Pipeline is For the #@&^$*% Girls
It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of what happened on Finals Day at the 2024 Lexus Pipe Pro. In their third season of having a Championship Tour event at Pipeline, the women were finally given the opportunity to surf *proper* Pipe in a CT, and not only did they step up, they delivered a performance for the ages - the type of performance that we’ve always known was available, if only they were given the chance.
There’s a lot to be said about the earlier calls in the waiting period that left the women once again having to surf two-to-three foot near-closeouts at Backdoor to decide their Finals Day, especially when the men had to surf nothing of the sort (commiserations Moana Jones Wong). Whatever the reasoning and no matter how bad the forecast, one can only hope that the end result determined that in the future there will be no more decisions like the one that left us in tears as we watched a five-time World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist hug her husband after trying her absolute hardest to close out an era-defining career with any decent option in an ocean that was offering none.
As depressing as Carissa’s exit was, it did punctuate the fact that the new generation are indeed ready to take over. Tati and Johanne gave it their best shot to keep up, and they had their moments for sure, but Caity, Molly and Bettylou, amongst others, proved that their time is now.
The first wave surfed by a woman on Finals Day was from Caity in her Quarterfinal against Tati. Pulling into a giant Backdoor beast, the 18-year-old, who stands all of 5’3”, powered her way into the barrel not hanging on for dear life, but with style to burn, as she straightened her back for a quick soul arch, before ducking her head as she was spit out.
9.17. First wave. That set the bar. Bettylou raised it in Quarterfinal three. Double-arm dragging to stall as she dropped in perfectly behind the apex of Backdoor, the North Shore local set herself deep and critical inside the barrel, emerging after the spit to earn a 9.70. As incredible as those two moments were, they were just a prelude of what was to come in the Semifinal between Bettylou and Molly.
In what was immediately determined to be one of the greatest heats of all time, the pair truly raised the level. If you watch nothing else from the day, it’s worth viewing the entirety of this heat. The waves, the performances, the battle. Soak in every minute of it. It doesn’t get any more exciting than that in professional surfing. If you haven’t seen it yet, we won’t spoil it here. If you have, we don’t need to tell you how instantly iconic it was, other than to state that Molly’s perfect 10 legitimately changed the game.
While the surfing itself did the talking, the punctuation Caity delivered after her victory was exactly the moment generations of women had been waiting for. All of those women, both heralded and unheralded, battling for a place in the lineup across 60 years of an endless parade of men’s heroics were present in that one simple statement. Pipeline is for the fucking girls.
Bring it on.
Remembering the 1976 World Cup
Speaking of those previous generations, it’s easy to forget how much women’s surfing history has taken place on the North Shore when it was removed from the calendar for so many years. It’s also hard to find a lot of that history. The Encyclopedia of Surfing has a treasure trove to be discovered however, like this CBS coverage of the 1976 World Cup that founder Matt Warshaw highlighted in his weekly newsletter, the Sunday Joint.
Speaking of heavenly cruising, here is the full-length 15-minute CBS Sports Spectacular piece on the 1976 World Cup, held in pumping offshore six-to-eight waves at Haleiwa, when the women, for the first time in pro surfing history up to this point and for many, many years after, scored better conditions than the men. Margo Oberg won the contest, to absolutely nobody's surprise, but champ-in-the-making Lynne Boyer is already the more progressive of the two, and other competitors—Linda Davoli in particular—are all good enough to make Margo work for the win.
We highly recommend paying the money to delve into the EOS archive, where you can find other gems like this profile on Lynne.
Also, it may just be us, but do Molly and Caity not give off heavy Margo and Lynne vibes? Personality, style, approach. In our limited estimation it seems uncanny. Does this 1978 quote from Lynne not exactly describe Caity’s first appearance at Snapper in 2022?
"Jeffrey’s was so good. I swear, that’s the most perfect wave I’ve ever surfed. You just go for so long, your legs feel like they’re going to fall off. After a while you have to just stand there and cruise, then maybe near the end of the wave you start working it again. It’s unbelievable!"
If history repeats, we could be in for a few years of world titles alternating between the two…
Anne Dos Santos and Shannon Hayes are Twenty-Two
Brazil-born, Australia-raised Anne Dos Santos and Queenslander Shannon Hayes have joined forces to deliver this delightful treat of an edit. Across the past few years Anne has been steadily building her profile as one of the hardest-charging women in the world. Taking on death-defying waves like Jaws, Deadmans and Shipwrecks earned Anne enough of a profile to be invited to surf in last year’s Vans Pipe Masters.
Having met fellow 22-year-old Shannon, who was also increasingly gaining experience as a filmer, on the QS grind, the pair hit it off, becoming great friends over the years. Twenty-Two documents two months spent traveling together in Indonesia, showcasing Anne enjoying heavy barrels and ridiculously fun sessions in equal measure. The finished product amounts to a light, joyous affair that could easily be put on repeat all day. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy.
We’ll leave you with this from 15-year-old Milla Brown…