Posted on: Friday, February 18, 2005
Frightening day at Monster Pro
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Reminders of the dangers of surfing were evident yesterday on the opening day of the Monster Energy Pro.
Bernie Baker • Special to The Advertiser "It's definitely a wake-up call," said Hale'iwa's Fred Patacchia Jr. "You try to be as safe as possible, and respect the ocean. But at the same time, this is our profession, and so we have to be out there regardless."
Greg Long of San Clemente, Calif., is the surfer whose board was bitten by what appeared to be a tiger shark on Wednesday. He entered the Monster Energy Pro yesterday, but was eliminated in the first round.
"I'm still a little shaky on the inside," he said. "But mostly, I just had a bad heat."
Warnings were posted at North Shore beaches from Pipeline to Sunset on Wednesday afternoon, but the contest was cleared to run yesterday.
For most surfers, the biggest fear was the conditions. At least six surfboards were snapped in half by the waves.
Just last week, a surf photographer died when he was slammed into the reef at Pipeline.
"Everybody is scared, even the ones who say they're not," said Kalani Chapman from O'ahu's North Shore. "It's in the back of everybody's mind."
But at the front of the surfers' minds is the prestige of winning a contest at the famous Banzai Pipeline.
"This is one of the best contests in the world because you have so many surfers from all over the world," Chapman said.
Contest director Reid Inouye said more than 170 surfers are entered. The better-known Pipeline Masters contest — which is held every December — restricts its field to 48.
"Everybody gets a shot in this one," Inouye said. "All the guys who practice at Pipeline all the time are getting their shot to show what they can do."
Chapman, 22, is one of those guys, and he was one of yesterday's standouts.
"You have to charge, but you also want to be smart about which waves you go on so that you can (advance)," he said. "If you catch the wrong wave here, you can really get messed up."
Patacchia is the only surfer from the elite World Championship Tour (WCT) who opted to enter the Monster Energy Pro, and he proved his worth by winning his second-round heat. Other WCT surfers, like world champion Andy Irons, will be traveling to Australia this week.
"It's a gift to surf Pipe with only a few other guys out," he said. "The most important thing for me is the WCT, but if you can do good in any contest at Pipeline, that's a big deal."
The Monster Energy Pro is part of surfing's World Qualifying Series. Three more days of competition are required to determine a champion.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
The Banzai Pipeline featured treacherous waves that ranged from 8 to 12 feet. As if that weren't enough, there was also the lingering buzz over a shark encounter at a nearby surf break on Wednesday.
At least six surfboards were snapped in half by the pounding surf yesterday. "Everybody is scared, even the ones who say they're not," said Kalani Chapman, who advanced through two heats.
