By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– This afternoon, The Gnarly Nomads took their Oregon Trail themed covered wagon craft into the great Pacific Ocean, battled their way through the waves and claimed victory at the first-ever Red Bull Party Wave at the iconic Queen’s Beach. With a total of eight teams competing and more then 5,000 onlookers checking out the action, The Gnarly Nomads made Lewis and Clark proud by earning a total score of 73 out of 90 points. Team Extreme, with extreme stuntmen and watermen, took second place with a total score of 70 and Team HH Surf Castaways, made up of HH Surf School employees, claimed third place with 68 points.
The Gnarly Nomads constructed their craft out of plywood, PVC pipes and carved homemade wooden paddles. Taking just a week to build and never-before testing their craft on the water, their vessel had no problem stoking a few great waves, while other teams, such as Maui-based Team Unsinkable with a Titanic theme, did not get so lucky and did in fact sink their craft. All students at the University of Hawaii, The Gnarly Nomads brought their trades from all over the world, with origins stemming from Italy, Brazil, New York, Los Angeles, Florida and Michigan.
We feel really awesome about winning first place,” said Nick Hunsinger. “We conquered the Oregon Trail, battled the waves and really had a great time out there.”
Photos by: Justin Mack/Red Bull Content Pool
Additional competing teams were decked out in costumes ranging from Kung Fu Fighters to space aliens, and came from many levels of surf experience including novice seafarers and world-class waterman, Brian Keaulana and his crew, from Team Extreme with their iceberg craft.
“We took second place out on the water,” Team Extreme captain Brian Keaulana said. “It was a great contest and really fun. I’ve probably been on every possible craft on the water and this was a new experience for me. We really hope to be more creative next year to win the title!”
Teams needed more than just courage to claim victory in the South Shore swells, as they were judged on three criteria: craft creativity, team showmanship and wave performance. Judging the crafts were 2011 and 2013 Women’s Association of Surfing Professionals World Champion, Carissa Moore, Hawaiian legend and world-class waterman, Kainoa McGee, as well as Zak Noyle, an Oahu native who sees a different side to surfing as one of the world’s top surf photographers.
Photos by: Justin Mack/Red Bull Content Pool
“It was such a good turnout. It’s super rad to see how creative all of the teams were and how much effort they put into it,” said Moore, an Oahu native.
As the first place team, The Gnarly Nomads earned a team trip to Las Vegas, NV for Red Bull Air Race this October and a hand-carved trophy. Second and third place teams walked away with awesome swag bags including Watershot housing, Kicks Fins, KNEKT, Matix and a subscription to The Red Bulletin.
For more information, visit redbull.com/partywave.