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> surfing spots > Banzai Pipeline - Hawaii
Banzai Pipeline - Hawaii | Image credit: WSL / Masurel

Banzai Pipeline - Hawaii

surfing Spots

Location:

  • Ehukai Beach Park
  • Hawaii
  • Oahu
  • United States
 

General info:

 

Country: United States 

 

Status:

 

Description: Aka Pipeline or Pipe. A stunning reef break off Ehukai Beach. Swell NW | Wind ESE

 

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Spot guide: To tune up this profile suggest an edit

 

 

Surf spot type: Reef Break

 

 

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What's up

Koa Rothman and Team Japan Win 2025 Da Hui Backdoor Shootout! The thing about surfing Pipeline — as is the case with many athletic endeavors — is that you can have a team full of all-stars and the waves could be totally all-time, but if you’re not in a rhythm, none of those factors means jack-sh-t. A rhythm, and being in one, is that semi-intangible x-factor that separates the haves from the have-nots in surfing events and Day 4 of Da Hui Backdoor Shootout was no exception. While decent, often well-groomed 6-8-foot-Hawaiian waves graced every single heat from sun up to sun down, it was Team Japan in their second heat of the day who truly caught the beat and tuned into that systematic arrangement of aquatic high notes and found an enviable flow. Sure, the waves absolutely pumped during that heat with surfers like Shogo Harada, Shinpei Horiguchi and Riku Matsumoto bagging bombs that secured scores which may have made up for heats the day or two prior. But as the dust settled from that monumental heat, everyone around the contest zone was whispering to each other: “Did they just get enough waves to win as a team?” Under the This Is LIvin’ tent where Team 96712 sat, Nate Florence shook his head in disbelief and said, “We have to get sets like whatever they just got in our next heat.” They actually would get a few in theirs — but just not quite as many. And besides Koa Rothman, who definitely found his rhythm, the team as a whole couldn’t quite lock into the melody that Team Japan did. “I think we really found a rhythm out there during that heat with the ocean,” said Shinpei Horiguchi. Mind you, this is the same Shinpei that nearly got decapitated in front of our very eyes on Day 1, if you remember that 8-footer that unloaded all of its kilojoules onto his dome. “But that’s really what it was: ocean rhythm,” continued Shinpei. “Once we got that rhythm, then we got plenty of waves. Back-to-back. So, really, all I can thank is the ocean.” Certainly, teams like Team Volcom, Team North Shore Boys and Team New Earth Project had their magic moments. Event runner-up Shayden Pacarro of Team New Earth, who surfed as a replacement for Kelly Slater, was surely in form all six times he surfed in the event, and never more so than today. “Every time I was out there, it felt like it was my first wave again, you know?” said Shayden. “Kelly, maybe next year, brah!” In the end, the whispers and rumors would be realized, both for the Team and individual winners — both entities who very evidently had that flow today. Team Japan had done the impossible, while Pipeline specialist Koa Rothman did the quite-probable. “Winning this for Team Japan is…happy…crazy…amazing…unbelievable,” said Shinpei Horiguchi searching for the right word, with tears in his eyes. “This is history for Team Japan, you know? So, we are very, very, very happy.” Maybe finding that elusive “rhythm” gets somehow easier with reps. If so, the Backdoor Shootout gives you more than a handful of chances to find your footing over the course of 4 days. “This is honestly my favorite event because there’s no other event where you get to surf Pipeline six times with your best friends,” says Koa Rothman. “That’s so crazy that that can actually happen. Then to have my family and Da Hui o Hee Nalu there putting it on, these people that I’ve known since I was a baby…I’m kind of speechless. I just gotta thank Nathan and Ivan Florence for going on the first wave of the set [laughs]. I ended up getting a really good one and Jose Angel helped out with that too. Oh, and thank you to my brother Makua for not showing up those last few heats, so I could get more waves!” Individual Winner: Koa Rothman 2nd Place: Shayden Pacarro 3rd Place: Jamie O’Brien 4th Place: Shogo Harada 5th Place: Nathan Florence Team Winner: Team Japan: Shinpei Horiguchi, Riaru Ito, Riku Matsumoto, Shogo Harada, and Shohei Kato Longboard: Kala DeSoto SUP: Anthony Maltese

1/15/2025   |   video icon

Backdoor Shootout Day 3 Highlights: On-and-Off Glorious Splendor After a few straight days of maxed-out near-XL swell and wonky Kona winds, the ocean settled down a smidge for Day 3 of the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout. 'Settling down’ for the North Shore is relative, of course, as it was still a slabby, apexed 6-8-foot-Hawaiian in the ever-so-lightly misted morning, with just a lick of texture left over on the surface. Two rounds of 8 heats ran the entire day and while Pipe seemed to show her glory every other heat (as opposed to every), those in teams whose heats fell in that ON category, sure saw the glory. Shayden Pacarro of Team New Earth Project, for example, had a heat in the morning where he body-pumped through two separate Pipeline drainers to exit after the spit, while Ivan Florence was also totally in rhythm both heats, collecting high scores for Team 96712. Billy Kemper of Team North Shore Boys kick-stalled into a particular ledgy Banzai set before being blown out into the channel, as well. While the winds got a little bitchy in the arvo (only a little, though), the every-other-heat-is-firing mood of the ocean continued with solid sets still marching in. Maikai Burdine got a particularly deep smoker (one of the waves of the day) for Team Volcom, while Clay Marzo seemed to be break-dancing inside of barrels for Team Snapt5. Usual suspects Billy Kemper, Jamie O’Brien and Barron Mamiya put in more solid work for Team North Shore Boys in their second heats, and never to be ignored, Team Peru took advantage of their “on-again” heats with epic rides by Alonso Correa and Cristobal de Col. Tune in for Finals Day of Da Hui Backdoor Shootout on our next run of swell!

1/11/2025   |   video icon

Backdoor Shootout Day 2 Highlights: Diamonds in the Rough at Pipeline. Before a contest at Pipeline, it’s common for surfers to paddle out in the dark, eager to prove themselves worthy of competing in the main event. But today, only two people were in the lineup. That alone was telling, as yesterday’s massive 20-second-interval swell lingered through the night. By 9 a.m., no one seemed eager to paddle out. Contest organizer Eddie Rothman said, “I don’t see anything rideable.” Billy Kemper countered, “Run it.” A few other chargers agreed. Still, it was the kind of day that left many happy to stay onshore, watching from the safety of the sand. There were brief glimpses of good waves, particularly during A New Earth Project’s heat, but as forecasted, the southwest wind eventually arrived, blowing Pipe to smithereens. Even so, Parker Coffin found moments of opportunity in the messy lineup for Snapt 5, and the North Shore Boys managed to bag a few scores as well. At this point, any team could take the win. All we need is for the swell to settle down.

1/6/2025   |   video icon
 
 

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