Champion of the Heavies

Australian surfers get their kicks on the combers at Sydney's Neilson Park, zipping through shark nets so ragged that they no longer stop sharks, only surfers. At Huntington Beach, Calif., the gasser is "pier shooting" -- hurtling between the concrete pilings of a pier. But these pastimes are only makeshift substitutes for riding the "heavies" off Makaha, a lonely beach on the west coast of Oahu that is every surfer's idea of paradise.

The giant waves that pound Makaha are spawned by violent Pacific storms, often 2,000 miles or more from Hawaii. On a really big day they may top 25 ft. Even the 15-footers provide a hair-raising test as they come rumbling over the reef. But there are days when Makaha is no wilder than Waikiki--as 441 contestants from as far away as Peru and South Africa found out when they converged on Makaha for the International Surfing Championships, the World Series of the sport. For five days anxious surfers vainly scanned the horizon: Finally, on the day before Christmas, 15-ft. waves began to crest off Makaha Point; competitors dashed for their "guns"--long, heavy (up to 40 Ibs.) boards for use in big surf--and 8,000 spectators jammed the beach to watch the fun.

To make things more interesting, the surfers were required to follow a zigzag course, much like a slalom ski run. Judges deducted points for such infractions as "bottom turning"--cutting in front of another surfer knifing down the wave. The surprise winner: Honolulu Schoolboy Fred Hemmings Jr., 18, who became surfing's youngest world champion ever by riding three waves 600 yds. or so, tucking himself out of sight in "the pipe" (the fastest, most dangerous part of the wave, where it rolls over and down) to gain speed, sliding around the buoys without losing "the green,"--the unbroken portion of the wave.

"I just had a fast board," said Hemmings. The judges had a different explanation: "He took more chances."

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