Brisa Hennessy's Favorite Color Just Might Be Yellow

Brisa

Following the mid-season cut and headed into the 6^th event Brisa Hennessy is cloaked in YELLOW.  Currently ranked #1 on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour.  Next stop,  the much anticipated G-Land Pro a location that should suit Brisa’s development in Hawaii and recent training in Fiji.

Brisa retook the #1 ranking over Carissa Moore at the last stop by placing 5th at the Margaret River Pro. It’s a tight race with the yellow jersey changing hands a couple of times since the start of the year. It must be a dream like feeling to be battling for #1 with Carissa Moore who was Brisa’s surfing idol growing up.  Brisa is humble and brings a quiet and balanced approach to her effort but surfs with the commitment, power, and style that have put many T&C riders on the map over the years. This is an excellent collection of attributes with the waves on tour this year. 

This has been the best year on tour for Brisa since qualifying for the World Tour back at the end of 2018 at the early age of 18. Brisa took home her first win ever at the Hurley Pro Sunset Beach back in February at the second Tour stop. This was a huge moment for Brisa and all those who have supported her along the way. As a stand out in youth surfing with so much expected of her since an early age it was great to see all the hard work on her equipment, physical fitness and mental strength pay off. It’s a tricky road to travel with lots of highs and lows. How one balances the life within and outside competition can make or break a competitive career. Brisa sat down with Dave Prodan back in Dec of 2021 on his podcast called The Lineup to discuss how Brisa has been handling all this as she prepared for the Pipeline contest to kick off the 2022 season. She ended placing 5th at Pipeline loosing to Carissa in the Quarters. Carissa Moore took 2nd behind Hawaii local Moana Jones Wong at the inaugural event. 

Brisa is turly a global citizen and doesn’t officially have a permanent place of residence. She was born in Costa Rica, where she first started riding waves at the age of 3. She then moved to Oahu’s North Shore at the age of 9 to further develop her surfing. The amateur surfing scene in Hawaii and the diversity of the waves helped to shape Brisa into the surfing powerhouse she is today. Though she flys the flag of Costa Rica for International Surfing, Hawaii remains dear to her. It is where she spends her winters surfing, training and working on boards with Glenn Pang and Makani McDonald at the T&C Surfboard factory in Wahiawa. It’s a great relationship that allows her to easily chat with the shapers and work on refining boards to work in all conditions on the North Shore and around the world. 

Hawaii is a unique location where you get a variety of fun average type days all the way to the best most powerful waves one can ride anywhere in the world. A perfect testing/training ground. The work is paying off. Brisa is surfing at new levels and her boards look great under her feet. The long barreling left hander at G-land will test Brisa and her equipment. Luckily, she also calls Fiji home and has further refined her game in Fiji’s waves of consequence. The powerful long left handers like Cloudbreak have raised Brisa to have a great chance at G-Land. Rip Curl released a great video last year showcasing her story and development charging in the powerful waves of Fiji and what that meant to her growth as a surfer and person. 

Grajagan Bay otherwise known as G-Land is a wave etched in the dreams of surfers. Set at the edge of lush jungle with a perfect left hander that can handle huge ocean swells that serve up draining barrels and perfect bowls for huge carves, it’s a perfect place to see the best surfers test their skills. This will be the first time in over 2 decades for competition to resume and the first time for the women to compete at this location. We can’t wait to see it happen. Fingers crossed the swell and weather conditions all come together during the waiting period. Brisa’s training in Hawaii and Fiji will no doubt come into play. And with a stop at the infamous Teahupoo “Chopes” added in August Brisa has a good chance to showcase her barrel riding skills. Another first for the women out at Chopes for competition. 

The format for the WSL CT changed last year where only the top 5 surfers compete for the world title on a single day of competition to end the year. Fans have mixed feelings but no doubt competition and tension are high throughout the day creating great storylines filled with heartbreak and joy. With the locations listed on the schedule ahead we are excited about Brisa’s chances to stay within the top 5 until the end. Right points and barreling lefts all land right in her sweet spot and there looks to be many of those on the tour stops still to come. We wish Brisa good luck, good health, and good waves at G-Land, Indonesia. It’s great to see Brisa going from working to stay on tour to now being one of the favorites battling with her surfing idols and coming out on top. We like her in yellow and we’re sure she loves it as well.