Surf is up for a second day on Oahu’s North Shore
Jamie O’Brien of the North Shore showed exactly why he is a Pipe Master, advancing into the quarterfinals at the Billabong Pipe Masters at Pipeline today
Kelly Slater takes off at Backdoor edging out Marcus Hickman during round three.
Ian Walsh of Maui advanced into Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Pipeline in Memory of Andy Irons at the Banzai Pipeline today.
The Billabong Pipe Masters competition continues for a second day on Oahu’s North Shore in surf with wave faces of 15 to 20 feet. The waves are still at advisory levels, but down slightly from what some surfers described as "epic" conditions on Thursday.
The National Weather Service says large and dangerous surf will continue with a high surf advisory for north and west shores of most islands remaining in effect through 6 p.m. Saturday.
North Shore surf is expected to be 10 to 15 feet on Saturday, diminishing to 3 to 6 feet on Sunday.
Inexperienced beach-goers are warned to stay away from the shoreline along affected coasts through Saturday. The surf can also create dangerous rip currents.
The peak of the current northwest swell Thursday coincided with the first day of the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Memory of Andy Irons surf contest and challenged some of the best surfers in the world.
Hawaii surfer John John Florence, the winner of last week’s Van’s World Cup at Sunset Beach, scored a perfect 10 on a double-barrel wave during the competition Thursday at the Banzai Pipeline.
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On the Triple Crown of Surfing website, Florence said of his perfect 10 wave: "I got that barrel right off of the takeoff and it pinched and I couldn’t see anything. It was really sketchy and then I pulled in to that other barrel. It was fun. The waves were firing. It’s the best Pipe has been in so long. There are so many waves that people don’t really see. There are ones going underneath and wide ones, they’re just everywhere."
One surfer, Australian Laurie Towner, suffered a dislocated shoulder, shredded knee and punctured foot after slipping from his board and wiping out on a wave, according to contest officials.
California surfer Tanner Gudauskas broke two surfboards in his round one heat, and still advanced into the second round.
"I was getting cleaned up a lot. I came to the beach four times and I just kept saying try it again, let’s just try it again, that’s all I kept saying," Gudauskas said on the contest website. "It’s as gnarly as Pipe gets. I was super nervous watching, so many gnarly wipeouts. I just wanted to make it down the wave face but then I didn’t on one wave. It happens so fast in the moment that you don’t think about it. I’m just glad to be back on the beach."
