Womens WSL Fantasy Surfer Guide - Honolua Bay

One event to go. Three women in the running. A world title trophy just begging to be raised in the air. Carissa, Lakey and Marksy are all potentials at Honolua Bay but really, there’s only one queen of this wave. A bit more on that shortly. In other major news, Tyler Wright is back! After a year and a half of struggling with a mysto illness, Tyler has showed a champion can’t be kept down and is making a come back for this event. Yessssss! Honolua Bay itself is an insaaaaaane wave to watch and surf. There’s a tube section at take off, followed by a long rippable bowl. It’s all about grace and power. To find out who you should have in your team, read on for the Women WSL Fantasy Surfer Guide for Honolulu Bay

Like Oprah with talk shows, Carissa Moore is undisputed Queen of Honolua. In the last five years, she’s won the thing 3 times and placed 2nd once. Considering the other women in tier A haven’t even made the final here before, it’s a pretty easy choice on who to pick. If you were a betting person, you’d put the pineapple farm on Moore as champ for both the event and the title. If you’re wanting to go a sneaky option, mayyyybe you could choose Lakey. She’s all power and is handy in a right hand barrel. Caroline is good, but was toast here in rnd 2 during her first ever attempt last year. Not the vote of confidence you’d be looking for.

In Short
In – Carissa
Back up – Lakey
Leave – Marksy

Mid tier has some ripper options for Honolua Bay this time around. The obvious staring out with a smile is Steph Gilmore, who has won before and was flawless in the free surfs there last year as well. Get her in. The other, perhaps not-so-obvious pick is Malia Manuel. While she hasn’t been in amazing form this year, her results at Honolua Bay speak for themselves – 2nd the last 2 years running. Add in the fact that her main sponsor Lululemon is now naming rights sponsor for this event and there will be even more incentive to perform. Will that mean a drive to win, or a car crush of anxiety in early rounds? I’m betting wins. If you’re thinking other possibilities, Johanne Defay could be a great pick, especially if it’s hollow. She charges, can ride a tube and has been shredding all year. Tatiana is another Hawaiian hope worthy of a look, even if she is pretending to be Brazilian as the Olympics roll around. Speaking of Olympics, Super Sally Shaka has to be a possibility here too. So many options.

If you’re looking to narrow it down, the one surfer in tier B I’d rule out without too much thought is Brisa. She had a great run at the start of the year but has taken her foot off the pedal a bit and is simply outclassed by better surfers this time round.

In Short
In – Gilmore & Malia
Back up – Sally or Defay
Leave – Brisa

If you’re even going to get sentimental in picking Fantasy it’s much easier to do in Tier C. Making it easier again is Tyler Wright’s come back to the competition jersey after 18 months out. Her brother Owen had a similar break from the CT and came back to win his first event in the big leagues, so there’s a family precedent for doing rad things. Tyler absolutely shreds this wave too, having won before and making multiple final runs. Get her in on history and emotion. If you’re worried this is just a warm up lap for her to get set for 2020, then Keely Andrew and Bronte Macaulay have both had reasonable results here. For me though, it’s Tyler all the way.

In short
Yes – Tyler
Maybe – Keely
No  – Macy

With that, lock ‘em in and fantasise about being showered in winner’s champagne come finals time.