Hawai'i surfers have barrels of fun
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By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
With the Irons brothers leading the way as co-stars, Hawai'i surfers put on a show of barrel-riding brilliance yesterday.
The opening day of the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters ran in pristine waves of 6 to 10 feet at the Banzai Pipeline.
The surfers who could position themselves the best in Pipeline's famous barreling waves were rewarded with high scores.
"It was great," Bruce Irons said. "It felt so good to finally get waves at Pipe. It was really fun. That was the first time I surfed Pipe all winter, so I didn't want the heat to end."
His scores reflected the close-to-perfect conditions. Irons scored the only perfect 10 of the day for a long barrel ride through the right-handed break at "Backdoor" Pipeline. His second-best wave received a 9.9 for a long barrel ride the other way, to his left.
His older brother, Andy Irons, was not far behind. Andy, who is the defending champion of the Pipeline Masters, had a two-wave score of 17.5 (out of 20).
"I haven't got barreled all winter, so it's nice to get some good waves out there," he said.
The Irons brothers are from Hanalei, Kaua'i. Several other Hawai'i surfers put in impressive performances.
Of the top 10 scoring waves yesterday, nine went to Hawai'i surfers.
"These kinds of conditions definitely suit the local surfers," Andy Irons said.
In particular, the "wildcard" contingent from Hawai'i proved their worth as Pipeline specialists.
The Pipeline Masters is a World Championship Tour event, usually restricted to the 45 surfers on the tour, plus three wildcards.
But this year, the field was expanded from 48 to 64, so 16 surfers from Hawai'i were allowed into the contest as wildcard entries.
Fourteen of the 16 advanced yesterday. Among the standouts:
Amazingly, O'Brien had two "throw away" scores of 9.17 and 9.13 (a surfer can catch up to 15 waves in a heat, but only the top two count toward the final score).
"They just kept on coming and coming and coming," O'Brien said of the high-scoring waves. "It was surreal."
"It's phenomenal," he said of the conditions. "I had a late (afternoon) heat and I was hoping it would stay good because it's always changing out there."
"I was pretty nervous paddling out for that heat," he said. "I'm comfortable surfing out there, but I wanted to make sure that I represented well for all the boys. I'm stoked to get through and I'm looking forward to surfing through a few more."
"It looked like it was going to line up really well on the left so I just set my rail and held on," he said. "I knew it was going to be a really good one if I could come out and I'm just psyched that I got through."
All the first-round winners from yesterday's heats were rewarded with a bye in the second round. Eight of the 16 first-round winners were from Hawai'i.
Each heat featured four surfers. The second- and third-place finishers advanced to the second round; the fourth-place finishers were eliminated.
Slater, the eight-time world champion, placed second to O'Brien, so he is still in contention in the second round. Slater owns a record five Pipeline Masters championships.
Some of the international WCT surfers were not pleased that so many Hawai'i wildcard surfers were allowed into the field.
However, Andy Irons said: "If you want to be a Pipe champ, you have to beat everyone anyway."
Irons is currently ranked No. 5 on the WCT.
The Pipeline Masters is the third, and final, jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Irons won the first event at Hale'iwa Ali'i Beach and placed third in the second event at Sunset Beach, so he is the current leader.
Australia's Joel Parkinson won the Sunset Beach contest and is the only surfer with a shot at overtaking Irons for the Triple Crown. Parkinson placed second in his heat yesterday, so he will have to surf in the second round.
The Pipeline Masters is also the final contest on the 2006 WCT.
Slater has already wrapped up the world title, but several other surfers need strong performances in the Pipeline Masters to requalify for the 2007 WCT. Of the 45 surfers on tour, only the top 27 requalify.
Pancho Sullivan of Sunset Beach is one of the surfers on the WCT bubble. He is currently ranked No. 26, so his first-round victory yesterday moved him one step closer to requalifying.
"I'm going into this event the same as any other event," Sullivan said. "I want to build it heat by heat, and work my way to the final."
Among the top non-Hawai'i surfers yesterday were Peterson Rosa and Bruno Santos from Brazil, Tom Whitaker and Michael Lowe from Australia, Damien Hobgood and Cory Lopez from Florida, Travis Logie of South Africa, and Chris Ward of California.
Three Hawai'i surfers were eliminated yesterday: wildcards Kekoa Bacalso and Solomon Ortiz, and No. 14 WCT surfer Fred Patacchia Jr.
The contest will continue today if conditions are favorable. For status of the event, call 596-7873 or visit triplecrownofsurfing.com.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.
