By the time you read this, we may already have a start in the first WSL Challenger Series events for the year, the Lexus Pipe CS at Pipeline.
The end of week forecast looks promising as I write, possibly triple overhead with offshores, but rather short-lived, with a new pulse probable first week of February. Still, if you’re as surf-starved as I am, a bit of live action at proper Pipe, with a cast of the best young guns and old stagers all busting to make the cut for this year’s championship tour, is very welcome.
The Lexus CS is the second last of the qualifiers, with only the Newcastle event to come in March, where conditions can be unpredictable, so the surfers inside the cut will be looking to secure their spots with strong performances at one of the best reef breaks in the world. Surfers just outside the cut will be putting everything on the line to at least make the quarters and stay in reach of advancement.
But both groups will be quietly cursing the fact that the power of Pipe has attracted the highest number of CT surfers we’ve seen all series. Now that competing in the Challenger is completely optional for surfers already on the tour, most don’t bother. And it’s certainly not worth it for the money. First place in a CS pays $US20,000 as opposed to $US80,000 in a CT, and if you don’t make the quarters you’re in the red, unless your sponsors pay your travel costs.
None of which concerns the CT surfers aiming to clock some Pipe time without the crowds, and get the feet back in the wax after a while out of the coloured jersey. In the mens, that means Hawaii’s Barron Mamiya, current world number 11 and back-to-back winner of the last two Lexus Pipe Pro tour events, Griffin Colapinto, ranked number 2 and a man with world champion already stamped on his back, and Leo Fioravanti, ranked number 9 and a Pipe specialist who finished runner-up to Mamiya at the last Lexus Pipe Pro.
All three of these guys are dangerous at proper Pipe or Backdoor, and Mamiya has the runs on the board, but I really like Leo’s go-for-it approach going either way, and if I was a betting man I’d be checking his odds.
Meanwhile, the women’s division has five tour surfers to contend with, starting with our reigning world champ Molly Picklum. Pickles has got plenty of form at Pipe, where she is downright fearless but also methodical in her positioning and wave selection. And she finished third in this event last year. Next we have world number 3 Gabriela Bryan who also knows no fear in her backyard, Canada’s teenaged sensation Erin Brooks, number 8 on the rankings and a real talent in waves of consequence, Brazil’s Luana Silva ranked 10, and our own Bella Nicholls, who also has Pipe form and finished fifth in last year’s Lexus.
While we’re talking ladies, two Euro girls, Portugal’s Yolanda Hopkins and France’s Tia Zebrowski, had already qualified for the 2026 tour before Pipe started, 14-year-old wonderkid Tia becoming the youngest ever qualifier. But the depth of European talent inside the cut goes even deeper, with Portugal’s Francisca Veselko at 4 and Basque Country Euskadians Nadia Erostarbe and Annette Gonzalez Etxabarri at 5 and 6. That leaves room inside the cut for only two Aussies, Sally Fitzgibbons at 3 and India Robinson at 7.
What is truly remarkable about this is that we have two Iberians qualified and another three very close. But then again, the Iberian Peninsula, stretching from the Basque Pyrenees in the South West of France, through the Euskadi states and Spain into Portugal, takes in most of the consistently wave-rich surf zones in Europe. And it might be the area’s time to shine.
In the blokes, Hawaii’s Eli Hanneman leads the CS and, while he hasn’t got it on lock yet, he’s a certainty to qualify, as is Sammy Pupo behind him. Aussies Oscar Berry and George Pittar look strong at 3 and 5, but the others currently inside the cut, Liam O’Brien, Jacob Willcox and Winter Vincent, at 8, 9 and 10 respectively, need to surf well. As do the two Aussies with any chance outside the cut, Jordy Lawler at 13 and Morgan Cibilic at 14. Ironically, if either of them pull it off, it will be at the expense of a fellow countryman.
If the waves are as good as the forecast, this is going to be a very interesting comp.
FOOTNOTE: What a killer concert we had at the wonderfully eccentric Majestic Theatre in Pomona last weekend! One band, two one-hour sets, no tricks, no bulldust. Just the Andy Cowan Band playing their socks off, moving seamlessly between jazz, blues and soul, from classic covers to brilliant originals. I’ve heard Andy in several incarnations over the past few years, and I reckon this simple four-piece – piano, sax, bass, drums – driven by Andy’s searing vocals, is the best yet. Catch them when you can. You will not be disappointed.
