There Will Be No Pipe Masters In 2019

The ongoing back and forth battle between the World Surf League and the City and County of Honolulu seems to have found to a conclusion.  

With Honolulu administrators unwilling to budge, and the WSL unwilling to forego a revamped season, it can now be stated with surety that the 2019 Pipe Masters will not happen.  Neither at the start, nor end, of the year.

Which is a straight fucking tragedy.  And a bummer for the perpetually asterisked winner of next year’s tour. (Shade’s of Hobgood.)

But the future holds a glimmer of hope!  Neither party has ruled out a return in 2020.

From the WSL’s press release:

Mayor Kirk Caldwell met yesterday with WSL at his offices, where positive discussions were held on the future of the permit process, as well as medium and long-term objectives for surfing in Hawaii. In his press conference yesterday, the Mayor acknowledged the need to overhaul the permit rules, to support competitive opportunities and nurture young, aspiring surfers to uphold surfing’s place as the lifeblood of Hawaiian culture and community. 

WSL CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said, “We are disappointed we will not be able to run the 2019 Billabong Pipe Masters. However, we are pleased that the Mayor recognizes that fundamental changes are required to the permit process that will benefit Hawaiian surfing, the surfers, the community and other stakeholders. We will assist however we can during this process and once we understand the changes, we will be able to determine which events we can invest in bringing to Hawaii in winter 2019 and beyond. As previously stated, we would love to continue to bring our full array of events to Hawaii, but we need to be able to plan long term and receive the appropriate local support in order to help grow Hawaiian surfing in a sustainable way.”

http://vimeo.com/163037426

The ten millions dollar question remains.  What will 2019 look like?  Where will the Tour kick off?  Will Brazil finally get its much-deserved second event?