Sunset is not a place to surf if you’re out of shape. It’s wild and woolly, big and shifty, and the current? It moves. A lot. Day one at the Hurley Pro Sunset is in the books, and there were a few notable happenings. Top of mind, of course, is a certain 50-year-old man who happens to be wearing the yellow jersey for the first time since… are you ready for this? Kelly Slater hasn’t pulled that golden piece of spandex over his head since 2014.
“Eight years later, I win my eighth Pipeline event and eight years after holding the yellow jersey last, I take it at 50 years old,” Slater told the World Surf League after his recent Pipeline win. “I’m still having a hard time believing it to be honest. Not that I didn’t think it was possible, but I didn’t think it was going to be real. I have trouble thinking that someone else at 50 years old is going to do that one day, so It has been a really emotional few days for me thinking about that.”
Day one of Sunset, however, wasn’t an easy one for the 11-time world champion. He’s famously not a huge fan of the wave, and when he came up against Barron Mamiya — who he beat in the dying seconds of the Billabong Pro Pipeline final — and Australian booker Callum Robson, he made a rare tactical error. He let Robson go on the last wave of the heat, and the rookie made quick work of it. Slater was relegated to the elimination round, where he ran into Koa Smith and Matthew McGillivray. Slater, who opted for a thruster over his previous quad setup, managed to squeak out a win and likely breathed a sigh of relief.
Standouts from day one were the usual suspects in the type of waves Sunset serves up: John John Florence, Jordy Smith, and Zeke Lau, all seamlessly matched power with power. Rookie Imaikalani deVault locked in the highest scoring wave of the day, an 8.93. By the time the final horn sounded, Koa Smith, Miguel Pupo, Owen Wright, and Jordan Lawler were eliminated.
Watch the Hurley Pro Sunset live on Worldsurfleague.com.
