Jeffreys Bay’s Steven Sawyer won the Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic of the 2024 World Surf League (WSL) Longboard Tour at Hudayriyat Island on Sunday.
In a historic day of competition, the WSL crowned its first winners in its first event in the United Arab Emirates.
The competition, presented by Modon, Stop No 3, was hosted in the perfect three-foot waves of the Surf Abu Dhabi facility, which uses the Kelly Slater Wave Company technology.
SA’s Sawyer claimed his second Longboard Tour win of his career.
The 30-year-old’s other victory came at the 2018 Taiwan Open World Longboard Championships, which earned him the title of WSL Longboard champion.
Having previously been runner-up for the Longboard World Title in 2016, Sawyer’s only other final came at the start of 2019.
Now, more than five years later, he has taken a timely win that sees him earning the final qualification slot for the Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships based on a single event.
“This is a surfer’s dream,” Sawyer said.
“From the wave to all the amenities, to hospitality. Everything’s bigger, better, greater, harder, faster here. And it’s just amazing.
“So to be here and experience the wave and learn it and have a couple more under the belt, it just felt more comfortable each time.
“This is as good as a contest can get.”
He was able to draw on his extensive point-break experience to consistently earn excellent scores in every heat surfed.
Born and raised in Jeffreys Bay, where he has also surfed in a WSL Championship Tour event as a wild card, the goofy-footer’s backhand technique has been honed at one of the world’s finest locations.
That approach, which included a wide array of variety on nearly every wave surfed, saw him open the final with an 8.67 on the right, but his greediness for the barrel cost him his opening left.
Hawaii’s John Michael Van Hohenstein had started well but with only mid-range scores.
On his second run, Van Hohenstein posted an 8.23 on the right, leaving all of the pressure on Sawyer to deliver on the final wave of the men’s event.
Sawyer put it all on the line, opening with a bold hang-ten before throwing caution to the wind and locking into a barrel in the same section that had previously bested him.
Threading it cleanly, Sawyer stepped into a long nose-ride, from which he saluted to the crowd, confident he had done enough to secure victory.
It was no surprise when an 8.77 was awarded and his 17.44 (out of a possible 20) heat total landed as the highest of the event.
“I only needed two waves,” Sawyer said. “I stuffed two up and I made two, so that’s what got me through.
“For that one that I just had at the end there, I was like ‘all right, I’m not gonna get stuck behind, I’m gonna do a little walk back and jump forward again, try to get some momentum, pass those three bumps’, and then the tube’s on and the rest of the wave was just gonna be lined up.
“So that was it. It just worked out, just turned out smooth.” — WSL
J-Bay’s Steven Sawyer wins historic Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic
World Surf League crowns winners in its first event in UAE
Image: TOMMY PIERUCKI/WORLD SURF LEAGUE
Jeffreys Bay’s Steven Sawyer won the Abu Dhabi Longboard Classic of the 2024 World Surf League (WSL) Longboard Tour at Hudayriyat Island on Sunday.
In a historic day of competition, the WSL crowned its first winners in its first event in the United Arab Emirates.
The competition, presented by Modon, Stop No 3, was hosted in the perfect three-foot waves of the Surf Abu Dhabi facility, which uses the Kelly Slater Wave Company technology.
SA’s Sawyer claimed his second Longboard Tour win of his career.
The 30-year-old’s other victory came at the 2018 Taiwan Open World Longboard Championships, which earned him the title of WSL Longboard champion.
Having previously been runner-up for the Longboard World Title in 2016, Sawyer’s only other final came at the start of 2019.
Now, more than five years later, he has taken a timely win that sees him earning the final qualification slot for the Surf City El Salvador Longboard Championships based on a single event.
“This is a surfer’s dream,” Sawyer said.
“From the wave to all the amenities, to hospitality. Everything’s bigger, better, greater, harder, faster here. And it’s just amazing.
“So to be here and experience the wave and learn it and have a couple more under the belt, it just felt more comfortable each time.
“This is as good as a contest can get.”
He was able to draw on his extensive point-break experience to consistently earn excellent scores in every heat surfed.
Born and raised in Jeffreys Bay, where he has also surfed in a WSL Championship Tour event as a wild card, the goofy-footer’s backhand technique has been honed at one of the world’s finest locations.
That approach, which included a wide array of variety on nearly every wave surfed, saw him open the final with an 8.67 on the right, but his greediness for the barrel cost him his opening left.
Hawaii’s John Michael Van Hohenstein had started well but with only mid-range scores.
On his second run, Van Hohenstein posted an 8.23 on the right, leaving all of the pressure on Sawyer to deliver on the final wave of the men’s event.
Sawyer put it all on the line, opening with a bold hang-ten before throwing caution to the wind and locking into a barrel in the same section that had previously bested him.
Threading it cleanly, Sawyer stepped into a long nose-ride, from which he saluted to the crowd, confident he had done enough to secure victory.
It was no surprise when an 8.77 was awarded and his 17.44 (out of a possible 20) heat total landed as the highest of the event.
“I only needed two waves,” Sawyer said. “I stuffed two up and I made two, so that’s what got me through.
“For that one that I just had at the end there, I was like ‘all right, I’m not gonna get stuck behind, I’m gonna do a little walk back and jump forward again, try to get some momentum, pass those three bumps’, and then the tube’s on and the rest of the wave was just gonna be lined up.
“So that was it. It just worked out, just turned out smooth.” — WSL
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