Joshua Moniz Just Swiped The Volcom Pipe Pro From Jamie O’Brien’s Grasp

Local Hawaiian boy, Joshua Moniz just took down Pipe specialist, Jamie O’Brien, with a pair of 8’s, bringing home his first Volcom Pipe Pro victory.

The final saw Joshua Moniz, a Hawaiian from the south side, previous winner, Jamie O’Brien and two unexpected entrants, Cam Richards and Wiggolly’s younger brother, Wessley Dantas, all face off in double overhead Pipe.

The final kicked off mellow, but heated quickly when Jamie poured gasoline onto the fire by free falling into what was arguably the best wave of the day and subsequently scored himself a unanimous 10-point ride; which the judges dropped before JOB even begun paddling back out.

Cam and Wessley both managed to sneak a couple of decent inside waves, but despite their efforts, it quickly became a two horse race between the two Hawaiians.

With four minutes left on the clock, it seemed as though Jamie was about to back up his recent Da Hui Backdoor shootout win and take home a portion of the $75,000 prize pool. Jamie O was sitting on a 17.43 combined and was unsurprisingly looking unstoppable…until the local boy Moniz slid into one.

Moniz needed an 8.61, he scratched into a medium set and despite not getting super deep (but deeper than we’ll ever be) earned himself an 8.73; putting him a mere 0.13 points ahead of Jamie with less than three minutes left in the final. 

The clock ticked, Josh sitting in first and Jamie bobbing anxiously in second position. As Jamie gazed out the the horizon on the Pacific, the ocean went silent. 

Here’s what led to the dramatic final day events:

Noa Deane put on an impressive display, finishing up with a semi final result and managing to somehow evade wearing this hunk of lip on the shoulders.

It’s the Volcom Pipe Pro, the competition which is consistently granted better conditions than the Billabong Pipeline Masters, but only sits as a QS 3,000. One of the reasons why the WSL is currently planning to switch the Pipe Masters from the last event to the first of the year, in line with the CT shakeup due in 2019. 

The competition kicked off just under a week ago in 4-6ft Backdoor friendly conditions, it wasn’t classic Pipe, but it was certainly good enough to incite some jealousy. The early rounds were completed and from then on the conditions started to improve.

Final results: Josh Moniz 17.56, Jamie O’Brien 17.43, Wessley Dantas 11.23, Cam Richards 10.84.

Day two consisted of more Backdoor tunnels, except bigger, cleaner and bigger name surfers. Allowing Finn McGill to thread a Backdoor tube for a 10-point ride and Jamie O’Brien to sneak through in the ‘Volcom Last Chance Qualifiers’ heat.

Day three was even bigger again and the real big dogs started to leak into the line-up, including John-John Florence, Billy Kemper, as well as the reluctant competitor, Noa Deane. Cam Richards – who snuck his way into the final – also managed to wrangle a near perfect heat total of 19.83 and Jack Robinson wasn’t far behind with an 18.66 total in his own heat. Volcom’s poster boy Noa, also managed to take down a jet-lagged World Champ, JJF, in unruly Pipe conditions.