The biggest surf town in the USA, Huntington beach played host to it's first ever stand up paddle event this week. Competitors were treated to a solid 4-6 foot swell with glassy conditions on Wednesday, which extended right through the weekend allowing finals to be run early on Sunday. 

Antoine Delpero took home the crown after edging out American Colin McPhillips in the finals. Event favourite Kai Lenny from Hawaii came in at fourth place after being beaten by our home grown Keahi De Aboitiz in the heats. Keahi put on an awesome show for the crowd in his opening heat, busting out a huge aerial off the lip as well as his usual mix of stylish surfing and powerful carves. 

Huntington beach, known as Surf City - is famous for it's iconic pier that extends out past the breaking waves and it's summer season jam packed with surf events. The long, clean waves are the perfect medium for stand up paddling, and the conditions really turned it on for the surfers. Wide open faces gave those on longer boards room to carve and pull into some little cover-ups, while the steeper sections gave the short boards a playground to boost aerials and massive hacks.

A new style of expression session was debuted on the final day of competition; streamed live and with a full beach of spectators, viewers could vote online or via their mobile devices as the competitors surfed, voting on their favourites. A frenzy of voting ensued - but Zane Schweitzer from Hawaii took the cake with 1981 votes.

Hosting the Stand up world tour for the first time, the organisers of the Huntington beach pro did an incredible job. Competitors said the event was super laid back, a welcome change from the stress and discipline of the racing scene many have spent the last two years competing in. 

Check out the video and results below, and make sure you look out for Keahi's interview at the beginning of the clip. 

Results:

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