XBOX GERRY LOPEZ PIPELINE MASTERS

SLATERR DOMINATES (Con't)

Irons, who suffered a major wipeout first wave, plummeted headfirst into the reef and broke his board. Despite returning to the lineup with a replacement and dropping into one epic looking wave, he was clipped and ultimately finished third.

"I thought I might make it for a second," said Irons, of his horrendous wipeout. "But I just couldn't get under it. I saw Kelly's wave and knew I needed a good one, so I was going either way. I just got shredded though. That board never even caught one wave, as it was brand new. It was really hard to find any open ones. I had a shocker."

Defending Xbox champion Bruce Irons (Haw) posted the day's best single score of 9.65 out of a possible 10-points. The Hawaiian was trailing last WCT winner and current Vans Triple Crown of Surfing leader Joel Parkinson's (Aus) early lead, but then dropped into a huge set and positioned himself perfectly to escape the barrel just prior to it closing out. He then broke his board paddling back out while Richie Lovett (Aus) caught his last ride to move into runner-up position, but the Hawaiian's advancement was secure.

"It's wasn't good out there so I knew I needed to wait, and fortunately that wave came," said Irons. "I just put my head down and couldn't even see. Luckily it let me out without getting lipped.

"That was one of the happiest days of my life," he added, of winning the 2001 event. "Hopefully we'll get some good waves for the rest of this."

Current ratings #2 Luke Egan (Aus) survived a couple of life-threatening wipeouts to beat Xbox Trials winner and 2000 event winner Rob Machado (USA), together with Neco Padaratz (Brz). The Australian committed himself to some extremely late drops, paying the price on some.

"I was lucky to get one good ride," said Egan. "Rob and I were worried about getting out there, but then at the end we were wondering how we'd get in (laughs). It was pretty gnarly out there and hard work, but you've got to do what you've got to do. It's nice not to be in that 33rd (place) round now."

Current #26 Taylor Knox (USA) controlled his heat with Taj Burrow (Aus) and Rodrigo Dornelles (Brz) this morning. Knox found two good tubes in the difficult surf, while Burrow managed a few backhand turns on smaller waves for lower scores. Dornelles, on the other hand, only caught one and was bounced off the lip by the backwash as he stood, free falling all the way to the bottom before being smashed by the pounding wave force. Fortunately he was all right, but his overall score of 0.3 offered little consolation.

"I was really fortunate to go out and get a couple of waves," said Knox. "I didn't think I was going to make it out of half of them before I paddled out, but I got lucky on both waves. You had to be patient, but to win you also have to go."

Nathan Hedge defeated fellow Australian and 1999 world champion Mark Occhilupo, as well as Marcelo Nunes (Brz) when competition resumed after the break today. The 23-year-old actually cut his left knee at the beginning of the match, but remained in the water and picked off a clean tube ride towards the end for the win.

"It was hard as they put our heat on hold, then it was back on," began Hedge. "I personally wouldn't be out there surfing, but went out there because I had to. That tells the story of conditions. It's a good feeling to win my first ever heat at Pipe though. I didn't have the best time, but did the job and am pretty stoked to beat 'Occy' out there.

"I just hit the bottom on the shelf out there," he explained of his knee injury. "I tried to take off but didn't make the bottom. It wasn't bleeding in the water and there were too many other things going on to worry about a cut leg."

Current #42 Paulo Moura (Brz) emerged from a long backhand barrel to pass Kalani Robb's (Haw) early lead in their match with Lee Winkler (Aus). The Brazilian cites Pipeline as his favorite WCT venue, and made the most of conditions to win his first ever heat at the break. Robb made a beautiful Pipeline tube at the start for an 8.0, and while he pulled into another toward the end only needing a 1.75, the backwash appeared to knock him off, and as he stood on the next attempt, his board snapped in two pieces.

"It was pretty hard out there with the bumps in the waves," said Moura. "There weren't a lot of lefts, so I took my chance on the backdoor and found a little one to make it. Pipeline is my favorite wave on the tour. This is my first time to surf in the Pipe Masters, so I hope to do well."

South African Greg Emslie won the day's final heat against Australians Kieren Perrow and Nathan Webster. As the swell marched through with even greater size and unpredictability, it was more a matter of survival than performance surfing. Perrow was actually tied on two scores, but a single wave count back had Emslie ahead. After the match concluded, both he and Webster were caught by a massive set, breaking their boards before Jet Ski assistance was required from the Hawaiian Water Safety team.