By Stuart Nettle

On the 8th of December the 2009 Pipeline Masters begins, the last competition in a season that has been as dramatic as they come. Much has been written about the coming showdown between Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson, however there is a third character involved: the Pipeline itself. Since pro-surfing began Pipeline has been the stage for many exciting competitive moments and, leading up to the Pipeline Masters, Swellnet will be looking at a few of the best. Today it's the 1988 Billabong Pro, which was then the last competition of the season. Damien Hardman and Tom Carroll are vying for the title, but who's that lurking in the shadows?

In 1988 the Hawaiian season got off to a patchy start. Tom Carroll won the Hard Rock Cafe World Cup at ten to fifteen foot Sunset. The win gave him 1000 points and he jumped to second place in the ratings behind Damien Hardman. But the surf went flat for most of December. Wollongong goofyfooter Rob Page won the Pipe Masters in mediocre four to five foot surf. Hardman came second, his lead over Carroll extended. The small waves continued into the waiting period of the Billabong Pro, the final event of the 1988 season.

Competition began on the 29th December in three feet waves at Ehukai Beach Park with all the top ranked surfers progressing through the early rounds. Then on January 2nd a clean and powerful ten to twelve foot west swell hit the north shore. The Billabong Pro resumed. It was perfect conditions for Pipeline - too big for Backdoor but the lefts were deadly heavy. The ideal setting for a world title showdown. Afterward John Elliss wrote in Tracks that it was "the most epic day in modern competitive history". Even the laconic Tom Curren marvelled at the spectacle calling it "pro-surfing at it's best". It was the last day of competition for the year and three surfers from the northern beaches of Sydney - Hardman, Carroll and Barton Lynch - were all in contention. Lynch however, was a distinctly outside chance. A 'mathematical possiblity'. Theoretically, the title race was between Hardman and Carroll.

Hardman had won the previous years title, while Carroll was frank in his admission that he wanted to be the first surfer to regain it. It was a two-horse race, though neither were considered outright favourite. For Hardman to win he had to finish two places ahead of Carroll, but this was no simple feat considering the nuggetty Newport goofyfooter had won the previous years Pipe Masters and was coming into his own at big Pipe (three years later he laid down that snap and stamped himself as the best Pipe surfer of his generation).

Yet as it transpired Carroll's surfing had no bearing on Hardman's title hopes. In a third-round heat against Occy, Hardman blundered. He repeatedly missed the barrels on offer and then, when he found one, claimed it too early, thrusting his arm up into the pitching lip causing him to fall. Occy took the heat and Hardman had to watch from the sand and pray that Carroll and Lynch also fell.

Lynch, sitting third on the ratings and attracting none of the world title attention, kept his slim hopes alive after Sunny Garcia gave him a walk-through courtesy of an interference. The most dramatic heat of the day came next with Tom Carroll up against young Floridian Todd Holland.

Carroll would have to progress through two further heats to win the title, but with Hardman out, Carroll's Pipe experience weighed heavily in his favour. Holland went for broke, at one stage even attempting a layback on a meaty ten footer that ended with a nightmare trip over the falls. Carroll surfed solidly and, with the heat winding down, looked to have it in the bag.

With ten minutes to go Holland had priority, a set approached the reef and I'll hand the commentary over to Nick Carroll from the pages of Tracks: "Holland continued to stroke into the first wave and then the unthinkable occurred. Carroll started to make a move for the same wave. I couldn't believe what I was watching. Carroll kept paddling for what felt like ages before he pulled back and Holland took off."

The commentators on the beach announced a paddling interference and, just like that, Tom Carroll was out of the title race. "That was it, the dream was over through a simple inexplicable mistake. The crew was sad, their hopes for their friend left behind on the sand." wrote Nick. Suddenly Barton Lynch was the only remaining world title contender left in the competition. All he had to do to win the 1988 world title was make the final. Two more heats. The first was against Tom Curren which he won with savvy wave choice. The second, the semi final, was against noted Pipe charger Glen Winton. Damien Hardman sat on the beach and watched. If Lynch lost the heat he was world champ. If Lynch won however...

In contrast to Winton's recklessness, Barton played it cool, picking off the best sets and threading the hollow lefts wearing his yellow protective helmet. He returned to the sand the 1988 world champion - a completely unexpected yet utterly deserving world champ. Photos of Lynch flying out of gaping barrels wearing that yellow helmet were splashed across every surf magazines for months. They became synonomous with his incredible win. The world title in the bag Lynch then took on Luke Egan in the final.

Some days are diamonds, or so the saying goes, and Lynch was having his diamond day. Buoyed by an improbable come-from-behind title win and the boundless confidence of a big-wave survivor he rolled Egan and returned to the sand at Pipeline both the winner of Billabong Pro and the 1988 world champion.

Next up: The 1995 Pipe Masters and Slater and Machado share a high-five in the channel.