Everyone was in agreement that the heat to watch at the final day of the 2011 Billabong Pipeline Masters In Memory of Andy Irons was the quarterfinal between the 11-time world champ, 39-year-old Kelly Slater, and the new Prince of Pipe, 19-year-old John John Florence. Slater won the Triple Crown in 1992, the same year Florence was born; Florence has a lifetime of Pipe Masters ahead of him.
Florence navigated the belly of a true Pipeline 7-point beast and had Slater comboed (meaning Slater needed to improve on both his top two wave scores) in the final minutes. Slater opted for a few Backdoor (right-breaking) waves (9.7 and 7.83) separated by Florence's own 9.7 bomb.
"I was up against the ropes," admitted Slater, "I was thinking. I need a knockout punch -- I actually need two knockout punches."
2011 Billabong Pipeline Masters Final
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Pipeline goes off for three crushing days and Kieren Perrow wins.
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The judges didn't really deliberate. They saw Slater's as a bit deeper. Florence regretted taking the wave before Slater's, which allowed Slater to nail the 9.7 and advance to the semis, where he was defeated by 2010's Triple Crown winner, Joel Parkinson.
"I was super bummed," Florence admitted. "You have to be on your game against Kelly and if you make the slightest mistake, you're going to lose."
No doubt it was a historic Pipe showdown. In the frenzy that followed, a polite but assertive Kieren Perrow asked Billabong's on-beach reporter to slide the media circus down the beach a bit, as he couldn't see the lineup through the mob and wanted to study it.
Perrow, 34 and from Australia, is no rock star. He's not a tortured, freak talent, fleeting marketing draw or egotistical madman. He's never won a World Tour event. He's a family man. He came to the North Shore in 1997 and dedicated himself to learning Pipe and Backdoor. He reached the finals of Pipe Masters in 2010, but made a tactical error and lost to Jeremy Flores. Coming into this event, he actually faced a potential loss of his World Tour slot, but finished the day at No. 15 on the World Title rankings.
Perrow was fairly possessed from the start, getting some of the deepest caves on Days 1 and 2, when the surf was truly treacherous. He bounced off the bottom in a bloodbath heat against Tanner Gudauskas. He began Saturday by crushing Brazilian upstart Gabriel Medina and then Tahiti's Michel Bourez with a perfect 10. The Bourez defeat also wrapped up the Vans Triple Crown for Florence, his first of potentially numerous titles.
In the other semi, Slater backed Parkinson into a corner where Parkinson needed an 8.21, and he responded by nailing an 8.60 in the closing minutes. The two Aussie mates (Parko and Perrow) would have to square off in fickle, but still solid 8-foot Pipe for the final. After the loss in the semis, Slater made some pretty specific remarks about retiring. He flirted with retirement several years ago, but this was Perrow's day.
"Last year I went from such a high going into the final to such depression afterwards. This was a totally different event," said Perrow.
Parkinson broke the ice in the final with a Pipe barrel, answered by a 6.17 Backdoor wave by Perrow, before a huge tropical squall rolled in. The tempo slowed to a halt as the wind and rain blew through. As the sun came out, the two split a gorgeous peak. In the closing minutes, Parkinson tried to force a Backdoor wave to no avail. Perrow took the heat 13.17- 7.
By all accounts, Parkinson wasn't particularly disturbed to have lost.
"As much as I wanted to win, I couldn't have picked someone better to beat me. I'm glad if I was going to lose, I was going to lose to him," said Parkinson, nursing a gnarled elbow.
Parkinson decided not to defend his three consecutive Vans Triple Crown titles this year by skipping the Haleiwa and Sunset events. Perrow, the very deserving champ, took his whole family up to the podium with him.
The decision to start the quarterfinals at 8 a.m. Saturday was questioned by some of the surfers. As the surfers' rep, it was Perrow's job to discuss the call with the ASP.
"I'm pretty happy with the call now," he joked. "An hour later it turned out all right. I know there weren't many waves in the final, but it was enough. I'm glad to have won when it's actually Pipe. It showcases that I can actually surf Pipe."
Indeed he can.
Billabong Pipe Masters Final Result:
1 Kieren Perrow (AUS) 13.17
2 Joel Parkinson (AUS) 7.00
Billabong Pipe Masters Semifinals Results:
SF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.23 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 16.83
SF 2: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 12.00 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 4.07
Billabong Pipe Masters Quarterfinals Results:
QF 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.00 def. Jamie O'Brien (HAW) 9.43
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.53 def. John John Florence (HAW) 16.70
QF 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) 7.70 def. Evan Valiere (HAW) 3.66
QF 4: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 17.23 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 9.26