Morgan Noireaux HI-101 won the single elimination of the 2015 Aloha Classic !

Photos by John Carter/PW. The PWA reports:

THE FINAL

Noireaux was the first sailor to catch a wave and the twenty-one year drew first blood as he landed a huge aerial out into the flats off of a pitching lip before backing it up with a vert snap in the pocket and another floaty aerial off the end section. Noireaux was awarded 8.52 points for his opening effort, which turned out to be the highest scoring wave of the final and put him in a commanding position. The Hawaiian looked every bit the champion yesterday and he quickly followed up his opening wave with another score in the excellent range to really apply the pressure to the remaining three sailors.

Morgan Noireaux had this to say after winning the single elimination:

“The final was really hard. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do at the beginning since I’m a lot heavier than the other riders, but thankfully everyone was just as slow as me — even Thomas [Traversa] was having a hard time moving around the break. In the end it was awesome. I managed to get my two best waves right at the beginning and then I spent the rest of the heat just looking for another good scoring opportunity. Now I’m just hoping I can hang on in the double, but I’m really stoked.”

Noireaux also added which kit he was on and why he opted to choose a 4,9m still in the light winds:“I was on my 83l board and my 4.9m. I do have a 5.2m in my quiver, but I don’t really like going bigger than 4.9m and it was still perfect on the wave.”

NEW MOVE ?

Accidental or not is the question many people were asking about Morgan Noireaux’s move in the opening semifinal. Noireaux lined up for another aerial but was inadvertently thrown into a grubby off the lip, which he somehow managed to sail away from. Some are coining it a new move under the name of ‘oiseaux’ but whether it was deliberate or not remains to be seen — either way it was a hugely impressive feat to sail away from it and it was more than worthy of the 9.25 points it received after a couple of trademark gouging turns beforehand.

More to follow soon….