It took a little longer than expected, but Bonga Perkins finally got his world championship hana hou.

Twelve years after winning his first world championship of longboard surfing, Perkins won it again yesterday.

"Hey, better late than never," Perkins said in a phone interview from California. "I'm 36 and I got it — beat a lot of younger guys — so that's a statement in itself."

Perkins, who resides in Hale'iwa, clinched the world title by winning the Oxbow World Longboard Tour contest yesterday at San Clemente, Calif.

The final day was completed in 2- to 3-foot waves at San Onofre Beach. The fourth round, quarterfinals, semifinals and final were all run yesterday.

"It was pretty brutal," Perkins said. "I had one 25-minute heat, then three 30-minute heats. That's a lot of surfing, so the key was just to stay focused ... and stay warm."

Temperatures dipped into the 50s as the day progressed, but Perkins' surfing heated up.

He defeated France's Antoine Delpero in the one-on-one final, 16.95 to 13.9. Delpero was the No. 2 seed for the event; Perkins was No. 3.

"I went into the final with no pressure because he was the higher seed," said Perkins, who received $10,000 for the win. "That probably helped me to relax a little bit."

Perkins took control of the heat early, receiving a score of 8.75 for his first wave. He kept the lead the entire heat, then secured the win with a score of 8.2 on his final wave.

"The waves were fun," he said. "And the judging was good, for the most part. They focused on style and powerful turns, so that's what I was trying to do."

The contest was one of two on the 2008 World Longboard Tour. Perkins finished third at the first event in France.

Delpero placed second at both events. In the point tally to determine the world champion, Perkins had 2,076 and Delpero had 2,064.

During the 12-year gap between his world titles, Perkins finished either No. 2 or No. 3 in the world six different times.

"It seemed like I was always coming up short," he said. "That's why I really worked hard for this one when I knew I was in a position to win it again. For about the last month, I've been training hard. I ran, I swam, I paddled, I rode my bike. I tried to eat healthy and stay away from the alcohol. I think all of that paid off."

Perkins said he was motivated by the 2002 world title race, when he placed second to California's Colin McPhillips.

"The last time I was in this position, I blew it," Perkins said. "It was a long day, just like today, and I hit the wall in the final against Colin McPhillips. I made sure my body was ready for it this time."

Perkins dominated all of his heats yesterday, defeating Jared Neal of Australia in the fourth round, then Timothee Creignout of France in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Perkins defeated Ned Snow of the Big Island, 16.2 to 14.0.

"Ned was posting some huge scores all day," Perkins said. "It's always tough when you have to go against another Hawai'i guy."

Earlier in the day, Snow assisted Perkins by defeating Australia's Harley Ingleby in the fourth round. Snow received a perfect 10 in that heat.

Ingleby was the No. 1 seed for the contest.

Snow finished in third place for the contest, and No. 9 in the 2008 ratings.

All surfers in the contest had to ride surfboards at least 9 feet long. Perkins used a 9-foot-1 board shaped by Carl Schaper.

"He's been shaping all my boards from the start, and the 9-1 was working really good today," Perkins said.

The last Hawai'i surfer to win the Association of Surfing Professionals longboard world championship was Dino Miranda in 1997.

"It's been a long time, but we've got a lot of good surfers coming up," Perkins said. "And I guess I can't bow out yet."