Waikiki’s Chuck Inman and Tiffany Rabacal won the Cabana’s Pool Bar International Tandem Surfing Association event yesterday at the ninth annual Duke’s OceanFest.

They made the most out of the 4-foot-wave faces offered at Kuhio Beach, using a variety of lifts throughout the day. Inman said Waikiki is a fitting venue for the ITSA contest.

"Waikiki is the birthplace of the culture of surfing, professionally and historically," he said. "Waikiki is the Mecca because it’s where Duke is from and a lot of people catch their first wave here."

Inman and Rabacal took out Duane DeSoto and Kathy Terada, who finished second. This was the first time DeSoto and Terada competed in tandem surfing together. Both are accustomed to different partners, but said they still had a lot of fun in the heat.

"We did two training sessions before this because she called me last week and we surfed the best in our heats and not our training sessions," DeSoto said.

Christian Bartsch and Aimee Murai finished third. Clay and Kristen Huntington took fourth.

Even though the Duke’s OceanFest event is still a surf contest, tandem surfing has a great amount of camaraderie among competitors, said vice president of the ITSA, Bear Woznick.

"We brought the best teams in the world here, and I think tandem surfing is the essence of aloha," Woznick said. "You’ll see teams here coaching their competitors on how to beat them."

Duke’s OceanFest is a benefit for the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation’s college scholarships and athletic grants program, which supports outstanding Hawaii scholar-athletes competing in water sports and volleyball.

The festivities will continue today with the Kicker Audio Presents the Toes On the Nose Rabbit Kekai Classic, Gidget Pro Longboard, AccessSurf Challenged Athletes meet, Cabana’s Pool Bar and Nashville Waikiki Tandem Legends and C4 Waterman SUP Race. All of the action can be viewed live on Oceanic Time Warner Cable, channel 250 and HD1250.