Local Knowledge
Day One Of The Billabong Pipe Masters Goes To The Wildcard Contingent
by Jake Howard

Day One of the Billabong Pipe Masters is in the books, and thanks to a throbbing northwest swell and light trades, we were treated to a hell of a show. As to be expected the local contingent dominated the dojo. Out of the 24 heats that were surfed today only four were won by world tour surfers, the rest all went to “wildcards.” That being said, here’s a few highlights from Day One:

Story of the Day: As mentioned, wildcards ruled. Out of the Island boys Jamie O’Brien, Shane “Back” Dorian, Dusty Payne, and John John Florence (yes, John John) shined especially bright. With the new format and a host of heavies down in Micronesia chasing swell it’s been a bit of a funky start, but as Billabong’s Steve Clark so poetically put it, “The surf sorts out everything.” And thanks to a relentless barrage of swell, that’s exactly what’s been going on all winter.

Worst Wipeout: Does it count if it didn’t take place actually in the Pipe Masters? Hope so, because Laurie Towner took an absolute donut today at Off The Wall. With the swell on the increase Laurie was out rushing it when he took off on one, went down hard, broke his board, got compressed on the bottom, blacked out for a few seconds, and barely dragged himself back up the beach. Needless to say the kid was rattled.

Most Inspiring Surfer: Dusty Payne proved today that he very much wants to hoist the Triple Crown trophy. Surfing like the second coming of Bruce Irons, Dusty turned Backdoor into his own personal playground, and in the process eliminated Manoa Drollet and Heitor Alves. Round Three will be the real test as that’s when World Tour heavies enter the picture, but judging by what he’s done at both Haleiwa and Sunset, as well as the show he put on today, the kid could very easily go the distance.

Best Performance: Chris Ward tallied a near-perfect 19.90 for not only the highest heat score of the day, but one of the highest heat scores of the entire year. He’s been charging hard all winter, and the water time definitely showed today. He could very much be the dark horse hero should he be able to keep it together.