XBOX GERRY LOPEZ PIPELINE MASTERS

MACHADO WINS TRIALS (Con't)

The thrills and spills never ended today, with a non-stop procession of tube-rides, nasty wipeouts, broken boards and upset results. Perfect 10-point tube-rides were posted by Danny Fuller (Hawaii), Brian Pacheco (Hawaii) and Manoa Drollet (Tahiti). Drollet's tube-ride was pronounced the most unbelievable of the day by spectators and announcers. It was a right-hander at the Backdoor which Drollet dropped into, pulled into the tube and disappeared so deep for so long that most on hand gave up watching, positive that he had been wiped out. Then he re-appeared to receive a roar from the astonished crowd and a perfect score from the judges.

"If there was such a thing, that wave should have been a 12 out of 10," said international surfing announcer Nuno Jonet, of Portugal. "It was just an absolutely incredible ride. Everybody had written him off and most had given up even watching the wave. I made a lucky judgment call and kept watching and then out he came. Unbelievable."

Noah Johnson, a semi-finalist today, felt the full brunt of Pipeline's power on one of his wipeouts, getting pummeled so hard mid-tube ride that his competition vest was ripped clean from him.

"It was heavy out there," said Johnson, no stranger to big waves or Pipeline. "I got worked. I can't even remember what happened. I just remember feeling the shirt get ripped up and it tied my arms together over my head for a second before it was gone. I looked for it when I came up, but it had disappeared."

There is a 50/50 chance that the first round of the main event will take to the water tomorrow morning. The Xbox Pipeline Masters is the third and final men's event of the 20th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing series and will decide the men's Triple Crown champion. The complete holding period for the event is from December 8 through 20. Just three more days of competition are required to complete the event.