John John Florence, Moana Jones Wong Top Podium At 2023 Pipe Masters
On a heavy, challenging day at the most intimidating stretch of reef in surfing, world champ and 2024 Olympian John John Florence and Moana Jones Wong stood tallest at the Vans Pipe Masters to take the win. Big and unruly with plenty of beatings being dispensed, it was by no stretch an easy day at Pipe. Putting even more of a premium on local knowledge, both Florence and Wong rose to the occasion.
Florence jumped out in front early the event and never really looked back. South Africa’s Mikey February dazzled early, there was a moment it looked like all three Florence brothers could run table and god first, second, third, then Australia’s Harry Bryant stole a bit of the spotlight on finals day thanks to his perfect 30-point ride, but it was the consistency and rhythm of Florence that proved to be too much. This January he’ll go into the Pipe Pro, which his company Florence Marine X is sponsoring, and the start of the 2024 Championship Tour with a head full of confidence.
And while the the women were charging, Jones Wong has carved out a spot for her in history as the best woman to ever surf Pipe. In terms of the impact she’s having on the spot, she’s right there with Pipe guru Gerry Lopez. She’s blazing a new trail and it’s beautiful. Her first barrel at Pipe of the winter came in an early-round heat, and she finished the contest in the same spot—the barrel.
As the leaderboard goes, for the men it was local boy Makana Pang taking second with Billy Kemper and Seth Moniz in third and fourth, respectively. In the end, Nathan Florence ended up in ninth and Ivan Florence in fourteenth. On the women’s side, future Aussie Molly Picklum landed in second, world champ and gold medalist Carissa Moore finished in third, followed by Erin Brooks in fourth.
"Pipeline is fricken scary. Every time I paddle out there I am dealing with fear and trying my best to manage my anxiety,” explained Moore in an Instagram post. “I don’t know if surfing this wave comes naturally to anyone, I know definitely not for me. For those that make it look natural, it’s probably because they’ve dedicated lot of time, effort and commitment to getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Wish there was an easy way to do it but it’s one of the hardest, most challenging waves in the world. You have to put your head down and work for it if you want it bad enough.”
Unfortunately, the format for the Vans Pipe Masters was confusing to a lot of viewers, the author included. Hopefully in the future Vans and the WSL can come to terms and bring back the Pipe Masters as it ran for half a century. There’s so much prestige and heritage to the event, as it runs now it’s a bit of a sideshow carnival. Winning the Pipe Masters usd to be the epitome of professional surfing, it didn’t feel like that this year.
“Funny you guys promote this event when it’s so clearly a slap in the face to the WSL and the title “pipe master”. Its a sad, thirsty for content surf world we are enduring,” commented former Championship Tour Kolohe Andino on an Instagram post from the WSL.
The format and divide between the WSL and Vans don’t diminish the surfing that just went down. Anyone that paddles out at Pipe in conditions like we saw on finals day gets a badge of courage. It was heavy and scary, the performances were inspired and committed, and that’s really what matters at the end of the day.
