Fortunately for the T&C Fiberglass shop, professional surfers Dustin Cuizon and Roy Powers were on a break from the World Qualifying Series tour yesterday.

Unfortunately for the rest of the teams in the Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge, Cuizon and Powers did not take any breaks in leading T&C Fiberglass to victory.

The unique contest was run in 1- to 2-foot waves at Kewalo Basin.

"Both those guys happened to be home this week, so it worked out great," T&C Fiberglass team captain Travis Hashimoto said. "We were lucky to have them here."

The contest is unique in that it follows a team format. Each surf shop had to use four surfers — two employees and two surfers sponsored by the shop.

On the winning T&C Fiberglass team, Hashimoto and Gareth Sugihara work for the company, and Cuizon and Powers are sponsored riders.

"This is my first time doing this contest," Powers said. "It was kind of exciting to surf as a team and represent your sponsor."

As the winners of the Hawai'i region, the T&C Fiberglass surfers received trips to compete in the national finals of the Quiksilver Surf Shop Challenge, Sept. 10 at Oceanside, Calif.

The shop will also receive a half-page advertisement in Surfer Magazine.

"It's huge for T&C," Hashimoto said. "And now we get to represent Hawai'i."

The winner of the national finals will receive $10,000, a full-page ad in Surfer Magazine, and trips to El Salvador.

"If I can, I definitely want to be there (on Sept. 10)," Powers said. "I don't want to let the team down after we won this one."

Cuizon and Powers spend most of the year traveling around the world on the WQS tour, and they proved their worth yesterday.

"We were counting on Dustin and Roy to get the big points," Hashimoto said. "And then me and Gareth just had to fill in the gaps."

Cuizon was the team's high scorer throughout the day.

"The waves were small, so it was kind of hard," he said. "You just had to wait for a bigger (wave) and try to do as much as you can on it."

Powers said: "It was tough because it was so small, but it didn't look too tough for Dustin. He was the life line of our team."

The four surfers for T&C Fiberglass combined to score 50.2 points in the final heat.

Local Motion — led by 14-year-old Keanu Asing — came in second with 46.6 points.

"If this were a pro contest, some of these kids would be beating the pros," Powers said. "The kids are so good now. It wasn't easy for us, that's for sure."

Asing was actually the high-scorer among all surfers in the final heat. Other members of the Local Motion team were Bonga Perkins, Evan Lahea and Ron Wong.

"For what we were up against, I'm very proud of how we did," said Local Motion coach Tommy Asing, who is Keanu's father. "Roy Powers and Dustin Cuizon are two of the top pros in the world, and we came pretty close."

Pacific Vibrations from the Big Island was third, and Quiksilver was fourth. Quiksilver's Tory Titcomb won $250 for the DC Best Wave Award by a shop employee. She was one of two females on the Quiksilver team.

THREE FROM HAWAI'I ADVANCE IN FRANCE

Joy Magelssen of 'Aina Haina had the best heat of the day, and was one of three Hawai'i surfers to advance to the fourth round of the Roxy Women's World Longboard Championship yesterday.

The third day of the contest was run in 2-foot waves at Biarritz, France.

Magelssen's two-wave score of 18.9 in her third-round victory over California's Lindsay Steinride was the highest total of the contest so far. Magelssen received a 9.5 (out of 10) midway through the heat, then secured the victory with a 9.4 late in the heat.

"I didn't plan to have such a high score, I just went out there to have fun and it paid off," she said. "You take those heats when you can. We were lucky."

Fellow Hawai'i surfers Crystal Dzigas and Miku Uemura also advanced yesterday.

Dzigas trailed for most of her heat, but won it when she received a 6.5 with less than two minutes remaining.

Janna Irons of Kaua'i has yet to complete her third round heat.

Kelia Moniz, 14 and the youngest competitor in the contest, was eliminated. California's Jennifer Smith defeated Moniz, 16.5-11.5.

IRONS, SULLIVAN WIN HEATS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Hawai'i surfers Andy Irons and Pancho Sullivan advanced to the fourth round of the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay yesterday.

The third day of the event was run in 4- to 6-foot waves at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.

Irons defeated South African wildcard entry Warwick Wright, 12.84-10.33.

Sullivan won two heats yesterday, defeating Australian Dayyan Neve in the second round, and then Florida's C.J. Hobgood in the third round.

Fellow Hawai'i surfers Bruce Irons and Fred Patacchia Jr. have yet to complete their third round heats.

The contest is the fifth of 10 stops on the 2007 World Championship Tour.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.