North Shore locals sue ASP-Hawaii over "multiple
permit breaches"…
I’m watching Pipe, you probably are too. And
it’s great. Dudes are ripping, my Fantasy Surfer team is
doing well (despite Melling Slater-ing Slater in Round One), but
there’s a problem…
If you’re a fan of pro surfing you might be familiar with how,
in previous years, the early rounds of the Pipe Masters were run
concurrently; meaning two heats overlapping in the water, priority
going to the first heat.
And that’s cool, the point was to ensure that minimal days on
the North Shore were privatized and that the poor souls who dealt
with the insane cost of living and low wages in Hawaii actually got
to benefit from the the aloha tax reality of life in the
islands.
Something strange is going on this year. Despite regulations
that are clearly stated:
(d) Except with special permission from the Director and as
noted on the permit, surf meets may not be held for more than four
days. No heats shall be structured with less than four surfers, and
man-on-man or one-on-one heats shall not be allowed (includes
trials).
…the first round was run with only three guys in the water at a
time. Now, government wording is always confusing so I’ll distill
the essence. Four guys in the water, no exceptions. You might be
able to hold a contest for more than four days, with special
permission. But in no case can you run heats with less than four
people. That period is important. Shit, even the overlapping heat
format violates the letter of the law (though it, admittedly,
conforms to the spirit.)
Yeah, but it’s no big deal, right? Except is is, read a little
further and there’s this brilliant little sentence:
(17) Any permittee who knowingly and wilfully violates these
rules and regulations shall not be allowed to apply for another
permit for a one-year period.
At 15:30 in the Pupo/Monteiro heat, Peter Mel said, “The North
Shore community has decided they have to have four surfers in the
water and this is the way to keep it that way.” Sounds like
“knowingly and wilfully violates these rules and regulations” to
me.
The former tour surfer Pancho Sullivan is part of a coalition of
residents who’ve taken it upon ’emselves to get ASP Hawaii to
conform to the letter of their permits. And six weeks ago, they
took ’em to court.
“The court case was to ensure that the rules are upheld, to get
a temporary restraining order or injunction against the Pipeline
Masters,” says Pancho. “That wasn’t the desired outcome but we were
hoping that the ASP would adjust the format to make it work with a
four-man priority system. They came in with economic statements
they had some kid at NYU come up with waving around all the money
they generate instead of, I guess, finding a way to adhere to the
rules.”
Pancho emphasises that they weren’t trying to shut down the
event but they did want an unambiguous ruling that states that you
cannot knowingly break rules designed to protect local
residents.
“We wanted the Triple Crown and the ASP to recognise that this
is a community and it’s questionable how much money stays on
the North Shore. Most of the team houses are owned by people who
don’t live on the North Shore and most of the winnings go back to
other parts of the world.”
What does this mean? No Pipe Masters next year? The WSL doesn’t
need to follow the law in Hawaii? The “economic benefits” outweigh
the cost to local residents so much that the City and County of
Honolulu doesn’t feel it’s necessary to enforce their own laws?
I don’t know. According to the regulations currently available
online, the law is being broken.
Pancho and his coalition aren’t anarchists. They don’t want to
smash the system. But on a stretch of magical coastline that breaks
for roughly five or six months of the year, and when most weekends
have some kind of contest running, whether it’s surfing,
bodysurfing or bodyboarding, there comes a point when it doesn’t
feel so groovy any more.
“I live on both sides of the issue,” says Pancho. “I’ve been a
competitor, I’ve been in a position where those events helped
support me financially. But at the core of my belief system, this
issue is bigger than just me. There’s a whole group of people who
don’t benefit at all. They live out here because they love the
beauty of the coastline, they love to surf and they want to have
access to it. People tolerate it but not everyone’s thrilled about
what goes on. If (the contests) become a platform for these
multi-million dollar corporations to benefit and use the resources
and the people don’t see a direct positive impact, then obviously
some rules are good to have in place.”
When I emailed Dave Prodan, ASP VP of communications, he replied
with: “All ASP events are conducted in compliance with state and
local regulations with the appropriate permits obtained, which
includes all events in Hawaii and on the North Shore.For reference,
we’ve been running man-on-man heats at Pipe
consecutively since 2008. ”
Source:
http://www.honolulu.gov/rep/site/dpr/rules/Rules_Shorewater_Events.pdf
