In a Tow-At event, surfers are towed by a personal watercraft and slung into the break of a wave at roughly 20 to 30 mph, allowing them use the wave as a ramp and perform maneuvers not possible when surfing without assistance.

Surfing hall of famer Matt Kechele piloted the Sea-Doo GTI SE in the chest high waves and set up the 10 competitors for their aerial displays on Jan. 5, 2008. Lopez won the event with a buzzer-beating forehand aerial.

"I won the Tow-At a few years back and it feels really good to win it again," says Lopez. "I had a pretty bad run all the way through when Matt pulled me into the last one. I just went for broke and managed to come out on top."