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December 2000 was a solid good month for surfing Pipe on Oahu's North Shore, and right in the middle of the month the Gerry Lopez Pipemasters competition had their 30th anniversary. Many old and young pipemasters have come and out of the pool of talented surfers a long time hero in this wave finally got rewarded with the title: Rob Machado.

Rob rides

deep inside

the perfect tube

As if he was in a time tunnel, Rob continued riding this wave as if he'd never left it in the historic 1995 quarterfinal heat against Kelly Slater. Slater himself was less lucky this year, most of the time the door kept shut and he missed the opportunity to score big in Pipe. His old friend and runner up in the championship, Rob Machado, this time chose wisely his waves, and got the two highest scores during the main event.

Experienced

tube rider pulls

under the curtain

Photos of many other surfers (Kelly Slater, Sunny Garcia, Kalani Rob, Shane Dorian, Bruce and Andy Irons, Renan Rocha, Damian Hobgood, ...) in better lighting and/or better quality, are available for publication. Please state the intended use and ask for samples.

Comments, questions, photo requests, please mail to bkmedia at exanova.com