Swatch Aloha Classic, 5th  to 12th nov. 99

The first round of the woman's single elimination began with regular rainsqualls interrupting the proceedings, conditions out on the water in the huge waves became extremely difficult. Advancing into the second round from were Cecily Kitts, Jenny Ellefson, Tsugmi Takagi, Jocelyn Hrkach, Kelly Moore, Renata Fuzetti, Nina Heiberg and Jennifer Henderson. Kelly Moore had a particularly outstanding performance and caught several mast high plus set waves riding them without fear right in front of the infamous Ho'okipa rocks.

The day after Cecily Kitts, Tsugumi Takagi, Kelly Moore and Iballa Moreno all advanced into the final after superb performances in the two semi finals. World Champion Karin Jaggi failed to advance from the first quarter final after losing her rig after a big over the falls wipe out early in the heat. Jaggi ended up in the middle of the rocks while her competitors, Cecily Kitts and Tsugumi Takagi were busy clocking up the points. In the other quarter final Kelly Moore continued to impress the judges and advanced convincingly alongside Iballa Moreno. Their opponents, Daida Moreno and Jennifer Henderson both suffered nasty wipe-outs, which proved expensive and lost them too much valuable time during the heat.

Moore compared the event to last year when the women's competition was not finished, and said:

"I think there's ground breaking technology here today. Take note, our day is dawning. There's nothing to compare to last year, for the women not to be able to finish was a heartbreaking, devastating disaster."

The final was exciting and was a showdown between Kelly Moore, Cecily Kitts, Iballa Moreno and Tsugumi Takagi. All four sailors put out spectacular performances and rode the waves and hit the lip with no remorse. Kelly Moore who is originally from Florida but now lives in Hawaii seemed to have the edge over the other three women competitors after pulling off several huge aerials. The judges eventually awarded victory to Moore with fellow American Cecily Kitts taking second Tsugumi Takagi from Japan in third and Iballa Moreno from the Canary Islands in fourth.

KELLY MOORE:
" I am absolutely stoked, you would not believe how stoked I am, I am inconceivably stoked!"

In the double elimination it was heartbreak for Kelly Moore following two defeats by local wave specialist Jennifer Henderson. In both finals Kelly Moore seemed to make tactical errors and failed to score more than one big move on each wave. Meanwhile Henderson seemed to be racking up the points with several turns on each wave before setting herself up a big move on the final section. The judge's decision was unanimous in favour of Henderson, which also meant her first ever victory at the Aloha Classic.

1999 PWA Wave World Ranking

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the PWA tour final was Iballa Ruano Moreno winning the PWA   Wave World Championship. Iballa Moreno has been ranked behind her sister Daida (the winner of Gran Canaria) in every event this year. She jumped out of Daida’s shadow with superior waveriding to finish 4th in the event and clinch the World Title.

The Moreno twins burst on to the PWA tour just 2 seasons ago and immediately grabbed the spotlight with wave-jumping skills beyond that of their rivals. The Achilles heel of the twins has always been the waveriding technique. It would seem Iballa’s training has paid off as she showed a style, elegance and good competition technique choosing the best waves to reach the final 4. Daida Moreno, who came into the event leading the 1999 wave rankings has dropped to second position ahead of Karin Jaggi, the winner of the Sylt wave event, which in turn assured her of the Overall World Championship.

The 1999 PWA Wave World Championship

1 RUANO MORENO, Iballa E-63
2 RUANO MORENO, Daida E-64
3 JAGGI, Karin Z-14
4 FREY, Antonia GR-1
5 GUADAGNINO, Colette V-711

results Aloha Classic   1 HENDERSON, Jennifer US-7 Da Kine, Powerex 2 MOORE, Kelly US-6 Gaastra, Jantzen,Red Bull, Da Kine 3 KITTS, Cecily US-36 North Sails, Girl Star

4 RUANO MORENO, Iballa E-63    North,Mistral,Quiksilver,Oakley,VW 5 GUADAGNINO, Colette V-711    Neil Pryde,Vela Uno, Tectonics Maui 5 TAKAGU, Tsugumi J-101    Simmer Style 7 ELLEFSON, Jenny US-129    Powerex Masts 8 BRYANT, Keala HI-14    Simmer, Smith Optics 9 JAGGI, Karin Z-14    Arrows,F2,Sohard AG, Shopway,Spanset 9 RUANO MORENO, Daida E-64    North, Mistral,Quiksilver,Oakley,VW 11 BENEDICTE HEIBERG, Nina N-10    Simmer 11 KOBAYASHI, Motoko J-0    Xcel Clothing 13 FREY, Antonia GR-1    Arrows,F2,Oakley,Quiksilver,RedBull 13 HRKACH, Jocelyn KC-80    North Sails, Da Kine, Chinnook, No Limits 15 VIOLETTE, Anick KC-96    Naish,Mistral, RipCurl,Freestyle 15 FUZETTI, Renata BRA-157    Naish Sails, Salinas 17 BORONAT, Nicole E-77    Gaastra,Bic,Chiemsee, Aybar,RipCurl, 17 CLEARY, Ceci US-02    Neil Pryde, Letartz, 17 MUELLER, Jutta G-680    F2, Pro-Limit 20 ERNST, Lucienne H-444    Arrows,Mistral, Oxbow,OAD,Tab Teleco 20 REICHMAN, Anne Marie H-98    ART, Fanatic, Quiksilver, Simple 20 HUA, Liu Liang TPE-17 20 BENCHIMOT, Ana BRA-1    Simmer 20 MOLLER, Andrea BRA-10