Big Swell Expected for Opening Day of Billabong Pipe Masters
Gabriel Medina (BRA), Kelly Slater (USA), Taj Burrow (AUS), Bruce Irons (HAW) and John John Florence (HAW) at the Billabong Pipe Masters press conference.
BANZAI PIPELINE, Oahu/Hawaii (Tuesday, December 6, 2011) – The Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons is set to unfold from December 8 through 20, 2011 and with a big swell looming on the horizon, the world’s best surfers could be battling massive Pipeline on the opening day of the waiting period.
The final stop on the 2011 ASP World Title Series and the third jewel of the Vans Triple Crown, the Billabong Pipe Masters utilizes a unique overlapping format which hosts an expanded field to accommodate the talented list of Hawaiian Pipeline specialists.
Kelly Slater (USA), 39, freshly crowned 11-time ASP World Champion, was admittedly more relaxed entering the upcoming Billabong Pipe Masters after securing the 2011 ASP World Title in San Francisco, but is still anxious to tackle the dangerous barrel after nearly a year out of the North Shore lineup.
“In theory, having won the title in San Francisco takes the pressure off a lot, but there’s a big swell coming,” Slater said. “There’s been nothing to prepare on and I haven’t been there even if there was. It’s going to go from zero to 10 here pretty quick in the next few days and there’s not going to be a whole lot of waves to free-surf beforehand. The pressure is off, so I don’t have to worry about that, but the anxiety building up to surfing the Pipe contest is a lot. I haven’t felt it until sitting here today thinking about it, but it’s exciting and I can’t wait to get in the water. The pressure’s not there (for the ASP World Title), but there is the excitement, the anxiety and getting rid of the nerves after a year of not surfing Pipe.”
Slater, who has won several elite ASP event victories at Pipeline, also explained that the massive swell expected to ignite the infamous reef instantly changes a competitors’ heat strategy in comparison to smaller first-reef Pipeline typically seen in previous years at the Billabong Pipe Masters.
“It’s a whole different deal, you kind of have to make a decision,” Slater said. “Everyone would love to get one of those second-reef bombs in their heat. The truth is, they are heats and you get scored so the chance of getting out there and getting a second reef wave and maximizing your scoring potential at Pipeline probably isn’t going to happen. It’s been a long time since someone’s had a second-reef Pipe wave in a contest, but it’d be nice to see.”
Taj Burrow (AUS), 33, 2009 Billabong Pipe Masters Champion, has been putting his time in at Pipeline in preparation for this year’s contest, but feels the smaller swells on offer earlier this year have done little to prepare him for the serious swell expected to deliver on the opening day of the waiting period.
“It looks like the surf is only going to get better, so I’m getting excited,” Burrow said. “I’ve been surfing out there a lot, but it’s mainly only been rippable little turns, so I’m looking forward to getting some barrels. It’ll be fun. Big Pipe is pretty intimidating, it’s scary for sure, but it’s awesome at the same time. I’m excited to surf such an incredible wave with just a few guys out.”
Burrow, who won the first event of the Vans Triple Crown, the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, stumbled at Sunset Beach, but is hoping for Redemption at the Billabong Pipe Masters to keep his hopes alive for the prestigious Hawaiian title.
“I was definitely thinking about the Triple Crown on route to Hawaii,” Burrow said. “In the past Joel Parkinson won it a lot, and it seemed like he won it with ease and I noticed a few of the guys weren’t doing it this year. Triple Crown was something I really wanted to do and I want to win it. It’s looking like a good race with John John (Florence) and Adam (Melling) getting some good results, so it should prove to be an exciting finish.”
John John Florence (HAW), 19, winner of the Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach, is currently leading the Vans Triple Crown ratings entering the final stop at his home break and is chomping at the bit to battle the world’s best surfers despite the pressure that comes along with competing in front of the local crowd.
“It should be fun, we haven’t really had a Pipe swell this year and it’s looking like this will be the first real swell, so no one has had the chance to surf it yet,” Florence said. “There’s definitely pressure. I live there and surf there everyday and I don’t want to lose first heat. I want to have fun out there surfing with only three other guys in the water, it’s amazing.”
Gabriel Medina (BRA), 17, who joined the ASP Top 34 after the midyear rotation, has been in stunning form while scalping two event victories and the young Brazilian is looking at this year’s solid swell as an opportunity to build crucial experience in bigger surf.
“I’ve been to Hawaii five times, but I haven’t surfed Pipe much because it’s always so crowded,” Medina said. “Hopefully I can get some good waves this year with two or three guys in the water. I don’t have a lot of big wave experience, but I’m excited and I’m going to do my best.”
Due to the expanded competition at Pipeline, the ASP has awarded two wildcard spots to surfers next in line on the ASP World Rankings, Kolohe Andino (USA), 17, and Willian Cardoso (BRA), 25. Both surfers will receive ASP World Rankings points for their campaigns at the Billabong Pipeline Masters.
The Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons will run from December 8 – 20, 2011 and will be webcast LIVE via http://vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters2011
For additional information log on to www.aspworldtour.com
Upcoming Billabong Pipe Masters Round 1 Match Ups:
Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Marcus Hickman (HAW)
Heat 2: CJ Hobgood (USA) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)
Heat 3: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Evan Valiere (HAW)
Heat 4: Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Bruce Irons (HAW)
Heat 5: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Ian Walsh (HAW)
Heat 6: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Kai Barger (HAW)
Heat 7: Daniel Ross (AUS) vs. Aamion Goodwin (HAW)
Heat 8: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Jamie O’Brien (HAW)
Heat 9: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Laurie Towner (AUS)
Heat 10: Willian Cardoso (BRA) vs. Shane Dorian (HAW)
Heat 11: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) vs. Jack Freestone (AUS)
Heat 12: Mason Ho (HAW) vs. Hank Gaskell (HAW)
Upcoming Billabong Pipe Masters Round 2 Match Ups:
Heat 1: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 2: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 4: John Florence (HAW) vs. TBD
Heat 5: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 6: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 7: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 8: Adam Melling (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 9: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 10: Dusty Payne (HAW) vs. TBD
Heat 11: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. TBD
Heat 12: Jadson Andre (BRA) vs. TBD
Upcoming Billabong Pipe Masters Round 3 Match Ups:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 2: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 5: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. TBD
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. TBD
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. TBD
Heat 9: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBD
Heat 11: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. TBD
Heat 12: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. TBD
VANS TRIPLE CROWN TOP 3 (Heading into Billabong Pipe Masters):
1. John John Florence (HAW) 9,780 pts
2. Adam Melling (AUS) 9,650 pts
3. Michel Bourez (PYF) 8,480 pts
ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (Heading into Billabong Pipe Masters):
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 63,350 pts
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 48,600 pts
3. Owen Wright (AUS) 47,900 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 43,700 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 42,200 pts
Comments
Category: All ASP News, ASP World Tour News
doesnt the finals , tell you something. the comp guys , who work all year , know how to compete and the cream rises to the top. But how many careers / livelyhoods did the wildcards jeopardise/ ruin just to keep some happy. stick to a format that works
Excellent site. Lots of helpful info here. I’m sending it to some buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks on your effort!
Whats going on with all the wildcards , its just turning into a local surf comp when all the other guys have done the hard yards to stay on the tour all year ,to be knock out / career in jeopardy by a guy who surfs here all the time. does’nt seem fair
Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Jamie O’Brien (HAW) is tasty
Where’s Nat? Highest Rated Vans Triple Crown athlete not already on tour.
Can’t wait to see Bruce out at Pipe, I have a feeling that he’s gonna blow-up this year!
This heat setup seems really strange to me.
Why should some surfers be seeded further into the event, into rounds that have more points if they lose their first heat?
Nat Young should be in the line up!
Lame on what was done to nat young!
It will be exciting…. principaly Dane VS Jamie O.B…….I hope see J.O.B VS Bruce or Ke11y…..Im happy to see Shane in the comp to!
I think Medina and Jonh Jonh will show a good surf, mixing rad moves with huge barrels!!!
Let’s follow everything….!
48 SURFERS???? What the hell?
So much fuss about the change and reduction to 32 (+4) and Pipe still gets 48? What’s the coherence in that?
Girls surfing Men’s events, increased points, extra local wildcards… How come Hawaiians have so much leverage (blackmail) over the ASP? And why does the rest of the world has to put up with that? They wouldn’t allow so many events there? Who gives a toss? I, for one, wouldn’t mind not having a single event there if it means having to put up with blackmail… Their surfers chances to qualify and/ or make video highlights would decrease exponentially!
Besides, there a lot of good waves in the world, and some local Hawaiian surfers would love to get less pressure on their breaks… a true win for the REAL surfers there, a loss for poster boys.
Ah! Guess all those locals would have to beat up themselves not having any haoles there, a shame to let all that jiu-jitsu training go to waste…
At the least, it’s called political correctness…. some may call it even more. Also, if we don’t include alot of Hawaiian wildcards, many of those Hawaiians will cry about it.
It Would be more fair and exiting if the contest was held in the ASP World Tour Format. The contest would be held in 3 days of exelent surf. The wildcards should be granted to triple crown contenders such as nat young (or Julian last year) or to the highest seeded one world rankings, and they should battle the highest seeds to earn their spot. I am really stupid because I simply can´t understand why a tour format is completely altered in the last championship. Or aren´t we talking about a sport???
By changing the rules the ASP screwed-up three different competitions, the world tour final rankings, the classification to the 2012 wt and wqs, and the triple crown.
Why take the drug tests to try to be a sport if you change the rules in a anti-sportmanship way?????
Thiago Camarao, Yadin Nicol (ok, he is injured), and Jesse Mendes are currently ranked higher than Tanner Gudauskas (Jesse Mendes is also ranked higher than Tanner on the Triple Crown list). Was that a wildcard provided by the sponsor (Vans Triple Crown)? Hope so, otherwise it makes no sense. As for the top ranked non-WT and non-Hawaiian surfer, wouldn’t Nat Young be the perfect name for Heat 12 in round 1? 5th on the Triple Crown ratings was not enough? Geez, too many issues…
So why isnt sunset apart of the bla bla dream tour.The world tour surfers should have to justify there surfing at sunset,sunset probably more than pipe really shows your ability technique and style probably more than Pipe and more than any other wave in the world.It should be Sunset and Pipe at the end of the year.
Lame set up with the heats. Really, 3 rounds to get through 48 surfers. run it like every other contest so we can see everybody get a bommb the first day
who got the international wildcard for placing highest in triple crown ratings? i know hana hank got the hawaiian. thanks.