Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Water Log

Media Credit: Courtesy of Danny Black photography Paulo Barcellos takes the Pipeline title, and all of the $15,000 prize money and circuit points.

The IBA Pipeline Pro Bodyboarding Championships wrapped up last Thursday with some intense competition.

The finals consisted of Jeff Hubbard (Hawai‘i), Hugo Pinherio (Portugual), Paulo Barcellos (Brazil), and Uri Valadao (Brazil). One of the best finals in recent years went down to the wire between Hawai‘i's own Jeff Hubbard and Brazil's Paulo Barcellos.

The first half of the competition had pristine conditions, until the semifinals, when the weather worsened. The wind changed to a slight onshore direction, and a filling northwest swell was mixing with a straight north swell. This tested the riders' abilities to adapt to varying wave conditions.

Hubbard started off the finals with a bang, netting a solid 8.75 on the first wave of the heat. He then followed up with two waves worth 6.65 and 6.35, respectively.

It looked as if Hubbard was going to run away with the competition, but Valadao did some damage by scoring a 6.65 on his first wave. He then blew the doors wide open when he shot out of an enormous barrel at Pipe scoring a 9.25, which propelled him into first place.

Two waves later, Paulo Barcellos fired back with his own 9.25 off a roll at Backdoor. On his next wave, Barcellos scored a 7.75, which catapulted him into the lead with 10 minutes left in the heat.

Valadao now needed a score of 7.75 to take the championship, Hubbard needed an 8.26. Uri desperately tried to catch up, but could not come up with the points. It appeared as if Barcellos was going to win the Pipe Championship outright, when out of nowhere, with only 45 seconds left, a wave materialized for Hubbard and he nailed three huge rolls, riding the wave into the beach.

Nobody knew if Hubbard or Barcellos had won because the scores had yet to be announced and Hubbard could have easily gotten a 8.26 on his last wave. Was Jeff Hubbard going to pull off the undeniable best come-from-behind victory at Pipe?

The awards ceremony ensued immediately after all the riders had returned. Hugo Pinherio took fourth with 10.4 combined points; in third place was Uri Valadao with 15.9 points. The suspense grew as Jason Bitzer, IBA contest announcer and pro bodyboarder, waited to announce second place.

Jeff Hubbard took second place with his last wave scored at 7.9, a mere .36 points behind what he needed to take home the crown; his combined wave scores were 16.65. Paulo Barcellos was named the IBA Pipeline Pro champion with his combined wave scores of 17. The Brazilians immediately started celebrating, waving the Brazilian flag proudly and spraying champagne everywhere.

This was by far one of the most exciting finals at the Pipeline Pro. All of the competitors put their hearts into this competition, which showed in the water. There should be exciting competition in the 2008 IBA World Tour, so grab your boards and start training for next year's event.

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