Monster Enegy Pipeline Pro 2007

Kalani Chapman- At home.

Pipeline, Oahu, Sunday Feb. 4 -- INCREDIBLE! The situation was identical to last week’s first day of competition, to the second, to the minute, to the hour and ALMOST to the day. At 10 a.m. you could smell it, by 11 a.m. you could see it and by noon hard seabreeze had ripped the head off of Pipeline, allowing completion of only the second round of 128 of the Monster Energy Pro Presented by Billabong.

Seven straight days of vicious, on-shore winds swept in last week, destroying the surf and near hurricane-force weather ripping up fences, roofs even hundred year old trees. Now, with the next storm and close-out surf barely a day out, the Monster Energy Finals could wind up on St. Patrick’s day in mid-March, but that’s not real - and either is this weather.

No one thought it would take a week-plus to get to today’s second round, but it did, landing square on America’s Super Bowl Sunday morning of glassy conditions. Conditions fell apart fast and everyone scrambled for their best moves in the 6’-12’ dumping wind- swell . First day points leaders’ Alvaro Malpartida (son of 70’s Peruvian international champ Oscar “Chino” Malpartida) and Honolulu’s Davey Gonzales came up short in moving on, but the 32 that DID make it to Round 3 - of 96 now face the first iron wall of top seeds, including Dane Reynolds, Randall Paulson and a cast of other barrel riding stars.

With more miserable kona weather but a sneeze away, event officials won’t be getting much sleep this week, eyes wide open for anything rideable - clawing their way, half- day by half-day, to the Monster Energy Pro Finale. – Bernie Baker/SURFER