6th place finish today in the sprints to complement his 4th place finish in the long distance, Slater Trout with a 6th and 4th respectively, and Noa Ginella with two 5th places for both long distance and sprint.

Overall Women Champion is Annabel Anderson, while leading masters athlete is none other than Namotu regular from Australia, Iron Phil.

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