A record nine wildcard spots were made available for the Xbox Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters, and all nine were won by Hawai'i surfers.

The trial rounds — which determine the wildcard surfers for the main event — and seven heats of the first round were completed yesterday in spectacular 6- to 10-foot waves at the Banzai Pipeline.

"I knew coming in that there would be a lot of (wildcard) openings," said Jamie O'Brien, who won one of the spots. "Now we have to make something out of it. This is our wave, we're the Pipeline Posse."

The other eight Hawai'i surfers earning the wildcard spots were Kalani Chapman, Marcus Hickman, Derek Ho, Bruce Irons, Jonah Morgan, Brian Pacheco, Fred Patacchia Jr., and Pancho Sullivan.

The Pipeline Masters is usually restricted to the 44 surfers who compete on the World Championship Tour (WCT). In past years, four wildcard spots have been awarded to fill out the field of 48.

But because of injuries to several of the WCT surfers, more wildcard spots became available this year.

After battling one another in the trials, the Hawai'i surfers said it was actually a relief to compete against the WCT competitors.

"It's so much easier to surf against people I don't know," Hickman said. "There's so much less pressure."

Hickman recorded the day's only perfect 10 yesterday for a long barrel ride in the first round of the trials. He qualified for the ninth wildcard spot out of the trials, but took advantage of it by winning his first-round heat in the main event later in the day.

Proof that age is hardly a factor at Pipeline, 20-year-old O'Brien and 39-year-old Ho both won first-round heats in the main event in impressive fashion.

"I know I can surf this place," said Ho, a former world champion who retired from the world tour in 1998. "I have nothing to prove to anyone. But at Pipe, if I'm in a contest, I want to win it."

Ho, who won the Pipeline Masters in 1986 and '93, had a two-wave total of 16.27 in the first round, including a 9.27.

O'Brien had the best score of the first round, a two-wave total of 16.76.

The first-round winners receive a bye into the third round.

The two contenders for the 2003 world championship — Andy Irons of Kaua'i and Kelly Slater of Florida — did not compete yesterday.

The Pipeline Masters is the final event on the 2003 world tour. It is also the final event in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series.

The second day of competition — with Irons and Slater scheduled to surf in separate heats — will run today if conditions allow. For status of the event, call 596-7873.