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One of the classic images in competition surfing’s relatively short history is that of Californian pro surfer Rob Machado tucking behind the curtain of a perfect ‘tubing’ wave at the 1995 Pipe Master’s Pro in Oahu, Hawaii, blasting out again a few seconds later, then cruising past fellow competitor Kelly Slater, whereupon the two surfers indulged in possibly the coolest high-five of all time out amongst the waves.
Ah, the camaraderie, the cool, the soul of surfing, all summed up in that one moment… Well, yes and no. Sure, here were two of the best surfers in the world still able to have fun in the heat of competition, and in surroundings that are testing even for the best. But what that moment of fun in the waves didn’t reveal was the seriousness of taking on ‘Pipe’, for this is a wave that can have experienced surfers shaking with fear and can permanently wipe out those who mess with it.
Add to that the fact that ‘Pipe’ breaks little more than a hundred yards off the crowded beaches of Oahu’s north shore, allowing spectators almost a crab’s eye view of the action in the water, and you have the perfect setting for a sporting spectacle that rarely fails to thrill - whether you’re taking part or watching.

Pipeline wasn’t actually surfed until the sixties, because until then it was considered just too dangerous. There are bigger waves in Hawaii, but few which break so fast and so powerfully in such shallow water - and if you wipe out it’s not a case of bouncing off a sandy beach, but of being driven onto sharp coral heads, or maybe even jammed into crevices in the reef by hundreds of tons of water breaking over an area of just a few square feet. Every year someone dies surfing ‘Pipe’.

So it wasn’t until December 1971 that the first competition was held here, organised by former world champion Fred Hemmings. Then, as now, the contest was delayed until the waves were considered good enough, but that was about the only thing the event had in common with today’s contest.
For the hundred or so spectators who watched in 1971 there are up to 10,000 now (which is a lot of people on a beach…); for the hand-held megaphone used to address surfers and spectators in 1971 there’s a state-of-the-art PA system now; and, perhaps most importantly for competitors, the few hundred dollars prize money Fred was able to scrape together in 1971 have now become ten of thousands as sponsors tussle for the right to have their name associated with surfing’s highest profile contest.

Yet out in the water things remain much the same as they were thirty years ago. The competitors may be surfing on boards with designs that are considerably more high-tech than those of the first Pipe Masters champion Jeff Hakman, but the essential skills required at Pipeline remain the same - to catch the biggest, meanest wave, and once on it, to get as deep inside the tube (the hollow cyclinder created as the lip of the breaking wave throws out) as possible, and to stay there for as long as possible.

The best make this look as casual and as easy as buttering toast, yet when you see big, challenging Pipeline waves ridden in this way, whether you’re a surfer or not you’re in no doubt that what you’re watching is something very special and very exciting.

The international surfing calendar is also scheduled so that the Pipeline Masters is the final event of the surfing year, which on more than one occasion has meant that it has actually decided the world champion. Yet surprisingly, it’s not always world champions who are best remembered for their skill at ‘Pipe’. Probably the best-known exponent of riding deep inside Pipeline’s emerald green ‘barrels’ is Gerry Lopez, who, although now well into his fifties, can still ride the waves with a relaxed panache that is matched by few others.
And, in fact, Lopez isn’t even into the contest scene. "I think contest surfing sucks" is one of this very cool surf dude’s more controversial (and tongue in cheek) remarks, but then that doesn’t really matter, for unlike most famous sporting arenas, here is one that in theory at least anyone can enter provided there’s no contest taking place.

And, of course, once the event is over you can always paddle out and give it a go yourself. For most people, though, even those who actually surf, when the waves are the size of a house, moving as fast as a car and are as heavy as a brick wall, it’s probably better to take the easy option and watch from the beach. You’ll still feel the adrenalin buzz, and you won’t even have to get wet.

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