Hawaii’s Billy Kemper and Imaikalani deVault earned first and second place, respectively, at the 2019 Pipe Invitational to clinch wildcard spots into the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons.
2019 will mark Kemper’s second appearance in the Billabong Pipe Masters, his first being in 2012, where he was defeated by 11-time world champion and seven-time Pipe Master Kelly Slater in Round 3.
He went against an all-Hawaii final that included runner-up deVault, Keanu Asing, and Koa Smith and put on a powerful performance that included a 7.67 in the final for a set wave at Backdoor and a 5.50 for a technical, late drop into a Pipe barrel that he wrangled to remain on his feet.
“This is everything I worked for, I got to thank Kahea Hart for getting me ready for this kind of stuff,” said Kemper following the final.