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Barrels dominate the 2011 Volcom Pipe Pro
Author: SurferToday.com
Nevertheless, in the first day of competitione more than a dozen surfboards were broken in Banzai Pipeline, with waves reaching 15 feet. But, Brazilian charger Dennis Tihara will forever remember the 25th January, as he posted the highest heat score of the day: 17.4 points out of 20, in the first time he competed in the Pipeline barrels.
"I’m surprised!" said Tihara. "I made a 10 point ride in Puerto Escondido (Mexico) last month, so I wanted to make that happen again here at Pipeline because this is such a good wave. It’s my first time competing here. I just came here three times before, now it’s my first contest, so I really want to make good of the heats."
Australian Anthony Walsh was the only Australian surfer to make it through the early round action. Walsh’s best wave made it into the day’s top three: a 9.3 for a long, clean exit barrel. He was happy with the result given that it came with a borrowed surfboard.
"I snapped all of my boards this past week," said Walsh, 27, through a lip busted by one of his snapped surfboards. "I had really good boards from Gunther Rohn but then I go and break them all, so thankfully I was able to borrow a board from Tokoro. A lot of Aussies come here over the winter and everyone loves these waves. To come here and get barreled when it’s crappy summer surf at home feels good."
Gabriel Villaran (Peru), Angelo Lozano (Mexico), Dane Gudauskas (San Clemente, CA), Alex Gray (CA) and Jesse Merle-Jones (Hawaii) were the other stand outs of the day.
Competitors listed in order of placing, 1st through 4th
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