Volcom Pipe Pro Gets Underway in “Barreling Surf”

The lineup at Pipe this morning. Image: WSL/Freesurf/Heff

The Volcom Pipe Pro has been called “on” with an 8 a.m. start today in 8-10 foot conditions.

Day 1 gets underway after “large wash through surf” on Thursday led to a lay day on the opening day of the event’s holding period.

Contest organizers expect a full day of action at Pipeline with the competition expected to last until 4 p.m. today.

The lineup includes:

• Round 1 competitors enter the water first
• Volcom Qualifier 6-man 30-minute heat follows, which includes the all-Hawaiian match up of Tom Dosland, Kawai Lindo, JD Irons, Dave Wassel, Koa Rothman and Derek Ho. The surfers will compete for one slot into the Volcom Pipe Pro.
• Organizers also anticipate finishing Heat 11 of Round 2 today.

The three-day event will see a mix of athletes competing for up to 3,000 ratings points and a berth into the Pipeline Invitational in December.

The event features 112 competitors, with some of the world’s best surfers competing for the $100,000 prize purse, the list of which includes Kelly Slater, John John Florence, Dusty Payne, Jamie O’Brien and Bruce Irons.  Young talent to watch for include juniors Griffin Colapinto (USA), 17, and Noa Mizuno (HAW) 17.

Round 1 match-ups are as follows:

H1: Joao Marco Maffini (HAW); Kai Barger (HAW); Noa Mizuno (HAW); Gregg Nakamura
H2: Kamalei Alexander (HAW); Mikey Bruneau (HAW); Bruce Irons (HAW); Shayden Cruz-Pacarro (HAW)
H3: Chris Foster (HAW); Ian Gentil (HAW); Landon McNamara (HAW); Ulualoha Napeahi (HAW)
H4: Elijah Gates (HAW); Dylan Goodale (HAW); Takayuki Wakita (HAW); Gavin Sutherland (HAW)
H5: Derek Wong (HAW); Eala Stewart (HAW); Kona Oliveira (HAW); Sheldon Paishon (HAW)
H6: Imaikalani deVault (HAW); Evan Valiere (HAW); Dylan Kowalski (USA); Kai Mana Henry (HAW)
H7: Luke Shepardson (HAW); Makai McNamara (HAW); Kalani Chapman (HAW); Jason Shibata (HAW)
H8: Travis Beckmann (HAW); Myles Padaca (HAW); Allen Schuyler (HAW); Ezra Sitt (HAW)