Dusty PayneCONDITIONS: 8-foot Hawaiian dreamscapes
HEATS HELD: All of round 1 and heats 1-8 of round 2.
NATURE’S CALL: Stop staring at me.
PREDICTIONS: Dusty Payne sends home a few top seeded World Tour surfers on his way to becoming the youngest winner of the Triple Crown ever.
It was tough to turn your head from the ocean today. Between the incessant pits at Pipe and Backdoor; the opening day of competition at the Billabong Pipeline Masters; the Australian game of suicide double-dare going on at Off the Wall between Kierran Perrow, Mick Fanning, Laurie Towner (who ate shit on a monster and had everyone gasping) and Tommy Whitaker; to the flocks of bikinis dipping in the waterline, the strange tourists in funny hats and hoards of heroes strolling around, it was sensory overload everywhere you looked.
With a solid N/NW swell filling in significantly overnight, day one of the Billabong Pipe Masters got under way this morning at 8 a.m. and scored a full day of pristine conditions and macking Pipe and Backdoor. And thanks to the clusterf—k that is my life because of the SURFING Mag couch tour, I somehow managed to put myself at one of the epicenters of it all: the Matix/DVS house, which is directly in front of the peak at Pipe to watch the equivalent of the Super Bowl of surfing from a skybox at the 50-yard line. Needless to say, at the moment, I love the couch tour. But something tells me it won’t always be this easy.
After eight solid hours of perfect Pipe and Backdoor, there’s plenty to talk about. And since lists are so much more fun to read than novels (besides this is the Internet), I’ll break down with a list of things that stood out at Day 1 of the Billabong Pipeline Masters:
-John John Florence’s performance: No doubt John John lives in a world of hype. He’s the North Shore’s golden child, zipping his toe head around at Pipe like we would our local beachbreak, he’s won the heart of the surf world as well as the mainstream world. But this morning that boy proved he’s now capable of playing with the big boys. He woke up this morning not even thinking he was in the contest. “I woke up and they said ‘You might get in’ and I was like, ‘Really? Sick!” And just like that John John took Reef Macintosh’s spot (Don’t worry Reef’s fine, something actually tells me he’s not here for a very good reason, and we’re pretty sure you won’t feel bad for him) and made good use of it. John John dismantled World Tour Rookie Jay “Bottle” Thompson this morning by going right, left, standing tall, soul arching and basically having the time of his life in front of his family and friends and putting on one of the most impressive showings of the day at 8-foot Pipe.
-Newly qualified Kekoa Becalso missed his heat this morning because of a last minute draw shift, allowing more alternates a shot, like local boy Ezra Sitt, who got a chance to surf and wasted no time and took full advantage of his chance, taking out Daniel Jones. This is no doubt an error Kekoa won’t want to make next year on the Dream Tour.
-Big Island boy Torrey Meister has had a rather dramatic North Shore season. He’s managed to advance at Sunset after breaking two boards in one heat. Paddle out on his dad’s yellowed back up and still advance. Bust his head open a few days ago and still look like a new version of Shane Dorian today, using Backdoor to smoke Rodrigo Dornelles in a combination fashion
Jamie O’Brien vs. Dustin Barca: This one was fun. The newly qualified and all around crowd favorite Dustin Barca took on Pipeline magician Jamie O. Both Hawaiians showed us why they’re the top of the pack out there but Jamie’s front porch knowledge gave him the win and a spot into round two, where he once again advanced, moving him into the top seed draw for round three.
Dusty Payne’s performances today were that of a past Triple Crown champion, not that of one who is putting on his first full performance in one. Thanks to his incredible showing at Haleiwa and Sunset, Dusty earned a slot in Pipe and isn’t letting it go to waste. “I’m trying not to think about the Triple Crown,” he said. “But hopefully I’ll end up on top with a crown on my head.” The 19-year-old Maui kid has been logging the hours perched in the crows nest in the Volcom house and it shows. His next test will come against a top seed in Round three as he tried to become the youngest winner ever of the Vans Triple Crown of surfing.
Chris Ward’s two 9’s. Needless to say, he handily won his heat against Backdoor hero Tory Barron after getting blown out of a left and a right. “It isn’t really scary out there, it’s just really pristine,” said Ward, who is on the cusp of re-qualifying and needs to make heats in order to make it out. “I was lucky to get two of the bigger sets of the day and got under them.”
Ricky Basnett’s “perfect” season. After his 33rd today, Basnett joins the likes of the 2008 Detroit Lions and the 1974 Tampa Bay Buccaneers becoming the first surfer to ever surf a winless season on the World Tour. Ricky, who’s still one of the best surfers in the world no doubt, wasn’t able to post a win this year on the World Tour after Dave Wassel disposed of him this morning.
Stay tuned as it looks like we could be right back on tomorrow morning for more action at the Billabong Pipeline Masters.
At the business end of things, these surfers below will no longer be on the ASP World Tour after today’s events:Surfers sitting below the Top 27 cut-off, not competing in the event and thus unable to requalify are Ben Bourgeios (USA), Neco Padaratz (BRA) and Travis Logie (ZAF).
ASP World Tour surfers sitting below the Top 27 cut-off, failing to advance out of today's heats and subsequently forfeiting their spots on the 2009 ASP World Tour are Daniel Ross (AUS), Royden Bryson (ZAF), Ricky Basnett (ZAF), Jay Thompson (AUS), Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA), Luke Munro (AUS), Mick Campbell (AUS), Roy Powers (HAW) and Leonardo Neves (BRA). World No. 43 Jihad Kohdr (BRA) also lost today, but earned via the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS).