Pipe fires for start of event window
Source: www.ibaworldtour.com
posted by Terry McKenna on 16th February 2008
The timing for the start of the 2008 IBA World Men's Tour could not be better with the event window (Feb 17th – 24th) being stacked with a series of solid swells.
Ben Matson from Swellnet.com.au is the official forecaster and is excited about the prospects.
"Wow.. what a forecast period. Very large swells all of this week pre-event, with good winds too. Right on cue, another strong NW swell is expected to arrive on Sunday, and should produce excellent waves at Pipe. At this stage it looks like winds will generally be light, as the storm track is a little closer to the Islands than usual. However, there's no indication of a Kona, which is good news. At this stage Sunday should see an increase into the 10-12ft+ range at Pipe, possibly a little larger (we'll wait and see how this storm develops over the coming days). I'm not sure whether it'll be in the water at first light though, the timing is a little unsure at the present time.
Although this swell is then expected to ease during Monday and Tuesday, it will probably remain quite sizeable and more than contestable at Pipe. Winds are currently looking good too with light trades. A series of smaller storms forming off Japan at around this time (Sun) are expected to generate a new pulse of NW swell, arriving late Wednesday or perhaps early Thursday. Whilst this looks to be marginally smaller than the Sun/Mon swell, it's still expected to be quite solid, somewhere around 8ft, give or take. It's too early to have confidence in the local winds but there's no suggestion of any major disruption to the trades at this stage."
Damian King (Aust) is no stranger to the reef at Pipe. He has won the title several times and along with most of the worlds best riders is taking advantage of some ideal lead in conditions to warm up for the event.
"I arrived 4 days ago and the swell hasn't dropped below 6 feet ... Pipe has got no sand on the reef so things are shaping up nice. However it has been really crowded so I think everybody will be taking advantage of surfing Pipe for the contest. The forecast is looking good so hopefully it goes off for it!!!" said the former World Champion.
The event is being webcast at
www.ibatour.com/webcast 1687 views
Comments
 | Michelle Daniels
19th February 2008 17:50 |
| "To say the least" must be in reference to your comment. ;) If you have a valid "beef", get constructive as to what can be done to improve. Better yet, get involved! This event in particular, is quite possibly one of the largest affiliated with the IBA. Because it is the first in the 2008 tour, it is at pipe and has a huge number of interested and actual competitor's. Because of the world-wide attension/interest, it take's many cooperating to pull off, not to mention countless hours of volonteer work and preparation behind the scenes. No-one understand's the work involved, unless they have first hand been involved in such a production. I believe they have done a fine job and so stoked to have it webcast! So amped to see this event and the epic talent from all over the world. :) |
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 | Charles Pass
19th February 2008 06:33 |
| Very poorly organised event to say the least!!! |
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