Competitors awoke this morning with a real treat in the form of proper Pipeline lefts unloading on the reef, all thanks to a fresh dose of Westerly direction that filled in over night. While yesterday was nothing short of a spectacular Backdoor display, with residual north and the healthy growing west swell, peaks were focusing hard on first reef for some thick teepees. While the wind came on strong in the early afternoon, it wasn’t before some serious work was done and dusted in Round 3.
The day called upon the top seeds for their event debut. That meant our first glance at John John Florence and Mr. Kelly Slater. While Florence skipped no beat from his freesurfs earlier this week, dropping a heat total of 16.53 (the second highest of the day), Slater found himself against the ropes, unable to top an on-fire Seth Moniz (the day’s top performer) and Bruce Irons.