Page 4 - MidWeek Windward - Dec 29, 2021

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DECEMBER 29, 2021
Aloha surfers and beachgoers,
It’s hard to be- lieve we’re at the end of the year. Time rolled by faster than a tsunami.
BY GARY KEWLEY
Florence, Wong Finish The Year With A Win At Pipe
John John Florence’s last-minute wave earns him the victory in jaw-dropping fashion at the HIC Pipe Pro. PHOTO COURTESY WSL/KEOKI SAGUIBO
greatest, most talented wave rider in the world — at least for the past five years. Don’t forget he’s got two back-to- back world titles in 2016 and 2017. Not since Andy Irons has a Hawai‘i-born surf- er done this, and only five male surfers in surfing his- tory have done it two years in a row — Mark Richards with four, Tom Carrol with two, Tom Curren with two and, of course, Kelly Slat- er with five in a row, Irons with three and now Florence
The surf forecast for De- cember has been below av- erage, but there have been insanely good exceptions to the rule.
months. I was really stoked. It was a great final. And to win like that is always real- ly fun. Last second — it was all building up for those last seconds.”
There are a few reasons for smaller-than-average surf, the main one being we’re in a bit of a La Niña year — the counterpart to El Niño. La Niña means gener- ically lower than normal air pressure over the West Pa- cific and at times more high pressure to our north. These can keep low pressure fur- ther away by blocking these storms from nearing the is- lands. La Niña means a wet season with a large variation in tradewind speeds. For surfers, it means smaller surf overall with the occasional exception. In summary, La Niña is doing its job this sea- son.
Let’s finish with a huge congrats to Moana Wong for her biggest career win on Dec. 16. Surf wasn’t quite like the men’s but it ended up with plenty of tubes.
Now, let’s talk about those exceptions, in particular the recent west-northwest we had for the men’s HIC Pipe Pro held Dec. 17-18.
“I always wanted to win this contest and I finally won it,” Wong says. “I’ve been doing this contest since I was 12 years old, before it was taken by WSL, it was Betty Depolito who had this contest.
Surf was excellent rang- ing from 4 to 8 feet on Ha- waiian scale — so a couple of feet overhead to near tri- ple overhead. We had nice offshore east trades, too, that groomed Pipe to perfection. When you add the best surf- ers into the mix, it ignites into fireworks.
victory for this particular event (formerly the Volcom Pipe Pro). Plus, Florence has a Pipe Masters under his belt. He finally scored his long-awaited win in Decem- ber 2020. He’s considered the best at Pipe, in or out of a jersey. Winning hand- ily against the stacked field just solidified his status. This 6-foot-1, 185-pound, 29-year-old surfer is con- sidered by many to be the
When Florence won his first title, he also won the prestigious Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea. Florence pulled this feat off in the biggest surf ever in its nearly 40- year history — 30 feet solid with close outs.
Anyway, back to the HIC Pipeline Pro. Florence says it best: “It feels so amazing just to win this event, espe- cially after Hale‘iwa, too,” Florence explains. “Com- ing into this event I was actually a little bit nervous. There’s a lot of really good surfers .... But it was fun to get back into the rhythm and be competing out here again and getting ready for what’s to come in the next few
That’s a wrap for this week. Thank you for shar- ing your time with me in MidWeek’s Windward O’ahu Voice. I’ll be seeing family on the mainland next week but be sure to be here with me as the new year kicks off. Cheers and aloha.
You may have heard that the North Shore’s very own John John Florence won a
The Eddie contest began at Sunset Beach in 1984 due to lack of surf size, and then
GQ, droppin’ in 4 U!
Pipe contest again.
This is the legend’s fifth
with his two. The ladies have twice as many as the men: count ‘em guys — 10! Time to catch up.
from 1986 until now it’s all been at the bay.
“So, I’ve been doing it for so many years and I always came so close. I finally ac- complished my goal and I feel really, really good.”
The goofy foot — right foot forward — won in a clutch performance at Pipeline and Backdoor for valuable Challenger Series points, plus a wildcard into the 2022 Championship Tour’s Billabong Pro Pipe- line. Wong committed by throwing herself over the ledge at this dangerous reef — over and over throughout finals day.
gary@surfnewsnetwork.com