Retiring legends surf their final WCT heats; well, some of them do, at least

Luke Egan charged on what could have been his last WCT day

CONDITIONS: Bombing.
EVENTS HELD: Rounds Two and Three
NATURE’S CALL: OK, I’m ready, let’s do this thing. NOW!
PREDICTIONS: Andy vs. Kelly at Pipe!!! Could it happen again?

The Occ is back. Earlier this year, world champ Marc Occhilupo announced that this would be his last year on the WCT tour; a victory lap of his favorite surf spots, a chance to say goodbye. But today, after Raging Bull-ing his way through two stacked heats – requalifying for the ‘CT in the first and turning deteriorating conditions into something worth watching in the second – Occy officially announced that it ain’t over yet. And watching him sprint back down the beach, grinning like a twelve-year-old grom, it was easy to see it wasn’t.

For others, however, it was over. Kalani Robb, Shane Beschen, and Peterson Rosa all surfed their last WCT heats today. Goodbye, boys -- thanks for the memories. Other intended retirees – including Luke Egan, Sunny Garcia and Tim Curran – managed to keep the dream alive for one more day at least. In fact, watching all these graduating seniors compete was enough to keep any surfer’s dreams alive; hard to imagine they’d throw in the towel, but good on ‘em for starting a new chapter. When asked what he’d miss about the tour, Kalani Robb replied, “Airline food, hotel rooms, waiting periods…” Oh yeah, that stuff.

The day opened with all-time Pipe conditions. Eight to ten foot, glassy, WNW Second Reef drop-if-you-dares, giving local boys the like Kalani Robb, Makua Rothman and Kalani Chapman (who nudged out a frothing Kelly Slater in the opening heat) the advantage. But while the swell continued to drop the bombs, the onshore conditions started upping the ante on random chaos. Nevertheless, defending Pipe Master Jamie O’Brien showed the crowd what potential was still out there, saddling a tube that spit so hard it tore the ass out of his boardshorts. Pancho Sullivan second placed his way through two heats with a rock-solid display of Pipe Mastery and Vans Triple Crown tunnel vision. “First place doesn’t matter till the final,” said Pancho, making his intentions very clear. Meanwhile, Kelly Slater flip-flopped the first vs. second scales on Kalani Chapman with a Pipe barrel so deep the judges gave him a ten even though he didn’t come out. (One wonders what he woulda scored had he actually made it.) The two will face each other again in the quarterfinals, and potentially the semis and final.

World champ Andy Irons broke his board with only one decent wave and spent a scary couple minutes dodging heavy water to a retrieve his backup from the channel. Seconds later, he was lip smacking another with his backhand to pay up the disrespect. AI’s got his eye on the final, too, and you can bet he’s hoping there’s a white wetsuit out there with him.

Kelly Slater sets up for yet another epic finish at Pipe

UPCOMING QUARTERFINAL HEATS:
(1st & 2nd place advance to Semis; 3rd & 4th eliminated / finish =9th)

Heat # 1: Jamie O'Brien, Mick Fanning, Damien Hobgood, Lee Winkler
Heat # 2: Cory Lopez, Trent Munro, Kelly Slater, Kalani Chapman
Heat # 3: Andy Irons, Luke Egan, Nathan Hedge, Tim Curran
Heat # 4: Mark Occhilupo, Pancho Sullivan, Bruce Irons, Sunny Garcia

COMPLETE ROUND 3 RESULTS:
(1st & 2nd place advance to Quarters; 3rd & 4th eliminated / finish =17th)

Heat # 1: 1 - Jamie O'Brien, 2 - Mick Fanning, 3 - Timmy Reyes, 4 - Fred Patacchia
Heat # 2: 1 - Damien Hobgood, 2 - Lee Winkler, 3 - Victor Ribas, 4 - Bruno Santos
Heat # 3: 1 - Cory Lopez, 2 - Trent Munro, 3 - Luke Stedman, 4 - Greg Emslie
Heat # 4: 1 - Kelly Slater, 2 - Kalani Chapman, 3 - Tom Whitaker, 4 - Danny Wills
Heat # 5: 1 - Andy Irons, 2 - Luke Egan, 3 - Paulo Moura, 4 - Makua Rothman
Heat # 6: 1 - Nathan Hedge, 2 - Tim Curran, 3 - Jake Paterson, 4 - Kalani Robb
Heat # 7: 1 - Occy, 2 - Pancho Sullivan, 3 - Dean Morrison, 4 - Phil MacDonald
Heat # 8: 1 - Bruce Irons, 2 - Sunny Garcia, 3 - Shane Beschen, 4 - Joel Parkinson

COMPLETE ROUND 2 RESULTS:
(1st & 2nd place advance to Round 3; 3rd & 4th eliminated / finish =33rd)

Heat # 1: 1 - Kalani Chapman, 2 - Kelly Slater, 3 - Raoni Monteiro, 4 - Bede Durbidge
Heat # 2: 1 - Makua Rothman, 2 - Phil MacDonald, 3 - Marcelo Nunes, 4 - Michael Lowe
Heat # 3: 1 - Mick Fanning, 2 - Sunny Garcia, 3 - Dustin Barca, 4 - Darren O'Rafferty
Heat # 4: 1 - Kalani Robb, 2 - Pancho Sullivan, 3 - Troy Brooks, 4 - CJ Hobgood
Heat # 5: 1 - Dean Morrison, 2 - Luke Stedman, 3 - Bernardo Pigmeu, 4- Taylor Knox
Heat # 6: 1 - Luke Egan, 2 - Greg Emslie, 3 - Renan Rocha, 4 - Richard Lovett
Heat # 7: 1 - Tom Whitaker, 2 - Tim Curran, 3 - Shea Lopez, 4 - Travis Logie
Heat # 8: 1 - Mark Occhilupo, 2 - Shane Beschen, 3 - Kirk Flintoff, 4 - Peterson Rosa

2005 Rip Curl Pipe Masters Photo Gallery Photos from the 2005 WCT event # 11 of 11, held at the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii, Dec 8 - 20. The third and final jewel of the 2005 Triple Crown of Surfing.		Buring Question: Who Will Win The Pipeline Masters? Endless speculation will finally give way in the next few days - but we want to know - Who do YOU think will win the 2005 Rip Curl Pipeline Masters???		2005 Rip Curl Pipe Masters Round 1 Wrap-Up The best surfers in the world were set to paddle out in epic Pipeline surf. What they got at During Round 1 of the Rip Curl Pipeline Masters was far from perfection...

 

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		THE BEST WAVES! THE BEST SURFERS! THE BEST PHOTOS! AND NOW THE BEST DEAL: SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND GET 1 YEAR OF SURFING MAGAZINE FOR ONLY $12.00! Take advantage of this special offer-act now! GIVE A GIFT
				Email: First Name: Last Name: Address Line 1: Address Line 2: City: State: Zip: Select a payment option: Charge my credit card Bill me later Do you have a promotional coupon code? Enter Code: Please send me special offers and exclusive promotions from Surfing's premiere partners.