The only disappointing part about Pipe Masters is that we have to wait another year to experience it again.
Pipe is an annual surfing competition held on the North Shore of Hawaii where surfers compete to win $425,000. Scoring is based on how easily the surfer gets to his/her feet, the size of a wave, and each maneuver pulled.
Capping off the 2013 surfing season, the competition allowed fans to watch as Gabriel Medina won the Hawaiian Air Show and the elite title of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP). The 2013 World Champion went to Mick Fanning while John John Florence took the Vans Triple Crown title. In the final round, the legendary Kelly Slater claimed the title of Billabong’s Pipe Masters against Florence.
Surfers around the world prepared year round to surf Pipe and were in for a treat: the perfect waves.
Dec. 8th marked the first day of the competition. Medina kept the crowd’s eyes on him as he threaded through perfect barrels, scoring a 9.67 and a 9.00 during his heat. His last wave ended with a long wall and a perfect full-rotation alley-oop—landing him the Hawaiian Air Show award.
By Round 5, there were some exciting heat matchups. After losing to Florence in Round 4, Fanning was then seeded against CJ Hobgood. Until halfway through the heat, both Fanning and Hobgood had only been able to score waves less than two. But soon after, Hobgood was able to take off and ride a wave to score a 6.83, much higher than what either surfer had been scoring during that heat. Fanning attempted to catch three more waves, but he was still unable to match Hobgood. Hobgood pulled another score of 3.67, giving him a total of 10.50, while Fanning’s totaled 4.17 as the clock neared the end of the heat.
There was an undeniable pressure on Fanning, as he knew his ASP title was on the line. With only a minute left on the clock and the necessity of scoring at least an 8 in mind, Fanning put his faith into a last 12-foot wave. With ease, Fanning grabbed the wall and came out of the barrel perfectly. Time ended before Hobgood could match Fanning’s ride, and as the surfers exited the water, the judges announced Fanning’s latest score of 9.50, advancing him to the Quarter Finals.
The Quarter Final round determined whether or not Fanning would go home with the ASP World Champion title. Seeded against fellow Australian Yadin Nicol, Fanning needed to surf a difficult 9.58 to win. Like déjà vu, Fanning had one minute left to snag his victory. Yet again, he took off, drove around the bottom and maneuvered back into the barrel for a long wall. After much anticipation, the results concluded that Fanning’s score was a 9.70, winning him the ASP world title.
In the Semi-Finals, Fanning and Florence advanced in heat 1, while Slater and 2012’s ASP champion, Joel Parkinson advanced in heat 2. Florence started his heat strong with a 9.20 and a 9.10. Fanning, however, did not have the same luck and failed to break a score of 2.93, giving Florence the Vans Triple Crown title.
During the second heat, the crowd was excited to watch veteran Slater perform, and he did not disappoint. Slater made surfing 15-foot waves look easy, garnering him scores of 9.63 and a perfect 10. Parkinson was unable to compensate, and Slater took the Final’s spot with Florence.
In the Finals, the heat started slowly, with Slater unable to catch decent waves. After patience, Florence tackled a deep wave and came out clean with an 8.50 as well as the lead.
Slater responded by impressively air-dropping into the basement of a monster wave, perfectly positioning himself and holding on until the wave spat him out into a score of 9.87. Unfortunately for Florence, he was short of what he needed to win, and the time ran out with Slater crowned the 2013 Billabong Pipe Master.