The combination of wave power and girl power apparently was enough to overcome financial difficulty tied to a weekend surfing competition.

More than 220 females enjoyed a South Shore swell during the China Uemura 12th Annual Wahine Surfing Classic. The final day of the two-day contest was completed yesterday at the Queens surf break off Kuhio Beach in Waikiki.

Two months ago, Uemura was on the verge of canceling the contest due to a lack of sponsorship.

"The economy is so bad now days, it was really hard to find sponsors this year," he said. "At the last minute, we got lucky and found some. It's a good thing we did, because the girls really deserve this."

Uemura said Armstrong Produce, 88 Tees and Steinlager were the companies primarily responsible for allowing the contest to continue.

Uemura, a former national longboard surfing champion, started the all-female contest in 1997 as a way to "give back to the community and help the girls get started."

"You see more girls representing Hawai'i in surfing contests around the world now," Uemura said. "I'm stoked about that, and I want this contest to be kind of like their training."

If yesterday was any indication, there are plenty of surfers eager to compete in the training.

Punahou School student Carissa Moore was the big winner, receiving a check for $1,000 for placing first in the pro-am longboard division.

Moore, 15, a multitime national champion in shortboard surfing, yesterday won her first significant victory on a longboard.

"My sisters were all going to be down here doing the contest, so I thought it might be fun to enter and try something different," Moore said.

PRIZE APPRECIATED

She rode a longboard that her stepmother won during a raffle drawing at last year's Wahine Surfing Classic.

"I used to do this event when I was younger, and I really love this event," Moore said.

Because of the lack of sponsorship, Uemura scaled back some of the prizes this year. Still, he gave away surfboards to two girls with outstanding grades. One board went to 6-year-old Tenaya Richardson.

"It's her first real board," said her mother, Michelle Richardson. "This is our first year doing this event, and it's amazing. It's a shame that it's so hard to get sponsorship, especially since it is one of the few events just for girls."

Women are allowed to enter as well.

Lindsay McGill and her 10-year-old daughter, Dax, walked away with three first-place trophies. Lindsay McGill won the longboard women's division; Dax won both the longboard and shortboard peewee divisions.

"There's a group of moms who come out to do this contest with our daughters every year," Lindsay McGill said. "It's so much fun."

Dax, who just completed the fourth grade at Sunset Beach Elementary, was one of the standouts of the day. She scored a perfect 10 on one of her waves in the shortboard peewee final.

"It would have been a big blow to a lot of people if this contest didn't run," Lindsay McGill said. "There's so many beautiful things that come out of it."

Some things are even life-altering.

Jim Walsh said he moved from Arizona to Kapolei two years ago so his 11-year-old daughter, Vanina, could surf.

Vanina entered the Wahine Surfing Classic while on a summer break two years ago and won a surfboard. She's been hooked ever since.

"China's contest changed our lives," Walsh said. "I hope it never goes away, because it is very meaningful to us."

A CHARITY TRADITION

In keeping with an annual tradition, Uemura donated proceeds from the contest to The Sex Abuse Treatment Center of Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

This year, Uemura was concerned that he would not be able to meet his goal of donating $3,000. But during yesterday's awards ceremony, the Tommy Holmes Foundation pitched in with a $10,000 check for the cause.

Maka Pua'a, who rode the Superferry from Maui to compete in the contest, said it is those kinds of gestures that keep her coming back. She has participated in nine of the 12 Wahine Classics, including the first one.

"We don't care about somebody paying for our airfares or hotels — we'll do that," she said. "We just want the sponsors to come in and help out so we can keep this contest alive."