Dude likes to ride a plethora of different boards. Photo: Koury Angelo//Red Bull
Kai Lenny is the first competitor confirmed for the world’s most luxurious surf contest, the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy. The appearance will be Lenny’s second in the contest. His only other time in the field was 2019 when he finished fourth overall.
This year’s event will take place at Kuda Resort from September 4 to September 11, 2026, with an invitation-only field of six surfers. Each surfer will compete in three different divisions through the contest — single-fin, twin fin, and thruster — at Sultans. Lenny, of course, is one of the most well-rounded watermen on the planet, so his inclusion in the multi-discipline event is a no-brainer. Another unique layer thrown in with Lenny’s entry is that the Hawaiian will be personally shaping all of the boards he uses in this year’s event.
“Every heat is a final,” Lenny said in a press release from event organizers. “You’re surfing epic waves in paradise against some of the best in the world, but it’s still rooted in having fun. Being able to ride different types of boards is something I love doing every day, so to compete across all of them is epic.”
The Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy began in 2011 and has run annually with the exception of the 2020 and 2021 events during the COVID pandemic. Mark Occhilupo won that inaugural 2011 contest, joined by iconic names like Taj Burrow (2016, 2017, 2024), Joel Parkinson (2023) , Kelly Slater (2022) and more. Burrow and longtime Championship Tour vet Josh Kerr (2018, 2019) are the only surfers to have won the event more than once.
