The vexed issue of contest permits and a community chasing a little breathing space…
The heart of the matter is relatively simple to grasp. In the late 70’s, and again in the early 90’s, the North Shore community fought for regulations that would minimise the impact that the competitive season has on a tiny community with a startlingly primitive infrastructure.
The regulations are clear, not particularly onerous, and the WSL has decided that they don’t need to follow them.
Recent attempts have been made to amend the present regulations, inserting language which more or less de-fangs the community’s past efforts to limit the impact of contests. In the proposed amended regulations language exists which allows for exemptions to some requirements for contests on the North Shore, exemptions which would allow for man-on-man heats and define contest days in eight-hour increments.
According to the amended regulations, and provided they received the exemptions (which I think we can safely assume would be the case), the WSL would be in total compliance this year.
However, the aforementioned amended regulations have repeatedly failed to be approved, as confirmed by John Blewett of the Honolulu department of Parks and Recreation:
“There’s new ones that have gone out for public comment three times, (but) the old ones are still in effect.”
An interesting development, considering a statement from Dave Prodan, ASP VP of communictaions:
“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.”
Rather than demonstrating compliance, Mr. Prodan indicates that the ASP (now WSL) has instead repeatedly violated the existing regulations. There is no situation in the current system that allows for man on man heats. No exemptions, no special circumstances, only special treatment or, at least, a failure to enforce regulations.
(Mr Prodan failed to respond to follow up requests for clarification regarding any potential exemptions.)
Furthermore, the current rules do not allow for running half days and banking the remaining hours to be used later, an approach the WSL obviously plans to use, considering Kieren Perrow’s statements regarding having “one and a half days left” to run the contest.
Of course, there’s no real reason why enforcement should be necessary.
“There are so many contests on the North Shore,” says Pancho Sullivan, “and they all follow the rules. Except for the ASP. And I don’t know why that is. The point of the rules is to make sure they run the contest as quickly as possible. If they’re running four-man heats there’s no reason they couldn’t finish it the first day, or take two at most.”
As a fan of surfing, it may be difficult to understand the impact that large scale contests have on the area. Because everyone loves the Pipe Masters. And rightly so. It’s nearly always one of the best contests of the year and it’s in a venue that provides a unique opportunity to be closer to the action than almost any equivalently heavy and spectacular spot.
But you need to remember, not everyone on the North Shore is a surfer, and even though the majority of spectators and athletes have nothing else to do, people still need to live. They need to go to work, they need to buy food. In order to accomplish almost any of the requirements of actually surviving in a remote community on an even more remote archipelago they need to be able to leave. Something which is a hellish undertaking when your only road in or out is packed to the proverbial rafters with rubbernecking rental cars.
The only defense the WSL, or their supporters, are able to trot out is regarding the economic benefits of allowing unfettered exploitation of the area’s resources.
“The ASP plays by their own rules,” says Alan Lennard, the man responsible for running the North Shore Bodysurfing Classic, the first contest ever run at Pipeline. “But Randy Rarick is on the North Shore Chamber of Commerce…”
Of course, economic benefits are difficult to prove or disprove. Does the money brought into the community offset the amount of man hours wasted by the difficulty of leaving or entering the area during the event?
Do the supposed benefits take into account the damage done to the primitive and poorly maintained infrastructure, one designed to support a tiny bedroom community, by such a huge influx of visitors? And let’s not ignore the fact that the WSL is a for-profit company run by non-surfers. The laws of capitalist enterprise state that their ultimate goal is to suck as much profit from the event as possible, only contributing the bare minimum to keep outrage at bay,
The WSL is conducting itself like a rude house guest; tracking mud across your carpet, eating all the food in your fridge, leaving dirty dishes to rot in the sink, being kept up half the night listening to him bang some rotten slag on your couch only to drop a fifty on your kitchen table and peace out with a nonchalant, “See you next year.”
And when he calls up the following year you say, “Hey man, you kind of wore out your welcome last time, maybe you should find somewhere else to stay.”
“What? C’mon, I gave you fifty bucks.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t go very far. Sorry.”
“Well, I talked to your landlord and he said it was okay and gave me a set of keys. So I’ll be there next week.”
“Fuck… well, at least be more considerate this time.”
“Nope, I’m gonna do what I want. And you can go fuck yourself.”
No one wants the Pipe Masters gone, they just want the organizers to follow the rules.
Unfortunately, this will only happen if they take it upon themselves to do so. The nature of contest permitting on Oahu means that, even should the permit applicant be denied for violations, the permit follows the person, not the contest. So you can rest assured that it will run in the foreseeable future, though potentially with a different name on the permit.
Most surfers do not enter, watch, or care about contest. Many people became surfers when they rejected organized sports, authoritarian coaches, and sports fans in general. When stuck in traffic I notice most spectators are tourist and non surfer townies. Almost all pro surfers would be better off going to college or learning a trade. The tourist would have gone to the PCC to spend money if the contest was not happening. We do not have the facilities to hold these big productions.
Hmmmm it wasn’t that long ago when Pancho was on tour he had a sook at my mate because he was hassling the pro’s for waves behind the rock at Snapper before the quiksilver pro, his argument went something along the lines of leave the waves to us because we need to practice for the contest, it’s amazing how a few less stickers on your board can help you to see more clearly.
didn’t pancho surf in the mutha-fucking trials? you’re a part of the system you goddamned hypocrite. get farked.
Pancho’s best argument here is that the contests are denying local residents access to their public resource. And with all the money floating around in WOTW, GoPro, etc. pros who aren’t in the comps need opportunities to score perfect waves and try to make some money. The traffic argument is absolutely bogus as anyone who drives between Haleiwa and Sunset can tell you. Pick any Saturday or Sunday any time of the year and there is a stop and go traffic which is caused primarily by the tourists stopping at Lanikea Beach to see the turtles. Yes, the comps will make it worse but most big swell days will do the same thing. There are solutions but the environmentalists aren’t crazy about them and the city and county is “investing” in light rail so the last thing they want to do is spend money on adding more blacktop. There has also been a shift in the demographics on the NS. My friends tell me that the “locals” are less interested in staying in the Country and that is reflected in the houses becoming run down and being sold to “non-locals.” Bottom line…quite a few dynamics at play here and there is no easy answer but as they say…be careful what you wish for and don’t bite the hand that feeds.
The residents don’t care if the pros are able to make money off using the natural resource. It’s for everyone’s enjoyment. All we ask is that there is compliance with the more than fair set of regulations. And I sure as shit don’t give a fuck about GoPro’s bottom line. As for traffic, as you stated, a lot of things cause traffic, but that’s no excuse for adding yet another thing that generates even more traffic. And in my opinion the pipe masters causes way worse traffic than turtle tourists. In fact it’s much better now that they prevent people from parking across from lani’s (not an ideal solution I admit, but that’s a whole different issue). The only reason residents might be less interested in staying is that its rapidly becoming not the country anymore. I can certainly foresee a time when I’ll have to leave for a more laid back spot on another island. Rory got the fuck out already. And if by “locals” you mean the non-haoles whose families have lived here for generations, well they are likely very persuaded to sell because the house they own has skyrocketed in price. What was once a cheap plot of land in the sticks has turned into a multi-million dollar gold mine. Kinda hard not to consider selling and moving when you’ve been dirt poor scrapping to get by forever and now it sucks to live here with all this bullshit. I like watching the pipe masters, but I don’t think it would be a real loss if it were banned even. It’s just as fun to watch on a normal, non-contest, day when the waves are pumping and I really don’t think the north shore will be severely economically impacted with the loss. There’s already more than enough reasons for tourists to come up here and spend money. And if it hurts some people and they can’t make a living out here because their unregulated food truck doesn’t make that juicy pipe masters money (if that even exists), well that’s just how it’s always been with living here. I have 3 jobs and I’m pretty fucking poor, but I work just enough to have plenty of free time for surfing and other play because that’s my choice. This place has always eaten bright-eyed mainlanders up and spat them out. Kinda like pipe.
Chris…two things…the reason that I put “locals” in quotes because, as you said, it’s more haole now than Hawaiians. But to be fair they do pay their taxes and are a part of the community so they are impacted by the same issues of traffic, restricted use of the resources, etc. like you are. And the pros I am talking about are the local pros. Guys like JOB, the Ho’s, the Rothmans, Reef, Chapman, etc. who really depend on the winter to make their livelihood. I’m not saying right or wrong…I’m just saying that it’s their job and they need an opportunity. I spent the better part of two years working on Oahu and spent as much time as I could on the NS. My friends have given me some pretty good insight as to the culture and the changes over the years. In fact my one friend with VERY strong roots in Haleiwa said that it was apathy that was driving people away and not necessarily economics. But of course it’s the economics that makes it easy to be apathetic, right? Anyway…I loved most things about the place and feel really lucky that I was able to experience as much of it as I did. I’m envious that you have set yourself up to live there and take advantage of it even if you aren’t able to hit the spa at Turtle Bay every weekend ;).
I respect all the pros you named, but the north shore doesn’t exist to serve them. We all need opportunities and they aren’t more deserving of this place than any other just because they choose to make their living surfing. I wish I could make a living surfing for a tenth (I’d probably take even less) of what the top pros make. Of course I’m not even a tenth as talented as those guys. And while I may not get to the spa at Turtle Bay every weekend, I’m sure I make it more often than you do, brah ;).
And everyone who is paying attention to this site: here you have just read/witnessed a sane, passionate, AND respectful exchange between two individuals who know the lay of the land, have differing (but not albeit TOO different) opinions, and are able to engage in a dialogue lacking in vitriol. Aloha at its finest…Mahalos for leading by example.