With a solid, northwest swell on Oahu’s North Shore, the World Surf League kicked off the Sunset Open Men’s AQ1,000 event this morning.

The competition, held at Sunset Beach, is the first Qualifying Series event of the WSL Hawaii/Tahiti Nui 2018 season. The horn for Round 1 Heat 1 sounded shortly before 8:30 a.m. and the competition will run up to Heat 11 of Round 2.

“Given the forecast, we’re going to take advantage of today’s swell,” said WSL Hawaii/Tahiti Nui tour manager Marty Thomas in a press release. “We’re excited to kick off the 2018 season here in Hawaii and looking forward to a great day of surfing at world-famous Sunset Beach. The juniors are on standby for a potential run this weekend, either Saturday or Sunday, which has a new pulse of mid-range northwest swell and clean conditions on the forecast.”

Round 1 features a bevy of top regional names including Seth and Josh Moniz, World Champ Derek Ho and Vans Triple Crown Champion Myles Padaca, all of Hawaii. Live scoring is available online or via the WSL app.