The Pipe Pro: Day 2
The Pipe Pro: Day 2
What we did see today was forty heats run at fun-sized Backdoor, mostly 3-5 foot with the odd 6-8 foot bomb. Largely competitive heats with a few notable misfires (Slater and Medina) and an inordinate number of buzzer-beater heats decided on the last wave ridden.
What we didn't see was bombing 10-12 foot Pipe with competitors forced to muster every skerrick of skill, courage, composure, and physical conditioning to advance through heats and make it back to the beach under their own steam. That was yesterday.
What we know about yesterday was revealed midway through the day via Barron Mamiya on the glass and Shane Dorian in the booth. Dorian revealed there were two camps of surfers: Those not prepared for the conditions and strongly in favour of not running, and the other camp, which included Mamiya. “I was psyched to surf yesterday,” he said. “It was firing. I guess they thought it was too big."
Today had rainbows (WSL/Heff)
Dorian's sympathies extended to the the Mamiya camp when, opining on yesterday's conditions, he proclaimed: “This is what we're here for.”
The official WSL line seemed to rest on the limitation of opportunities involved. A line of reasoning which seems to have scant justification considering jet-ski assist and a clear channel.
And it seems even more suspect when considering surfers are sent out in Portuguese closeouts where 99 waves out of 100 are not surfable and it's pure luck who gets through a heat. The official justification makes no sense, unless you are going to hold every event in a wavepool.
Neutering the Pipeline, as surf scribe Julio Adler astutely observed, seems perfectly in line with current WSL thinking and practice.
So, what now? Are they going to call it off when Teahupoo gets 8-10 foot? Cancel Cloudbreak because some are not prepared for big barrels in the South Pacific? Let the tour rise up to the highest level, so those who want it can distinguish themselves.
If you could forget what happened yesterday, or more accurately what didn't happen, there were some damn fine heats (and inexplicable misfires) surfed today.
The first misfire came in the opening heat with Kelly and Ewing. Forty minutes at Backdoor with the first twenty of those solo in the lineup. Kelly started off with five non-makes. Then six then seven then eight. He scrapped a little head-dip for 3 points, and ended up with a heat score of 4.27. Ethan waited for two clean bombs and executed perfectly.
Slater has surfed in every Pipe Masters/Pipe Pro since 1991, registering his worst finish - a 17th - last year and equalling that again this year (WSL/Bielmann)
The edited clip of Kelly, shown during the heat, was of a man with a complete collapse in competitive mindset. He claimed he was friends with everybody on tour and without some personal grudge it was impossible to want to beat them. I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it.
What to do with Kelly now? They gave him a wildcard and he's clearly not competitive. The Woz, by kicking the can down the road, has an ever-growing Kelly Slater problem. Can they really end his career this April at Margies with him getting cut? How the hell do they stage-manage his retirement now, if not? Give him another injury wildcard because he has a new hip..?
With technical tuberiding at Backdoor from Ethan and Liam O'Brien, it seemed highly likely that we'd see a goofyfoot bloodbath. Even more so, when R-Cal fell to Jake Marshall.
O'Leary looked to be the next to fall with a small deficit at the end of the heat to wildcard Jackson Bunch unlikely to be overcome with no sets forthcoming. Connor spiked three good turns on a non-barrelling wave and the judges paid the deficit in full with change. Connor repeated the same strategy in his Round of 16 clash with Jake Marshall and won a heat at Backdoor on turns. It was a strange result that led to Connor making the Quarters at Pipe despite being nowhere near one of the best surfers of the day.
It did avert the goofyfoot bloodbath though.
Turn if you must, but make it worthy. O'Leary complies (WSL/Heff)
Tour replacement wildcard Ramzi Boukhiam was behind for 37 minutes of his heat with defending Pipe Pro Champion Jack Robinson. Robbo looked perfectly in tune with Backdoor, taking every chance that came his way and looking as slick as hell. There just wasn't many good waves that came through, leaving Ramzi with a shot. A beyond vertical drop, barely with an edge in, and a 'matador' exit out the doggy door before the apex exploded behind him was enough to send Jack back to baby land.
The “Moroccan God”, as Strider referred to him, was grateful but resolute on the glass. He referred to his opponent as “Jacky boy” and let us know what a long road it had been for him but that he, "deserves to be here. I deserve my shot”.
Absolutely brother. I can't wait to see Ramzi shift some water at Sunset. Big-bodied surfers suit the front half of the tour now, so let’s hope he gets a full opportunity before the cut.
Jacky boy continuing a theme (WSL/Bielmann)
With such a long off season, certain surfers just seem to float out of our consciousness. We forget they are even pros still on tour. For some reason Jordy Smith filled that role for me. I literally did a double-take when I saw his name in the draw - 'Oh shit, Jordy is still here'.
He did the buzzer beater thing to Italo, despite Italo pulling off an amazing late drop to deep tube, that could have been the best wave of the day, or possibly second-best to Callum Robson's. It looked a 10 at first glance, then a mid-9 with a more sober assessment. Judges lowballed an 8.87.
He still would have lost with no back-up and trying a chintzy little three-turn wave with priority which left Jordy out the back breathing clean air when the bomb came.
When asked about the confidence required to pull off such a clutch move Jordy claimed it was easy. “I've got high self-esteem as is”.
Jordy working on his mental game (WSL/Heff)
The clutch buzzer beaters continued. Perfect control of the heat with precise technical tube-riding meant nothing for Jacob Wilcox when he mis-paddled for a wave with minutes remaining, gave priority back to Yago Dora and then watched him paddle into an absolute peach. The kind of wave that once you'd made the drop it was just a matter of aiming for the hole and enjoying the viz. Judges probably over-cooked it, but it was a clear L for Chippo. As we saw with Jacko Baker at Sunset last year, you can't make too many of those errors and avoid the guillotine at Margs. Chippo hasn't got many more bullets left to fire at second-tier tours. He has to make this one count.
I was rooting for Shion Crawford against Griff, just on principle, in support of a frothing surf mongrel who loves a bit of Fortnite and has probably never journaled in his life. He rode the best wave of the heat for an 8.00, then failed to back up and somehow, again, the heat was decided by the last wave when Griff got a very deep tube and grab-rail cutback (lowballed) for a 7.00 and the W.
Griff visualising (WSL/Bielmann)
Is it all a mental game now? It seems to have assumed an out-sized importance which made Ethan Ewing's pronouncement when asked what he had been working in the off season sound so refreshing. “Trying to get better at surfing," he said.
Barron Mamiya sounded even more real, to my ears, when asked how he had overcome his imposter syndrome.
“Just been surfing a lot with my friends."
Which doesn't really explain the hapless performance of three-time World Champ Gabe Medina. Maybe it was a malfunction between the ears, or maybe it was just a very bad surf. I had high hopes for Gabe putting on a clinic of technically superior backside tuberiding at Backdoor and showing rookie Crosby Colapinto there are levels to this game.
Like Kelly, he started with non-makes and just kept on not making waves. Normally Gabe can surf his way out of a bad heat but when he completely befuddled himself into a straight-hander I could see the implosion was on. Gabe, like Kelly, Jack, Kanoa, and Italo, to name the former champs and top fivers eliminated today, starts the season with a second last place.
Gabe all at sea (WSL/Bielmann)
Honour through Labour, reads the motto from Callum Robson's old school. It fits perfectly, yes? The old school approach of hard work and competing without fear against more highly fancied (and more highly remunerated) opponents has lifted the Evans Head local from obscurity and a future with the hammer and tool belt to a top ten surfer. Cal took maximum risks against Seth Moniz, taking some big beatings before snapping a sled and replacing the Thruster with a sexy swallowtail quad. The moment came when Robson waited out the back for his bomb with P and a minute and change on the clock. The thickest wave of the day came through, and reprising Portugal, Cal scraped into it and under the lip. The wave disgorged its innards out into the shallow end section and Cal emerged well after it. The wave of the day and given a 9.33. Go watch that one if you see nothing else from today.
Cal playing catch up (WSL/Heff)
Unfortunately Robson was stranded in the next heat on a dying swell and unable to mount a serious challenge to JJF despite winning a paddle battle against the champ which showed he was in no moon to over-respect the champ.
John was, quite clearly, the surfer of the day. Every wave looked silky, or radical, or deep as hell, or a potential ten on the ones he didn't make.
Those in red hot form today: JJF, Barron, and Leo Fioravanti. They likely would have distinguished themselves yesterday in macking conditions.
An opportunity they, and we as spectators, were robbed of by an increasingly opaque and incomprehensible management.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Nailed it perfectly
I love your point about Portugal, it is a complete crapshoot.
I’m so disappointed that at some point what happened yesterday has happened to surfing. Someone would’ve changed their career path, legends forged or I’m sure the likes of John and Jack would confirmed demi god status. Instead we got more of the same (albeit fairly watchable day of surfing).
Here’s hoping the winner is the guy and gal that show the best tube riding skill.
Thanks for the write up.
Great point, yesterday was definitely a day to create or cement the reputation of a lifetime for the surfers. Even for the woz to attract some of the mainstream media attention that they so desperately crave.
The fact that the wozzle couldn’t see that when they chose not to run tells you all you need to know about their management.
Thanks Steve, great write up as usual.
I missed most of the day and it sounds like I didn’t miss much.
Did Kelly give his trademark post lost interview blaming blood sugar levels etc? Sounds like he was in the against camp when it came to running heats yesterday. And with Kelly being in the first heat of the round it might go a long way to explaining why they didn’t run even a single heat yesterday?
Gotta to be getting paid to have any real interest
When you think pipeline you think of thick left tubes
Hardly a left ridden today
Just back door rides that scored
And surf line guy when interviewed suggested even new swell on weekend will be for back door
I was waning to see rcal and O’Leary taking big lefts not closeout rights
When you think pipeline you think of thick left tubes
Hardly a left ridden today
Just back door rides that scored
And surf line guy when interviewed suggested even new swell on weekend will be for back door
I was waning to see rcal and O’Leary taking big lefts not closeout rights
‘ He claimed he was friends with everybody on tour and without some personal grudge it was impossible to want to beat them.’
Is it kind of like the ‘friends’ the local coffee barista has?
Absolutely nailed it again Freeride. Love the coverage of yesterday mistake by the WSL. I also love that Swellnet does follow the same WSL positive wall of noise. Keep giving it to them gents.
A professional surfer not wanting to ‘beat’ anyone? The WSL have lost the plot keeping Slater’s competitive career afloat. If he is such good ‘friends’ with everyone, maybe go have a latte with them instead of stopping an up & comer from trying to beat an opponent? The only good thing about the venal WSL is that the second Kelly Slater’s slow but obvious flame-out is deemed a negative, they will put him out of his misery. He is my favourite surfer of all time, but everyone gets old. Such a sorry way for a legend to behave.
Kelly had to leave or at least do the last year ride when he won Pipe. Everything felt flat after that !
I know I'm late to this party, been a bit too much surfing at home to be done... However, the greatest thing the Wozzle could do to Slater is disappear him like ELO!
It would be the best exit of all time packed with mystery, conspiracy and speculation. Imagine it. Absolutely befitting of the Goat. Like one of his mind game heats of old. Hell he should even orchestrate it himself.
Once again great write up Freeride. Thanks for making us actually think about this thing called Pro Surfing.
I doubt many thought of that comparison with Portugal. It is a great point made.
Do we know who was in the no surf camp?
I'm going to take a wild guess and say they speak Portuguese?
Italo. , medina , dora , pupo bros all charge the heavy stuff, I doubt they would have voted against surfing yesterday . What’s going to happen if Fiji is 12-18 ft ? Best surfers in best waves slogan needs to be changed .
Don't understand why the competitors get to call when its on or not. Shouldn't that be left up to the Woz? If they call on and you don't paddle out then you forfeit your heat. Pretty simple really. Is there any other sport in the world where the competitors decide whether they will be competing or not on any given day?
Surfers get to call the conditions, get to have a couple of warm up rounds unlike any other sport. They've got it good
I wonder if there is a fear of being sued. Sending them out in dangerous conditions that have caused injury prior. We know that this is the game they play and pipe is the playing field but in a court judges don’t know the game of pro surfing. WSL is USA domiciled so any court action would be in the USA irrespective of the geographical location of any comp and injury occurring. Duty of care may come into play.
Or, I could be wrong.
Surely it’s recognised surfing can be consequential in waves like yesterday (or any day) and when you agree to enter the contest then you are basically saying you accept all consequences.
Must admit today was fun to watch but yesterday would have been all time as mentioned above.
They constantly blow it, the wsl.
They need Perrow as the contest director again, or someone like him who won’t lay down to which ever pussies don’t want to paddle out.
Didn't Perrow call off Cloudbreak that time?
But we did get an amazing show from that one as a result.
Ah shit really?!
Oh well forget my idea then ha ha
It wasn't KP, there was a different contest director there, who made that call.
Yeh, sorry GF, looked it up.
It was Matt Wilson.
All good ld.
The WSL is proving itself to be a decaying, rotting, foul smelling piece of garbage.
Yesterday was unforgivable.
Very good point about Slater and his swan song.
Slater and the Wozzle remind me of the classic dysfunctional, codependent relationship between the junkie and his weak, enabling girlfriend. And I think it won't end well.
Thanks for another good one, Steve.
Imagine the NBA feeling they still needed Michael Jordan playing in order to stay popular, so they find ways to keep trotting him out, 25 lbs overweight and 25 years past his prime. "It's a 5 pointer for MJ!"
Some former pipe champs would turn in their grave.
Good write up Steve, but no mention of Jacob Wilcox’s last wave. It didn’t seem to be given any fair analysis from the judges, or proper viewing for that matter by replay etc, let alone any discussion from the commentators. Surely they had other camera angles we could have been watching while the judges adjudicated. Yago’s last ride, while good, seemed a bit excessive with its score, and with too quick a decision…and this after your recent interview with a head judge….
You're right, it did deserve more analysis and at the very least we got stooged on the lack of camera angles shown to us.
No way we could see what happened from the angle they showed us.
My God , the pray lords are sad . how do they get reception ? what if its a scam and there all talking to the same person ?
Another insightful summation SS.
As for the WSL not running yesterday despite upsetting the surfers, it actually doesn't really matter when you're just a billionaires plaything.
Meanwhile, back at the billionaires club, it must be quite a boast to your mates
(?), that you own an entire competitive sport and can do with it whatever you want...can't be too many sports where this is the case.
Move over jordy..pupo the new claim king on every wave!new rule. Dock them a point every time
Agreed .. Samuel Pupo thinks he’s won the world title every wave he gets or something .. Judges know not falling for it ..
I'm over the WSL. When I was a kid if you were a professional surfer you surfed big, heavy waves. If you didn't then you got off the tour. 12' barreling Pipe with the world's best surfers is what I want to see!
Yesterday could've run Mens Rd 32 with one hour overlapping heats.
Mens Rd 16 this morning and Womens rd one in the arv.
Coulda shoulda woulda.
But didn't.
If you going to run overlapping heats then make one heat women, one heat Mens.
Kinda like the Golf did a month ago
Yes! I've mentioned this before on here, would be great to see the men and women trading waves when the surf is good.
Imagine the Free PR via the news....
"Women Take on the Men at the Banzai Pïpeline ! "
I reckon judges would have too much trouble going back and forth between the scales so you’d need two sets of 5 judges.
No they wouldn’t they’d just double the women’s scores like they normally do .. or halve the men’s .. easy..
Cloudbreak decision was forgivable. They knew the swell was coming, ran a couple of heats and Raoni Monteiro got swatted and blew out his knee. After they called it off Cloudbreak and pack of big wave chargers put on a show for the decades - I’m still in awe of that wave that Healey bailed through.
Pipe at 10-12 feet and trades is unforgivable. The opportunities were there for those with the fortitude.
Edit: spot on analysis and summary as always Steve
Who love big heavy slabs over here!!!!! who loves beach breaks over there!!!! ..that’s how yesterdays call went I reckon majority won I think..
If the majority of surfers votes to not surf that is really really sad. Maybe the vitriol should be directed at those surfer more than the WSL
Head judge has a say as well. It's a 3 way discussion between commish (or whatever name now), head judge, and the surfers reps.
Sorry free rider legendary post again
Kelly always has a reason (read: excuse) every time he loses.
Agree - does my head in. So far up his own ass can’t see that someone (actually a lot of people) just surf better than him now.
JBG for CEO.
Does Toledo surf again this comp or he out?
Toledo totally would have got the blame for yesterday if he had have fronted up and scraped past Silva with a 5 heat total to stay in the contest.
Haven’t been following the forecasts, just turning on Fox each morning or checking this site to see whether it’s running. I just assumed today was the best day of the last few and perplexed to read I could have been watching the worlds best surfers in challenging Pipe yesterday, for the first time in many years it seeems, but it didn’t happen because of the ongoing sabotage of the WSL whose mission it is, to not provide competition surfing that engages surfers rather target a pseudo audience whom I can’t categorise
Here's a bit of trivia: When was the last event (apart from this one) where no Brazilians made it to the quarters?
No to sure probably 2013
Head to the archives for that answer..good trivia question
Thanks for write up.
Didn't really get chance to watch any of it, will catch highlights.
Yep seems such a shame didn't run yesterday. Fark if ya a pro surfer you think you'd be frothing and insisting to run it at solid pipe!
Bit of a joke it didn't run really. This combined with Toledo is making whole think look a farce. Yep stating obvious I know .
Didn't watch a wave.
Love your work Steve.
I struggled all day with questions after Medina and Italo losses. Which loss did I enjoy most and how many boards did italo stomp during a post heat tantrum?
As if they didn't run yesterday knowing what today was going to dish up......it's becoming harder to take this shit seriously
Another excellent review of the backdoor comp Steve, thanks!
Perfect waves for some the ladies today
There were some gem waves for those that could wait or chase them....
disappointing for those elite pro surfers that wanted to challenge chunky Pipeline yesterday.
Great highlight reel avoids 8hrs of WSL whitewishwash
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/backdoor
Just watched a few highlights and I think Jordy deserves to be in the list of form surfers, he was on fire.
But only the ocean will beat JJF.
Loved the Portugal analogy.
Thanks for the tip on Callum’s wave, how do they not have a water angle!!!?? Gong show
The other guy in Gabe's heat waited 30 minutes for his 1st wave; indicating the poor conditions. Gabe was unlucky. His 1st wave (a left) was well judged & surfed but it pinched at the end. The 2nd wave at Backdoor Gabe travels really far, based on where his board surfaces, but that wave was small & foamed out into nothing. It was the wave Gabe got after Crosby's wave that his hard to understand how Gabe did not make it. It had an exit but Gabe seemed to stand up too tall and took a very uncharacteristic wipe out. Gabe probably still would not have won but it may have been very close.
Jordy surfed good.
Maybe Volvo could be sponsor next year
That was great @bbbird. Good to at least see some of the action.
Thanks heaps for the share.
I liked the comment from that video, “ I can see why WSL called it off , too many people in the lineup “ great clip .
First footage I've seen from day before.
Geez, best surfers in the world should have been out in that .
Guessing the crowd of free surfers out there didn't think it was too big and stoked they got to surf it!
A lot of that footage wasn't from yesterday. Slater's waves, Jack Robbo's roll in, Mason Ho's wave, I've seen all those before, so how many others were also old waves?
Also, the footage is from different cameras, and is strung together with waves clearly shot at different times of the day (angle of the sun, strength of the trades).
Raw vids are almost always run chronologically with only the downtime edited out.
I don't agree with the Wozzle's call but that vid is a hit job.
Ok cheers for that info.
Cannot believe anything you see or read these days. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Cheers stu. Confirmed old footage by him in the comments and description
Clickbait at its finest.
Knowing everyone only reads the headline ("WSL LIVE called OFF on a HUGE PIPELINE day!") and then watches/comments based on that, old mate conveniently covers his arse in the first paragraph of the description - which no-one reads, ever.
"I'm here to leave you with an appreciation of what the WSL missed out on. These are images of swells similar to the one that broke at Pipeline on the day the WSL decided not to hold the Lexus Pipe Pro event."
Well played, good sir.
Hahaha hows that fkn moron on the SUP at the end, drops a guy then crashed into a surfer.
Why on earth you'd take that thing out in those conditions with all those people is beyond me
How TF did they not run in those waves???? Pitiful. JMD must go. Edit - I fell for the clickbait but still....
Wow so that was the day they called off competition?
Seems like there’s about 90 surfers with bigger balls than the “best 36 “in the world
No, that wasn't the day they called off competition (see my post above re: clickbait).
Did any of the pros free-surf yesterday when competition was called off?
If you have facebook look up Erik Kabik photographer , heaps of photos he’s posted, absolutely some gems came through.
yep. LOB, Griff, Italo + many more
Great write up Steve.
Spot on.
Listened to most of it while on the road for a few hours this morning.
Saw a few waves here and there. Cal’s wave was something special.
The Woz broke my back yesterday. Got no interest in it anymore.
Tried to read the contest report, great writing as always..but I just don't care.
There's nothing of interest left in pro surfing.
Avoid huge Pipe for a meaningless year of crowning Felipe at Trestles.
Summed it up perfectly!
You’ll be back.
Ha.
I already am Roady :-/
I can't hate pro surfing and these write ups make it even harder to hate.
And harder to love it as well.
Holy smokes, that video!
How they managed to NOT run in that is incredible.
This write up was more exciting than the event. I have never seen more
overscored and underscored waves in a event before.
Out of curiosity Im trying to watch ( fast forward ) the females WOW
they score them high they surf OK but after the males I cant stomach
it anymore and they get paid equally. I hope they dont completely make
decimate pro surfing like they have the big wave tour. Just no value with them.
yeah they just score then women like the men but then double it ..
Surfing is so far from where it was 15 years ago....Todays order of "Over scored Favela spins, world class waves left off tour in favour of contest's held in horrible Sth American closeout shitty beach break conditions, world surfers being crowned "World Champs" by dodging waves of consequence over the Surf Ranch. Commentators acting like 13 yr old girls unable to describe anything with out putting "Super" in front of it...the whole shebang is "whiney, lazy, unprofessional, apathetic and decidedly dull. And now that the WSL are acting like neuritic "helicopter parents" deeming the conditions are "too unsafe for my son/ daughter to play in" it makes it an easy choice to switch off... not sure if it will ever regain its composure...its seems too far gone.
You couldn't make this stuff up as Fiction
Billionaire take over.
Sacked CEO
Americanisation
Cultish patriots
Missing celebrities
World Champ with the jitters
Tube dodging pros
Free surfers dominating
A GOAT that just wont go away
How good a book would this unravelling plot make!
Geeze Steve not only do you get to analyse heats and performances you now get all this.
Great write up, thank you.
I wonder if the WSL is exposed to some kind of Insurance liability and the Insurers refuse to cover if they deem the risk of injury or worse too high. Insurance plays a part in other sponting code decisions. Unfortunate for the organised events but sometimes the best things in life really are free.
Thanks for the write up steve - great way to stay in touch with the tour as ever
'For the W' ... ok, that's obvious enough
'Waiting out the back with P' took me a little longer to decipher.
throw us grumpy old blokes a bone and spell out the word for us will ya please
there's only so much grey matter left upstairs here and I can't afford to burn it
figuring out semaphore in a contest write-up - hahah
Thank you for your word wizardry and critical analysis FR. Love that Jordy is still in the match. Callum is a champion, sorry he’s out. Go Ethan and Moana!
What an absolute farce pro surfing has become.
"Let the tour rise up to the highest level, so those who want it can distinguish themselves."
Well said FR. Cheers for your write up.
It would've been compelling viewing watching the worlds best out at Pipe in those conditions.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.....
Watched the post show last night, thought it was 4-6' Kirra, not Pipe. Still, some sick waves ridden by Calum, JJF and Jordy. Not one Brazzo in the quatres is a surprise
Wait to the beach breaks.
Great write up as usual. Did anyone catch Snake in the booth yesterday, he was talking about the year he won Pipe. Mentioned the early rounds were held with third reef bombs rolling through.....mmm. Sounds like yesterday.
What would be do without FR write ups of the comp's; have to endure the propaganda that comes out of the WSL. They should divulge those for and against competing - name, names. Think back to the Gary Green (I think) episode, he was named and copped the lot from us armchair critics. Pupo was a contrast to Liam who didn't claim once and went about beating him. That's the way to do it no claim and no journal.
Great write up thanks. Anyone know if there's a record for start and finish times of heats?
Is this the first time ever that a surfing (or booging) competition in Hawaii has not run because the waves were too good?
Jack beat Ramzi