|
ROOTS
:
Conventional wisdom has Pipeline first being ridden in
1961 by California’s Phil Edwards. Soon enough the
ultra-challenging break had its first "Mr.
Pipeline" in Butch van Artsdalen, a powerful
goofyfoot surfer who surfed it with flair and a
confidence born of his lifeguarding |
|
 |
background. Yet the
ultimate lordship resides with Gerry Lopez, the stylish
Haewaiian whose 1970s tube finesse halped make Pipe not
just a wave, but a legend. Relentlessly featured in surf
movies from the early ‘70s onward, Pipeline grew to
become by far the most famous wave in the World; still
today it’s the yardstick by which all other barrels
are measured, and a challenge that draws the heaviest
surfing crowds of anywhere on Oahu’s North Shore. |
| THE WAVE:
The classic left tube at Pipeline relies on a
west-angled swell, which refracts onto a shallow flat
lava reef about 80 yards offshore. |
|
Result: a dramatic,
shifting wave with a sometimes-critical take off. If
sand is build up on the northern edge of the reef,
murderous closeauts occur on a regular basis. Smaller
swells from the northwest or north bring to life the
Backdoor section, which peels right across the near-dry
center of the reef. Pipe is flanked by Off-the.Wall’s
reef to the west, and Ehukai Beach Park’s sandbars to
the north. |
 |
| THE
RIDE : Pipeline is an
outrageously intense, short ride that more than anything
else requires perfect timing. The simple skills count
for most: getting in early and placing the first turn
just right-that, |
|
 |
and an
ability to adjust quickly to changes in the vast,
quick-moving volume of water: It sounds easy, but what's
not so easy is the self-control needed to make the
simple things work when the ocean is roaring around you
like a wild beast. "Pipeline takes attitude and
knowledge," sys outside-drop king Liam McNamara.
"It's not for everybody, though everybody wants to
ride it. My first surf there each season is as heavy as
any session I've had. You have to familiarize yourself
with every kind of wave that can hit the reef, and know
which ones to take and which ones to let go". Above
all, tuberiding techniques- from the |
| basic
frontside turn and stall to the difficult backside
rail-grab style - are essential for all riders with a
Pipe ambition. |
| EVENT
HISTORY: The first Pipe
Masters ran in 1971 and was won by the great Hawaiian
champion Jeff Hakman - ironically perhaps, since Hakman
was a regularfoot and Pipeline was regardede as a goofy's
playground Over the next decade the event built iconic
status, crowning Lopez and heir-apparent Rory Russell
along with pro champs Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards
and |
|
upstart Aussie grommet Larry Blair,
and providing the international debut for 1981 winnwr
Simon Anderson's three-fin Trhuster surfboard design.
The legend consolidated through the '80s with great wins
from Michael and Derek Ho, a teenage Mark Occhilupo and
eventual three-time winner Tom Carroll. |
 |
|
In the 1990s, Pipe was home to
some of the greatest duels in surfing history as Kelly
Slater, Sunny Garcia, Rob Machado, Occy and their fellow
top-gun pros fought for world championship glory in its
star chamber. This year's 30th anniversary
re-estabilishes the traditional Pipe invite-only format. |
|
10 KEY PLAYERS
: Gerry
Lopez (Haw):
Still the guru. Kelly
Slater (Usa):
Dominant competitor for the past decade. Braden
Dias (Haw):
Rides waves others don’t want. |
 |
Liam McNamara
(Haw): Master of
the outside takeoff zone. Sunny
Garcia (Haw):
Hawaii’s reigning world champ.Johnny-Boy
Gomes (Haw):
Veteran charger both Frontdoor and Back. Tamayo
Perry (Haw):
Arguably the deepest tuberider. Pancho
Sullivan (Haw):
Aggressive power attack. Bruce
Irons (Haw):
Youthful champ-to-be. Rob
Machado (Usa):
Defending event champion.
|
|
HOW IT’S WON :
Although Pipe’s a
charger’s paradise, final day surfers have to be careful
not to burn up too much energy with crazy wipeouts. You
pay a big price for errors at this punishing
location-broken boards, exhausted bodies, vital minutes
out of the lineup. "One wipeout there is worth 100
anywhere else," says 2000 runner-up Michael Lowe.
"It takes so much out of you." Most of the
|
|
past decade’s Masters have done it
by choosing the perfect waves at the perfect moments, and
making as few mistakes as possible. The classic example is
last year’s champ, Rob Machado, who only wiped out once
in his last four heats. "It’s hard to get any
practice at Pipe-on a good day you’re never going to get
many waves," he says. "A lot of the time I’ll
go out just to watch and to paddle for the waves I’d
like to ride, and think my way through it. Is there any
better wave in the world?"
|
|
|
|
FORECAST :
This year’s Pipe Masters will open the door to the
best Pipeline specialist riders, along with an elite few
tour pros. For some of these surfers, Pipe is the only
event they’ve ever wanted to win. As a result the
whole tone of the event will change.
|
|
No competitor will
display uncertainty or lack of local knowledge-they’ll
go for the meanest and most critical waves from the first
heat to the last, and they won’t be surfing for a place,
they’ll be surfing to win. "I just want to
represent," say Kahuku’s Tamayo Perry, who’s on
the favorite list of Pipe specialists from local Pete
Johnson to former Master champ Tom Carrol. "I’ve
been lucky to ride the waves I’ve ridden at Pipeline,
and I’ve felt unlucky in some heats in the past. There’s
a lot of great surfers in this contest…we’ll have to
wait and see." -Nick Carroll
|
