With a lame swell forecast after a season of endless pump on Oahu’s North Shore, and a pile-on of champions pulling out for injuries or sneaky free surf plans or washing their hair that week, the World Surf League 2025 season opener, the Lexus Pipe Pro was always going to disappoint.
But there’s no fool like an old fool, and so here’s your columnist setting the alarm for the middle of the night and tumbling out of bed just in time to catch the closing stages of heat three of the men’s first round, in which our Jack Robinson had cleaned it up first wave with an 8.0 in clean, medium-sized Backdoor reef runners, the direction of swell rendering the Pipe left out of play. The problem was there weren’t enough of them. Jack had to wait forever for a decent backup, which you always knew he’d eventually find, while our Liam O’Brien and Mexico’s Al Cleland Jr fought over the scraps to get the other third round qualifying position.
There’s been a lot of interest in Mexico’s first ever CT surfer, making his debut after showing some real flair and a lot of guts in last year’s Challenger series. I like him. He’s smooth, controlled and takes no prisoners. I only saw his start of heat paddle battle with Jack on replay but it set him up to fight back in a heat where he was headed for the dreaded elimination round until he smashed a set wave on the buzzer for a 4.6, enough to get through at Liam’s expense. It was the start of a surprisingly interesting day of surfing.
In a wave-starved heat five, the GOAT (53 this week) pulled out his veteran smarts and some power gouges to progress in front of Italo Ferreira, with an out-of-sorts Sammy Pupo going to the losers’ round. It was the first heat Kelly, surfing as a retired wildcard in this, had won at Pipe since 2022, when he won the event a week short of turning 50.
Heat six saw a tradesman-like performance by reigning world champ John John Florence, surfing as a local wildcard after announcing a few days prior that he was taking the year off, get through in second, but the real story was the gutsy performance of Brazil’s Ian Gouveia, finally back in the frontline after years of struggle, and battling a serious leg injury (CHECK) since requalifying last year. He showed he meant business by nearly getting called on a paddling interference against Florence in the opening minutes and then taking the win with a 7.67 top score in the final minute. He broke down and wept in his post-heat interview, indicative of the pressure on him to make the season cut.
What else from the men’s? Well, Jordy Smith and Ramzi Boukhiam looked strong, while returning three-times champ Felipe Toledo looked more comfortable at Pipe this size than he did at times four last year. But the real surprise of the round was the heat dominance of debutant Marco Mignot, a much-travelled Frenchman who went above the lip over dry reef over and over again, and was rewarded with the round’s highest heat score.
In the four of six heats run in the women’s, current champ Caity Simmers looked impressive but it was our Tyler Wright who dominated, getting the highest score of the day with strong turns and deep gouges. Tyler looks on song.
As I write we’re still waiting out a series of storms and kona winds, so I’ll come back with the Pipe wrap next week.
Sunny Sets bring swell
With the sun making intermittent appearances and the first decent swell of the summer providing just enough fun little runners at First Point to make competitors of all levels happy, the inaugural Sunny Sets Woman’s Surf Comp seemed to be a hit with competitors and spectators.
The organisers promised that this “weekend of growth, empowerment and inspiration” would be a “surf competition like no other” and so it seemed as I paddled around it coming in from sessions on the outer bays, but as I write (on Monday) details of what actually happened are sketchy, although thanks to LiveHeats I can publish the division winners.
Perhaps it was secret women’s business, but who cares? Like I said, it seemed like everyone was having a ball and I particularly liked the inclusive idea of making Saturday a coaching day with video analysis so that first-time competitors could get the idea. Then Sunday, when the swell had picked up a touch, a real comp with beginners and old stagers going hard, particularly in the teams event, where local legends Mia Waite (Global Sliders) and Kirra Molnar (Salty Sisters) led their teams to the top placings.
The accompanying surf photos are courtesy of Geoff Aquino and show some nice little peelers at First Point … at last!
Results: Deus Open – Mia Waite; Frenzy Van Under 12 – Ariel Basa; Sideways 13-19 – Ramona Haddrell; Hydro Flask 20-29 – Christy Crooks; Hey Zomi 30-39 – Lucy Downs; Plow Surf 40-49 – Belen Kimble; De Labertouche Beauty 50-59 – Kat Dingle; Face Jam 60 + – Kate Dwyer; Teams – Global Sliders.
