Pipeline Pro finally starts in 'great' surf

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Perseverance paid off for the world's best bodyboarders yesterday.

The payment came in the form of pristine waves of 4 to 8 feet at the famous Banzai Pipeline for the opening day of the Rockstar Games Pipeline Pro.

"It was beautiful all day," said Kaua'i's Jeff Hubbard, one of yesterday's standouts. "Great conditions."

That the event was even running yesterday was an accomplishment in itself. Last November, city officials denied a permit for the bodyboarding contest at Pipeline.

It was part of the fallout after the city agreed to abide by rules limiting contest days at North Shore beaches.

The Pipeline Pro — considered the most prestigious event in bodyboarding — had been held at Pipeline in January every year since 1983. The permit for that time period was instead granted to the Backdoor Shootout, a professional surfing contest.

"I still don't know why we got moved out," contest director Bob Thomas said. "The bodyboarding community still feels slighted about it. This is the Super Bowl of our sport and we felt like we had established ourselves."

The only reason why the bodyboarding contest ran yesterday was because it was allowed to share a permit with the Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic.

"It was actually a cooperative effort between all the (contest) promoters and the city," Thomas said. "We feel fortunate just to be running today because for a while it looked like we weren't going to have anything."

The Bodysurfing Classic was completed Monday, giving the bodyboarders the rest of this week to complete two days of competition.

"We're all grateful to the bodysurfers for helping us out," said nine-time former world bodyboarding champ Mike Stewart. "I think we're all happy with the way it turned out."

It did come with some sacrifices. In past years, the Pipeline Pro needed three days of competition to determine a champion. This year, it ran one day of trials at Sandy Beach last week to narrow the field to a two-day event at Pipeline.

Although most bodyboarders ride waves while lying prone, they do not plan to take the snub lying down. Thomas said he will continue to lobby to get his old time slot back.

"We're hoping to get our own permit next year," he said. "I'm open to working with the other promoters to figure something out."

Ironically, the Backdoor Shootout never got to use its permit for Pipeline in early January because the waves never cooperated during that time period.

"It doesn't matter when it is, I just want to have our own event at Pipeline," Hubbard said. "Give us that and I'll be happy."

The final day of this week's Pipeline Pro must be completed before Saturday.