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Not even Pipe Masters stood between these two legendary surfers sharing the stoke.
Date: December 18th, 1995
Location: Pipeline, North Shore, Hawaii
The Moment: While competing in the semi-finals at the 1995 Pipe Masters, Rob Machado forgoes priority to slap skin with close friend Kelly Slater, enabling Kelly to win the World Title while sending stoke waves around the surf world.
“The high five symbolized what’s good about surfing. Not just contests. It symbolized the experience and the feeling of surfing.” – Kelly Slater
Pipeline was pumping, and a Pipe Masters title — no, a world title – was in the air. Kelly Slater. Rob Machado. They were two of the most promising surfers in the process of cementing their status as pioneers for their generation, one defined by a rivalrous yet unrelenting camaraderie.
It was the perfect setting for what publications later labeled “the super heat.” Pipeline wore its Sunday best with ballistic barrels throwing the bluest water over the hallowed reef. With a win, Rob Machado would claim his first world title, denying Kelly Slater his third. To any and all fans of sport, one would expect them to take off the gloves. But the boys didn’t approach it that way. As surf media swirled stories of fierce competition, the friends were in the mood to simply trade barrels, going so far as to play rock-paper-scissors to determine who went first. And once out in the lineup, they did just that. With Kelly having pulled ahead in the back-and-forth battle, the then two-time champion was in the lead, but California’s stylish, afroed golden child was charging.
Exiting his own barrel, Machado was in prime position to take priority, potentially notching a heat-saving wave that would bring him the world title. Instead, he did what many at the time found unthinkable. He carved out a huge turn away from priority, raised his hand, and gave the Florida native a sh*t-eating grin and a big ol’ high five. Kelly ended up advancing and eventually won both Pipe Masters and the World Title. Machado would never win the World Title, but has become a singular icon and pioneer for stylish freesurfing and stoke.
What people often forget was that the 1995 competition was dramatic for more reasons than The High Five. Going into the competition, Sunny Garcia was in the lead of the WCT rankings, with an advancement to the third round handing him the world title. However, Sunny had an an off-day during the second round and despite multiple forces (including his heat opponent Mark Occhilupo offering Sunny his board when Sunny lost his), he lost to Occy and with it the World Title. While Occy had allegedly been threatened by Hawaiians to leave the island if he won his heat, Sunny, in another show of true sportsmanship, hugged the Australian, making sure any of those Hawaiians seeking revenge would think twice.
Between Sunny’s conciliatory hug and the high five heard around the world, Pipe Masters transcended competition in 1995. In Pipe Dreams, Kelly even proclaimed it “the pinnacle of [his] career.”
