In this study, a wave-to-wire (W2W) model of a vibro-impact wave energy converter (VIWEC) is proposed for powering ocean data buoys. A battery and a supercapacitor are integrated to the VIWEC to form a hybrid energy storage system (HESS), in order to provide continuous and long-term DC power for the payloads of ocean data buoys. Based on the W2W model, controllers for maximising wave energy capture and managing the HESS are integrated, and then implemented by fully controllable AC/DC and DC/DC converters. On the basis of irregular waves, preliminary results show that the proposed W2W model with control can provide stable and continuous DC power. Thus, the proposed W2W model, integrated with HESS and control, can be used to investigate its feasibility and to assess its performance for ocean data buoys.