Another week, another contest at Pipe… And with this world renowned break providing the perfect venue for wave-riders of all styles to prove themselves on, why not? The holding period for the 2008 Honolua Surf co. Pipeline Bodysurfing Classic starts this Sat. Jan 26 and runs until Feb. 6th. The contest is making its return after not being held in 2007 due to ‘permit conflicts’ with the ever-dysfunctional City and County of Honolulu.

Now in its 36th year, the PBC is annually one of the most exciting events. There is something about watching Pipeline being charged on what many including myself see as the purest and most intimate form of riding waves. The legend is that bodysurfing at Pipeline was long ago inspired by the dolphins seen riding the wave there long before the invention of surfboards. This competition in wave-riding at its purest form may be why the PBC has in the past not only drawn the top bodysurfers from around the world such as Todd Sells, Mark Cunningham, and Mike Stewart, but also all around water-men and surfers like Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Tom Curren, and Donovan Frankenreiter.

It’s safe to say that whether you short-board, boogie-board, long-board, paddle-board, or use the stolen McDonalds trays (if you don’t know what I’m talking about you’ve probably never been to the beaches at Waikiki) there have been many times where you have tossed aside you plank-du-jour to swim around and catch waves simply using the contour of your body. If you have ever spent childhood days diving into the micro-barrels of shore pound that you imagined being a classic Pipeline tube, this contest realizes those visualizations. Watching the most accomplished and talented athletes around take on Pipe sans-stick is truly a sight to behold and produces classic images year after year. And for those who love to see wipe-outs of epic proportions, (let’s be honest, that includes all of us) this contest has it’s fair share and then some of bodies being picked up and slammed to the reef with no regards.

I did find it slightly curious that although this is being put on by Honolua Surf co., I could find absolutely no mention of the event whatsoever on it’s website- Honoluasurf.com . I’m not quite sure what the reasoning is behind this, but I do know that if I were sponsoring on of the largest and longest-running events in the industry I would at the very least want to make mention that the event was even taking place at all. Just a thought…

honolua surfpipeline

Tags: honolua surf, pipeline

Posted by Cameron on Friday, January 25th, 2008 in Surfing.

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