Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
With waves bombing on Tuesday, three perfect 10s were scored as the Volcom Pipe Pro surf contest continued at Banzai Pipeline.
Solid 10- to 12-foot waves with occasional 15-footers rolled in on second and third reef Pipe.
The first 10 of the day went to New York’s Balaram Stack, who was in his first contest at Pipeline. It was near the end of the heat and Stack, needing a score, took off deep and late. As soon as he made the drop, he set his line and started pumping furiously in the barrel. As the wave started to spit, Stack emerged with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face.
“I knew the waves were firing and there were only three other guys out. That never happens, so I was just hoping I could get a wave,” Stack said. “The stars aligned and I got one.”
The second and third perfect 10s of the day came from Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves and Maui’s Dusty Payne. Graves scored his 10 on a Pipeline left. Graves took off late and dropped straight into the barrel. As it looked like he was coming out, another section fell in front of him. He emerged a few seconds later with the spit and cheers from the beach.
Payne’s was on a rare Backdoor right in which he made it through several miraculous sections before coming out hands raised above his head. It was also the only wave he caught in the heat and without a backup score, he still ended up losing the heat.
Kauai’s Bruce Irons scored the highest heat total of the day with a 17.47 out of 20.00 for a pair of heavy, perfectly-ridden lefts.
Defending champ John John Florence and five-time Pipe champ Jamie O’Brien are still in contention for the title going into the final day today, surf permitting.
80
COURTESY OF ASP