Pipeline Aftermath

Joel Parkinson World Title

A long year of consistent results has resulted in Australian Joel Parkinson winning his first world title in Hawaii. Joel had an excellent run in booming surf at Pipeline, showing a cool approach in the somewhat testing conditions and finally achieving his lifetime goal. Slater was on his tail throughout the event and even slipped into the lead at one stage, but losing in the second semi final to Josh Kerr, Slater gave the title to Joel and relinquished what would have been his 12th crown. The waves were pumping for the final day of the Pipe Masters and there were barrels and wipeouts all day, broken boards and big wipeouts, and amidst the frenetic action and screaming fans, Joel emerged as the world champion after many years of running up.

Joel Parkinson Pipeline Masters

It’s hard to describe the full Pipeline experience in words, and even video clips don’t do it justice. The surf today was booming and dangerous, breaking a hundred yards from the shoreline where fans were gathered to watch their heroes.

Yadin Nicol showed incredible commitment, Kelly and Shane-O had an incredible quarterfinal battle that was the heat of the event, and the Hobgoods took off and pulled into everything that came their way. Dane was looking good at first, showing great affinity for the left handers, and Josh Kerr was the most committed surfer in the water throughout the contest, getting a trip to the hospital for a damaged shoulder for his effort. Gabriel Medina also showed maturity in the barrels, but it was Parko who took the final from Kerrzy and took his first contest victory of the year.

Seabass Triple Crown Winner

Sebastien Ziets from Kaui was the surprise winner of the Vans Triple Crown. He banked a record $100,000 bonus in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the Series, hydrated by vitaminwater, as well as a $30,000 Harley Davidson and a $10,000 custom Nixon watch. Zietz eliminated our man Travis Logie from the Billabong Pipeline Masters to win. The man rips.

SeaBass charges the powerful waves of the North Shore, and is not scared to pull in no matter how serious the situation. As well as this, he showed a good knowledge of Sunset that only comes form many hours spent in the shifting peaks, and is a good guy to boot.

SeaBass was the surprise of the season on the North Shore, but has qualified for the WCT next year, so we will see much more of him in the days ahead, which is a goo thing. New blood, talent and the ability to charge makes for good surfing.

Travis and Jordy

Both our boys had an average contest at Pipe, but both are back in the mix next year. Jordy finished 12th and Travis 20th and 2013 will see them back and as determined as ever.

Pipe

She put on a performance; she did, for this event. Two days of booming surf at the beginning of the waiting period and a final day of heavy, chunky, scary barrels. Some incredible rides, a roaring crowd and some quite horrifying wipeouts all made for a huge final day of surfing and a few injuries, some ten-point rides and scores of broken boards all added to the drama. Pipeline is one of the most amazing spectacles in the sport of surfing, and Hawaii is a place that every surfer should experience at some stage in their lives. It should not be passed up on. This place is wild.