Introducing: An Absolute Torque Hound From Maui

While many people describe 23-year-old Maui native Imai deVault as “super quiet,” he doesn’t see it that way. “I’m just in my own world sometimes,” he told our film crew during an interview behind our three-story Playa Hermosa headquarters.

Imai was one of the new faces we added to this year’s roster for Vans Stab High, Central America, presented by Monster Energy, and he was right—shy isn’t the best way to describe his personality. It isn’t a good description of his surfing either.

A few months ago, we ran an edit of Imai absolutely manhandling the heavier sections of his home turf in Maui and neighbor islands. It was a delight to watch and being relatively unfamiliar with deVault, it was the main reason why I was dying to watch him surf in Costa Rica. His confidence—on rail, in the tube, and the main attraction here in Central America, in the air.

After a live viewing from Playa Hermosa’s most inconsiderate impact zone, I can confirm Imai’s confidence, perfectly poised while moving through the water with maximum authority. He attacks air sections like a starved jungle cat and carries this intense rhythm through the air.

Click here to officially meet the reserved lion and his deafening roar.