KAHULUI - In the windiest event of the Maui Race Series so far this year, Phil McGain won two of three heats to take the Quiksilver Cup's pro A title Saturday at Kanaha Beach Park.
The Quiksilver, the fourth of five competitions in the series, had sustained winds of 30 mph.
McGain and nine other racers, including Professional Windsurfing Association world tour competitors Micah Buzianis, Kurosh Kiani, Pieter Bijl and Dan Ellis, had to qualify for the pro A division in morning heats.
Article Photos
Pieter Bijl crosses the finish line to win a pro A division heat during Saturday’s Quiksilver Cup at Kanaha Beach Park.
HARRY WIEWEL photo
Buzianis, who is ranked 10th in the world, had won both of the MRS events he had competed in while McGain had the won the other pro division race.
Bijl, a Maui resident who represents the Netherlands on the PWA tour, won the first pro A heat on Saturday after getting a great start and holding off McGain and Buzianis.
In the next heat, McGain was the lead sailor to a crowded first mark. Buzianis and Kiani, who represents Denmark on the PWA, collided rounding the buoy.
"I was doing a jibe and Micah thought he could squeeze inside and he took me out," Kiani said. "We both went in the water. It destroyed my board, but I think it can be saved. But that's just racing."
Buzianis had a different version of the crash: "These guys (Kiani and Ellis) sailed really wide," he said. "I jibed inside and had plenty of room. Kurosh decided to cut upwind instead of going straight. He actually hit me, I was finishing my jibe. His board hit my boom, I guess, and it shot me over the front."
Buzianis rallied to finish fourth behind McGain, Bjil and Ellis. Kiani was sixth.
In the final heat, McGain and Buzianis edged past Bijl at the start, and they held their positions to the finish line. Bijl ended up in second place overall.
"I just was able to put it together," McGain said. "I was consistent enough, clean starts and good board speed."
Kiani was competing in his second MRS event - he took fourth in pro A two weeks ago.
"This was super, good fun," Kiani said. "The racing exceeded my expectations. Other PWA racers told me it's fun and good practice."
Kiani was born in Iran, and moved with his family to Denmark when he was 6 years old. He speaks 10 languages - Danish, English, German, Portuguese, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, Norwegian and Swedish.
"My parents are from Azerbaijan, on the northern border of Iran, where they speak Turkish and Russian," Kiani said.
"My parents are translators. They translate Nordic languages into Middle East languages and English. Growing up in Denmark, I had to learn Danish and German."
The 28-year-old Kiani has been windsurfing for 15 years.
"I hope some day to go and be able to windsurf in Iran," he said. "Water sports really aren't developed there. The culture is not to do things in the water. I hope to change that in the future."
The windy conditions were challenging for two juniors.
Casey Rehrer broke his mast in his first expert heat of the day. The 15-year-old went on to win his next two heats in the class and take second in the final race to win the division, edging Sam Thomas, a 6-foot-6 17-year-old from New Zealand.
Rehrer and Thomas also met in the junior division in the afternoon - Rehrer again took first place. Rehrer won the first heat, and Thomas won the second. Rehrer was leading Thomas on the final leg in the third race when Thomas' carbon mast snapped.
"It was my first-ever slalom race, I'm stoked," Thomas said. "I'm really happy. I don't think Phil (McGain) is too happy because I rented the mast from him."
Mike Yasak finished first in the 50-59 and pro B divisions. Other winners were Ellis (19-39), Buzianis (40-49), Tamara Bockius (women), Argentina Jimenez-Bonilla (advanced), Todd MacFarlane (60 and over), Sailor Bockius (menehune) and Griffin Freysinger (semipro).
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MRS QUIKSILVER CUP
Saturday's Results
At Kanaha Beach Park
19-39-Dan Ellis 0.7-10-3-0.7-4.4, Isaac DeVries 2-0.7-2-7-4.7, Mark Boersma 3-2-4-5-9, Pieter Bijl 10-10-0.7-2-12.7, Griffin Freysinger 6-3-6-10-15, Neil Turpin 5-10-7-4-16, Laurence Carey 4-10-8-6-18, Kurosh Kiani 10-10-5-3-18, Chris Freeman 10-10-9-8-27.
40-49-Micah Buzianis 0.7-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1, Phil McGain 2-2-2-4-6, Peter Slate 3-3-12-2-8, Elon Wong 4-5-3-3-10, Reinhard Elischka 5-4-9-5-14, Olaf Sutor 6-6-4-6-16, Paul Vlietstra 7-8-5-10-20, Eric Lemire 9-7-6-7-20, Chris Adamson 8-9-7-9-24, Osamu Kubota 10-10-8-11-28, Craig Mann 11-11-12-8-30.
50-59 -Mike Yasak 0.7-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1, Ted Hunter 3-2-7-3-8, Jeff Henderson 5-10-2-2-9, Matt Daniells 7-3-3-5-11, Ben Massenburg 4-7-6-4-14, Sam Bockius 2-4-11-11-17, Tom Peterson 6-8-5-6-17, Bobby Reader 9-5-4-11-18, Tim Wood 10-6-11-7-23, Dave Dalgetty 8-9-8-11-25.
60 and over-Todd MacFarlane 5-2-0.7-0.7-3.4, Greg Thomas 0.7-0.7-4-4-5.4, Szabolcs Maguranyi 2-4-2-2-6, Masao Hirota 3-3-3-3-9, Jonathan Teuscher 4-5-5-6-14.
Women's open-Tamara Bockius 0.7-0.7-2-0.7-2.1, Argentina Jimenez Bonilla 3-3-0.7-3-6.7, Keiko Yoda 2-4-4-2-8, Annie Crombie 4-2-3-4-9, Diane Takemoto 5-5-5-5-15.
Juniors-Casey Rehrer 0.7-2-0.7-0.7-2.1, Tom McGregor 3-3-2-2-7, Sam Thomas 2-0.7-5-5-7.7, Joe McGregor 4-4-3-5-11.
Pro A-Phil McGain 2-0.7-0.7-3.4, Pieter Bijl 0.7-2-3-5.7, Micah Buzianis 3-4-2-9, Dan Ellis 5-3-6-14, Mark Boersma 6-5-4-15, Elon Wong 7-7-5-19, Kurosh Kiani 4-6-11-21, Neil Turpin 8-8-7-23, Jeff Henderson 9-9-8-26, Peter Slate 11-11-11-33.
Pro B-Mike Yasak 0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1, Reinhard Elischka 2-3-5-10, Isaac DeVries 4-2-2-8, Olaf Sutor 3-4-3-10, Matt Daniells 6-8-4-18, Eric Lemire 2-5-5-8-18, Paul Vliestra 7-7-6-20, Laurence Carey 8-6-7-21.
Semipro-Griffin Freysinger 11-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1, Ben Massenburg 2-2-2-3-6, Sam Bockius 0.7-3-3-11-6.7, Chris Freeman 11-4-4-5-13, Chris Adamson 4-5-5-6-14, Greg Thomas 6-7-11-2-15, Todd MacFarlane 5-6-6-4-15, Szabolcs Maguranyi 7-8-7-7-21, Tim Wood 3-9-11-11-23, Ted Hunter 11-10-8-11-29.
Expert-Casey Rehrer 11-0.7-0.7-2-3.4, Sam Thomas 11-2-5-0.7-7.7, Tamara Bockius 2-3-4-11-9, Osamu Kubota 3-6-3-3-9, Tom McGregor 4-4-2-4-10, Tom Peterson 0.7-5-6-5-10.7, Keiko Yoda 7-7-7-6-20, Chris Knapp 5-8-8-11-21, Kazuhiko Ono 6-11-11-7-24, Yasushi Eto 11-9-11-11-31.
Advanced-Argentina Jimenez Bonilla 8-0.7-0.7-0.7-2.1, Annie Crombie 0.7-3-3-2-5.7, Manabu Matsushita 2-2-4-4-8, Beniya Akira 3-4-5-3-10, Craig Mann 4-6-6-8-16, Masao Hirota 8-5-2-8-15, Joe McGregor 8-7-7-8-22.
Menehune-Sailor Bockius 0.7-0.7-1.4, Emma Fosbinder 2-2-4.
