After eight long, hard-fought seasons on the Championship Tour, Hawaii’s Seth Moniz has earned the first win of his career at the 2026 Outerknown Tahiti Pro. “This is special,” surmised 11-time world champ Kelly Slater from the commentator’s booth.
Facing longtime friend and occasional sparring partner Griffin Colapinto in the final, things started a bit on the slow side before both surfers ratcheted up the tension. Colapinto found his flow early and tried to turn the heat into a wave-catching contest, but locked in, Moniz was able to put himself on the bigger, heavier, hollower waves. Finishing the final with a pair of nine-point rides in his scoreline, it was a demonstrative performance by the 28-year-old Hawaiian.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Moniz said from the channel after. “I put a lot into this. Surfing’s a hard sport. Only one guy wins at a time. I put so much into this good, it feels good that it paid off.”
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Prior to Tahiti, Moniz hadn’t finished better than 17th all season. Thanks to the result, he climbs 12 spots up the leaderboard and now sits at 19th. Perhaps even more important, it gives him momentum and confidence as he looks to the back half of the season with an upcoming event in Fiji, as well as the return of the Pipe Masters in December.
Colapinto’s runner-up finish moves him four spots up the leaderboard. He now sits eighth in the world and will be looking for some late-season magic to get him in the world title conversation. Brazil’s Italo Ferreira leaves Tahiti ranked number one haver his third-place finish. The race for the 2026 world title is officially on now.
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