Although there were a few delays due to fog in the early morning hours, the contest got off to a smooth start. After two rounds of heats, 4 teams advanced to the finals. Almost all the teams in the finals, including the winners Adam Replogle and Alistair Craft, were from Santa Cruz, but the surprise of the event, was the team for Australia. Jeff and Josiah Schmucker are a father and son team from Australia who had never competed in a big wave competition before. Their 2nd place finish to some of the best teams in the world was impressive. Russell and Tyler Smith took 3rd place and the Wormhoudt brothers, Jake and Zach took 4th.
After the qualifying heats were completed, they ran the first ever paddle in contest at Nelscott Reef. A field of nine vied for a winner takes all 45-minute heat. Twelve waves were caught during the heat, but in the end, Keallii Mamala took the prize, as well as an auto seed with his partner into the 2009 tow in event. Jamie Mitchell took 2nd place, Shane Desmond grabbed 3rd, Mike Parsons 4th, and Gary Linden came in 5th.
