Pipeline: A Brutal Wave

I’m based in Singapore at the moment. It’s great (don’t get me wrong) but it’s an absolute nightmare when it comes to watching the Billabong Pipe Masters live. The time difference is just awful. Essentially, heats get underway around 1am my time, and the day's competition generally wraps up around 9am - give or take. However, after snoozing my alarm at 7:30am and eventually getting out of bed an hour later, I was able to watch quite a few heats as they were doubled up due the pumping conditions and the knowledge that tomorrow will probably be the pick of the bunch to get ‘finals day’ going and inevitably wrapped up. And in true Pipe fashion a lot of s*** went down - both good and bad (depending on who you’re rooting for). 

Ryan Callinan continues his purple patch. The Australian who is just too nice to handle, won the Pipe Invitational in tricky conditions, and now finds himself in a round 4 heat of the big dance against Jordy Smith and Conner Coffin. The way ‘R-Cal’ is surfing, it wouldn’t be surprising if he sneaks in two Backdoor pits and finishes with score somewhere in the 16+ range. And every Aussie will be hoping he does that, particularly to Conner Coffin, who decided to ruin Matty Wilkinson’s dreams of remaining on tour next year. It’s going to be super awkward when the two find themselves at the Rip Curl Christmas party...

Matt Wilkinson is off the ‘dream tour’. It’s hard to imagine it was only two years ago that ‘Wilko’ was number 1 in the world after winning the opener at Snapper and then backing it up down at Bells. He could literally do no wrong. Now, the surfer the world has come to love due to his jokes, laid back personality and insane back-hand hacks, is not going to be there - all thanks to Conner-bloody-Coffin. That’s probably a bit harsh. Wilko didn’t have a great year and it was always going to be a tough ask for the goofy footer to secure his 2019 spot. Still, it sucks. Who’s going to arrive to events on roller blades now!?

Gabriel Medina looks hungry and poised to take out the world title. His first wave in his round 3 heat scored a 3.00 but could have easily been a 10 if he made it out. He was close as well. The thing had teeth according to Martin Potter. After shaking off the tumble, Medina put a solid heat score together against Hawaiian wildcard Seth Moniz, to progress into the fourth round, where he’ll meet Michel Bourez and Sebastian Zietz. The way it stands, if Medina makes the final he wins the world title. If he makes the semis, Julian Wilson needs to win the final to claim his first world title, and if Medina gets knocked out before the quarter finals, Wilson will need to make the final. 

Julian Wilson keeps his world title chances alive and has the whole of Australia behind him. It wasn’t the prettiest of heats for Wilson but it was enough to get through to round 4. It all just seems to be coming together at the right time for Wilson, and although everything needs to go his way if he wants to steal the title from Medina, you can’t help admire what he’s done just to have a chance. Wilson also happens to be a Pipe Master which he’ll surely be drawing upon for the remainder of the event. 

Joel Parkinson is going out with a bang and also has the whole of Australia behind him. The year has been a victory lap for Parko and he’s made it known to all that he’s going for the Triple Crown. When you throw in all the retirement parties as well, it’s amazing to see the surfing he’s been producing. I mean Billabong threw him a bash literally the night before Pipe started, and given the amount of beers that would have been consumed, Parko managed to rock up the following morning, surf his brains out and make it through to round 3. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Parko somehow buckled his board during his round 3 match up (against Kanoa Igarashi) before even catching a wave; then he took off on a Backdoor bomb and made it out, before his board imploded on itself. Parko got an 8.77 which basically gave him the heat before it had even started. Unfortunately, he comes up against Julian Wilson in round 4. And the reason it’s unfortunate is because Parko will be backing his younger opponent to win his first title. But at the same time, Parko wants that Triple Crown. So yeah, he’s in between a rock and hard place. Which is a common feeling surfing Pipe...

Kelly Slater is an absolute freak. He may have found himself in round 2, but make no mistake, the GOAT is dialled into Pipe and looks scarily dangerous. His round 3 heat was against Filipe Toledo who needed to win in order to keep his world title hopes alive - easier said than done when Slater is in the water. The waves turned on for the final heat of the day, but it was Slater who looked in control. To the point where on a perfect Pipe wave, he grabbed the rail, tucked into a deep barrel, somehow lost his footing projecting himself forward, body surfed the barrel for a little bit, then managed to get his board back in front of him, proceeded to stand up and somehow came out with the spit. He was scored a 3...The judges deemed it a fall. Regardless, it blew my mind. If you have a moment, head to our Facebook page and check it out.

There was still a bit of time in the heat and although Toledo was behind on points, anything can happen at Pipe. Cue a set rolling through at Backdoor! Slater jumped on the first medium-sized wave and came out cleanly, however, the wave behind was much bigger and Toledo took off deep and had to get moving. From the outset it had 10 written all over it, and Toledo would have known as well. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, he got clipped right at the end and it was all over. World title hopes gone but in true gentlemen form, Slater felt bad for Toledo. Turns out the old bull had been giving some tips to Toledo throughout the event, and wanted to see the (no doubt) future world champion do well.

Filipe Toledo can’t win the world title. The most entertaining surfer on tour will have to wait until next year to give it another crack. The second part of this season hasn’t been that great for Toledo and there will be moments he reflects on over the next few days that stand out as being detrimental to his title campaign. However, he’s a weapon and will come back more ferocious than ever. 

—

Pipe turned on today, and although the swell direction was a bit too north, there were definitely some diamonds in the rough - plus it was big, real big. Tomorrow is meant to be a little smaller, albeit cleaner, and hopefully there will be a bit more west in the swell. If that’s the case then it’s going to be an all-time finals day with a new world champion crowned, and a veteran saying goodbye to a wave that has made him the surfer he is...

Reckon you have what it takes to surf Pipe? If you do, you're going to need some surfing gear, and we have everything you need. Shop here! 

@wetsuitoutlet

Written by Sam Quennell