Da Hui’s Backdoor Shootout Has Overcome Its Permit Issues And Could Run Tomorrow

It ended abruptly early last year, the ocean turning off the tap, draining Hawaii’s ultra-core event of waves midway during its annual climax.

The ever-entertaining Jamie O’Brien took bragging rights and a $40k cheque. The North Shore’s who’s who expression session was over for another year – or was it?

Back in June, the 2019 Da Hui Backdoor Shootout event was looking doubtful due (once again) to permit issues with the Department of Parks and Recreation. According to Hawaii News Now, there was overlap with another event, a bodysurfing contest (The Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic) that had “scored higher on its application”, which eventually progressed into a negotiation of sorts.

Thankfully Hui O He’e Nalu’s invitational event legally landed a window. That window has now opened and could see surfers in the water as early as tomorrow (waves permitting of course).

Officially branded ‘The Da Hui Backdoor Shootout In Memory Of Duke Kahanamoku Invitational’, the contest is uniquely jersey-free, with formatting varying greatly to the mainstream WSL model.

Here’s how Da Hui explain it:

Essentially, competitors surf an equal amount of times in a non-elimination format. They do so without jerseys, and judges recognize competitors in the lineup based on their style. The best scores are tallied in each round, and number of rounds dictates how many waves are counted. How does a surfer know when his heat is, or who he’s facing? Simple: examine the makeshift heat sheet taped to a square board next to the contest scaffolding. The points ceiling is raised to 12, too. Another unique element to the format: the call to surf or not surf is something voted on by the surfers themselves.

Surfline have the streaming rights, but we’ll provide a gateway for you to view right here on Stabmag.com when things kick off.

Waves are coming, so keep it locked to this frequency.