Maui’s Kai Lenny is only 18 years old, but he possesses the world-class wave-riding skills and aloha spirit of a waterman twice his age.

Earlier this month, Lenny won the inaugural Stand Up World Tour Championship that was held off Hilo’s Honoli’i Beach Park. The 2010 SUP World Tour was a series of five contests, held on the North Shore of Oahu, Tahiti, France, Brazil and the Big Island. The competitors’ best four event results counted toward the overall standings.

Lenny won the first event, the Sunset Beach Pro in February, as a wild-card entry. That victory earned him a wild-card spot for the rest of the SUP World Tour.

In May, he placed third in France and had a throwaway 17th-place result from Tahiti. Lenny was the runner-up at the Brazil event in September and then won the Dec. 16 tour finale.

"Since I was really little, I always dreamt of being a world champion and being considered one of the best in the world," Lenny said. "To achieve my goal was kind of overwhelming and I didn’t realize it until I got home."

This was the biggest achievement of his young professional surfing career and, instead of pocketing the entire $3,500 prize purse, Lenny gave away the majority of it.

Lenny kept $500 for Christmas gifts and donated $2,000 to Na Kama Kai — a non-profit organization that gives free waterman clinics to kids. Na Kama Kai is run by Duane DeSoto, the reigning world longboard champ and a good friend of Lenny’s.

Lenny gave the remaining $1,000 to Honoli’i Paka — a grassroots, community organization that cleaned up Honoli’i Beach Park in 2003 and maintains the Hilo surf break’s pristine beauty.

While Lenny will always be a Maui local, the teenager had a special experience on the Big Island. He went to Hilo a week before the final event of the SUP World Tour and bonded with Honoli’i and its residents.

"What made this last event so awesome to win was the people of Honoli’i and the people of Hilo," Lenny said. "I don’t think I’ve ever been to a place with so much aloha and where everyone is so welcoming it feels like a different planet — it’s unbelievable."

Since childhood, Lenny was considered a prodigy by distinguished watermen such as tow-surfing innovator Dave Kalama and board builder Robbie Naish. Lenny is one of a handful of teenagers who has embraced the waterman lifestyle of riding multiple types of wave-riding crafts and mastering shortboard surfing, stand-up paddling, kite boarding, tow-in surfing, hydro-foiling and windsurfing.

According to Lenny, his multiple disciplines complement one another and his training regimen consists of riding several different types of wave-riding crafts.

"What’s cool about the stand-up paddling is that once I get onto my other boards, like surfing, windsurfing or kiting, I’m instantly almost riding better than when I was just on those (boards)," he said. "It’s amazing all of the sports that I do really benefit each other.

"(Riding diverse equipment) allows you to really think outside of the box versus getting stuck in a thought pattern about how you should ride."

When it comes to riding waves, Lenny pretty much does it all and does all of them well. He attributes the waterman lifestyle to growing up on the Valley Isle, where the weather and waves aren’t always conducive to traditional surfing.

"From a young age, living on Maui, conditions are always changing and you are kind of limited to when you can just surf," he said. "Whether the conditions are windy, no wind, big waves or whatever — it’s good to do all the sports."

According to Lenny, the SUP World Championship justifies his lifestyle and board choice but, more importantly, he relishes the joy it brings.

"Winning the tour just legitimized why I’m doing this because I’m having so much fun," he said. "I think I won this title more off the fact that I was having fun doing what I’m doing."

Lenny has his sights set for the 2011 SUP World Tour, which will have eight events. For now, he’s content on Maui: training, riding the best board for the day’s conditions and, most importantly, having fun.