Team Hawaii has conquered the 2012 Nicaragua ISA World Masters Surfing Championship, in at Colorado Beach.
Surfing in well-overhead waves on the final day of competition, the Hawaiians won six individual medals and clinched the Team Gold Medal and the perpetual Eduardo Arena Trophy.
"The depth of the talent that we brought with us – Sunny [Garcia], Kaipo [Jaquias] and Rochelle [Ballard] – was a pretty big edge to begin with, and then to have Nelson, who’s one of the coolest dudes in the world, and Glenn, who is a master shaper, it was a really good dynamic," said Mike Latronic, who was both a competitor and team manager for the Hawaiians.
"We have a lot of combined experience, heat wins and great surfing. This year wasn’t even so much about the results, it was about the spirit of our team, the camaraderie, the laughs, and the joy of the whole trip. To cap it off with a Team Gold Medal was icing on the cake."
Hawaii won six of the 20 individual medals awarded on Sunday, with a Gold and Silver won by former ASP World Tour Champion Sunny Garcia, a Gold for Rochelle Ballard, a Silver and Bronze for Kaipo Jaquias and a Bronze for Mike Latronic.
Team USA, which won Gold last year in El Salvador, had to settle for the Team Silver Medal in 2012.
Women’s Masters
Gold – Rochelle Ballard (HAW), 8.90
Silver – Sandra English (AUS), 8.17
Bronze – Sonia ‘Pucha’ Garcia (PAN), 5.00
Copper – Lucila Gil (ARG), 3.83
Men’s Grand Kahunas
Gold – Javier Huarcaya (PER), 14.67
Silver – Allen Sarlo (USA), 11.30
Bronze – Rod Baldwin (AUS), 10.10
Copper – Craig Schieber (CRI), 8.43
Men’s Grand Masters
Gold – Sunny Garcia (HAW), 17.66
Silver – Kaipo Jaquias (HAW), 17.33
Bronze – Juan Ashton (PUR), 11.06
Copper – Mark Cameron (AUS), 7.10
Men’s Kahunas
Gold – James Hogan (USA), 15.56
Silver – Ricky Schaffer (USA), 13.50
Bronze – Mike Latronic (HAW), 11.10
Copper – Cardoso Junior (BRA), 8.24
Men’s Masters
Gold – Magnum Martinez (VEN), 16.66
Silver – Sunny Garcia (HAW), 14.10
Bronze – Kaipo Jaquias (HAW), 10.87
Copper – Armando Daltro (BRA), 9.50