Saturday, December 19, 1998
New masters
of the Pipe
The old guard falls on a
By Greg Ambrose
wild day at Banzai Pipeline; Slater
is poised for the world title
Special to the Star-BulletinThe ocean provided another dramatic response yesterday to the international cast of professional surfers who sniveled about the small waves for the previous two events of the Vans G-Shock Triple Crown of Surfing.
Amid explosions of white water that stretched to the horizon at times from a powerful new northwest swell, it was easily apparent that a whole new crew has taken over at the Banzai Pipeline.
With a world title and Triple Crown championship on the line, the Mountain Dew Gerry Lopez Pipe Masters spotlighted the changing of the guard when the usual Pipeline heroes were ousted by rising young stars in 10- to 15-foot surf.
Former Pipe Masters winner Mark Occhilupo of Australia was bounced from the event by Chris Gallagher of Santa Cruz, Calif., and two-time Pipe master winner Derek Ho was ousted in his last year on the World Championship Tour by fearless young barrel-monger Corey Lopez of Southern California.
And Australia's big-wave maven Simon Law was hoping to end his long WCT career with a victory, but was sent into retirement by Hawaii's Shane Dorian.
The real star of the show was big, mean, remorseless Banzai Pipeline, where waves rolled ashore from third reef, second reef and through the usual lineup in a maelstrom of misery for many competitors. The lineup was so jumbled with confusing peaks popping up at random that competitors could scarcely tell where to wait for the waves, and heats were won by the surfer who captured the bare minimum three scoring waves.
Some waves began breaking far out to sea and rolled through the competitors in a sea of foam, while others sucked and dredged on the inside section, daring anyone to stroke over the pitching ledge into a certain beating. And the few makable hollow waves that came through were usually maddeningly out of the reach of surfers hustling to stay alive.
On a day when the surf was so wild that many surfers spent more time paddling to escape waves than stroking to capture them, the ocean saved the best for last.
When Ho and Lopez paddled out to end the competition, they plugged into more barrels in their heat than the rest of the day's heats combined. Lopez quickly put Ho in a deep hole by beating one of Hawaii's premier tube riders at his own game.
Just when most spectators had forgotten what a tube ride at Pipeline looked like, Lopez plunged over the ledge on a huge wave, and went on a speed run straight through the heart of the pitching barrel and back out again, for a 9.5 reward from the judges out of a possible 10.
In case anyone missed it, he quickly repeated the disappearing act, getting just as deep on a slightly smaller wave, for a 8.7 score, leaving Ho way behind.
With time running out, Ho made believers of skeptics by latching onto a big set wave and holding on for a speed run through the wave's innards, emerging to cheers and a 9.3 score from the judges.
With seconds left, Ho clawed his way into a heaving, pitching beast of a wave, and got pitched through space as the crowd moaned in disappointment.
Earlier in the day, spectators were anxious to see who would maneuver into position to win the world title. First to fall from contention was Shane Beschen, who dropped from the sky on a pitching wave, pearled half way down, snapped his surfboard and was drubbed by the wave. Although his brother Gavin quickly paddled out with a replacement, Beschen never regained his lost momentum.
Kelly Slater was so keen to earn his sixth world championship that he was psycho when the Pipeline was punishing any impertinence.
He dared to pull into a barrel at Backdoor Pipeline when there had been no hint of a makable right, and emerged to cheers from the crowd and a 9.7 from the judges. Kauai's Braden Dias must have thought he was competing against several adversaries, as Slater was everywhere, snagging deep barrels on the lefts, making late drops and slamming off the lip, and trotting back up the to beach paddle back out and catch more waves after being dragged all the way to Ehukai by the current.
In the next heat, young Kauai surfer Bruce Irons was a smaller version of Slater, catching a barrel at Backdoor, snagging giant waves and grabbing a rail for backside barrels, seemingly in several places at once. Irons did the defending champ a huge favor by dispatching the top-ranked surfer on the world tour, Australia's Mick Campbell, who had hoped to bring the title back to Australia for only the second time this decade.
Next up was Andy Irons, eager to give the surfing world an unprecedented show of brotherly love. With a victory, he would meet his sibling in the next round of competition. Unfortunately, wily veteran Michael "Munga" Barry of Australia duped Irons into taking off deep on a huge wave, then whipped around to catch the wave in front of Irons and assert his priority.
The judges assessed Irons an interference penalty, and as Barry racked up points, the frustrated Irons stroked into the worst wipeout of the day, a full plunge with the white water over the falls from the top of a 12-foot pounder.
Pancho Sullivan had a golden opportunity to snuff out Australia's other hope of regaining the world title, but he just couldn't find a wave like the deep backside barrel that earned him a 9.7 score in an earlier heat. That left Aussie Danny Wills in good shape to give Slater a run for the title, as he is one position ahead in the ratings heading into today's competition.
Dorian served notice that while the world title is out of his reach, he won't be satisfied unless he wins his first Triple Crown of Surfing title. He is first in line for that honor, and he eliminated Law in fine fashion, with hairball late drops on huge waves, maneuvering deftly under the menacing lips for maximum points. But he still has to surf past Slater.
By the time the sun sets on the Banzai Pipeline today, the world will have a champion, Triple Crown winner and Pipe master. And Slater would be pleased if he earned all three honors, just as he did in 1995.
