From Maui to Pozo: Koa’s First PWA Adventure

WHAT KOA RIDES:
ADX, Ultra Jet 650, Force 4, HOOKIPA QUAD

You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes, you just need a sail, a plane ticket and the guts to say yes.

For Koa, it all started with a late call-up. His competition quiver had to be shipped last minute into Spain. There was no time for dial-ins or weeks of prep… just grab the gear and go. He flew solo to Gran Canaria, his first time traveling alone, and spent a week training in Pozo ahead of the event. No coach. No crew. Just a kid from Maui rolling the dice on a Canary Island forecast.

At first, the wind barely showed up. Pozo, usually a wind machine, was eerily calm. Koa found himself rigging a 3.5m sail, trying to squeeze sessions out of light breezes and staying ready for when things turned on.

And then they did.

Pozo switched into full-send mode. Gusts hit 45 knots, the ocean turned wild and Koa didn’t blink. He rigged his 3.0m and threw himself into it like he’d been riding it all season. In his very first heat, right in front of the judging tower, he launched into a forward – a move he’d never landed before, and stuck it clean. It was the kind of moment that flips a narrative. Suddenly, he wasn’t just the new kid. He was a threat.

There was only one thing missing: a competition number. In Maui, you don’t need one – but in Pozo, it’s a must. Anna, his mum and a former PWA competitor herself, had just arrived and knew exactly what to do. She called back to their summer house in Calella de Palafrugell, where her old jerseys, lycras, and memorabilia were still tucked away in a drawer from her own days on tour. Inside was her original competition number. They patched it onto Koa’s rig. “It was really nice to see him share my number for the first time,” she said. “Like a hand-off from one generation to the next. It was really special.”

From there, Koa kept climbing. He finished second in the U15 division in the single elimination, then backed it up again in the double, locking in second overall at his first-ever PWA event. Even riding a bigger board than most of his competitors, he posted the highest wave score in the division and matched the top kids in jumps and flow. “I could really feel that wave riding is one of my biggest strengths,” he said. “Even though I had a big board, I managed to make it work.”

But Koa’s story doesn’t start in Pozo, it starts at Ho’okipa. Surfing before he could talk, windsurfing not long after, and winging thrown in for good measure. The Maui coastline has shaped everything he knows about the ocean. His heroes are cut from the same cloth: Kai Lenny, Robby Naish, Robby Swift – all riders who move between disciplines, chase feel over fame and live for the water. That’s the kind of rider Koa wants to be. Not just a competitor, but a true waterman.

His goals stretch far beyond rankings. He wants to master the ocean in all its forms; waves, wind, foil, surf – whatever the conditions call for. And that means constantly switching it up, between windsurfing on howling days, winging on the lighter ones, surfing at sunrise and fitting school somewhere in between. It’s a balancing act, but one he’s learning to manage. This trip, he says, helped him grow, not just as a rider but as a person.

“I learned so much,” Koa shared. “Traveling, competing, adapting to new conditions… It was all such a good experience. It made me feel more independent, and I think it’s made me stronger mentally too.”

Three podiums. One breakthrough forward. And a lesson in what it means to show up, throw yourself in, and figure the rest out as you go. This wasn’t just a debut. It was a turning point. And Koa? He’s just getting started.