Kelly Slater is Untouchable

By: GRINDTV | December 17th, 2008 at 12:48pm

The Pipeline Masters marks the final stop on the World Championship Tour, as well as the final jewel in the Triple Crown of Surfing on the North Shore of Oahu. Pipeline itself is the ultimate proving ground in surfing, and having it as the final venue for both the world tour and the North Shore contest series makes this the most prestigious surf competition on the planet. Kelly Slater has had an unbelievable season, clinching his ninth world title earlier in the season, having won 5 of 10 of the events going into the Pipe Masters. As the cherry on top of a stellar season, Kelly was able to beat the field of top tour pros and 23 local wildcards in pumping 10-15 foot barrels, his sixth Pipeline Masters crown. He surfed the entire event on an experimental surfboard measuring 5' 11' in waves that nobody would think about surfing on a board smaller than 7' 0' . The definitive moment of the contest came in his semifinal heat against California' s Timmy Reyes. In the dying minutes of the 30 minute affair, Reyes had a strangle hold on the heat with Kelly needing a combination of scores to catch up. This is typically the kiss of death in a heat, but not if you' re Kelly Slater. He was able to catch 2 smoking barrels in the span of just over a minute, scoring a 9.0 and a perfect 10, leaving Reyes in utter disbelief. Reyes' 15.6 point total eclipsed by Kelly' s 19.0, out of a possible 20. Nobody has ever racked up a near perfect heat score in such short time. Kelly would then go on to defeat California' s Chris Ward in the final.

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