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As I poured myself a cup of coffee and turned the tele on hoping to watch the start of the Pipe Pro this morning. I would be left disappointed as Pipeline looked gloomy and blown out. The onshore winds would force the WSL to call a lay day for the start of the event window.
I found myself in a conundrum, how do I make the Tracks audience hyped on the Pipe Pro whilst the conditions are not looking promising?
Fortunately, moments later, footage of a 19-year-old Mark Occhilupo at the 1985 Pipe Masters would pop up on my Insta feed. The Kurnell local, unknown to the surfing masses at the time, had bleach-blonde hair and a spark in his eye. You could tell the grom was stoked to be competing at Pipeline with his heroes. Occy would go on to win the event and put on a performance that started his trajectory in becoming one of the most beloved surfers of all time.
Check out the highlights above of Occy competing against legends such as Gerry Lopez, Dane Kealoha and Derek Ho in maxed out Pipe. Even, the King of Pipeline was just trying to survive out there.
Enjoy!
If you wanna watch more footage of Occy surfing (not talking) in the 1985 Pipe Masters, click here.
Click here to check out our 20223 Pipe Pro Preview with Joel Parkinson.
