Lexus Pipe Pro presented by YETI
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With the change in the layout of the vendor area it felt like the booth was cut off from a little bit of the action. Last year we had more open area in front of the booth for enticing interactions-this year the food vendor was directly in front of the booth cutting off the view of the booth.
It would be an absolute nightmare but setting up a tier #1 as a VIP booth would be absolutely next level.
Our laser has been taking an absolute beating at this event. The moisture and humidity nuked some electronics this year and we were able to get it fixed but it would be good to figure out a better solution for the longevity of our machines on the beach.
Also we had some bad generator issues. I tried to fix it but eventually we had to employ a small engine shop to get it fixed. Turns out the electronic fuel pump went out. I think we should be more cautious of leaving gas in the generators for long term storage. Also possibly throwing a battery tender on them sporadically.
The T2-2 kit was not complete and has been pretty hammered from the past year of travels. We were missing L-brackets on one of the T-blocks for the wall spanners. We were also missing roof caps to complete the roof.
I think it is time to replace the roof panels and maybe moving forward we plan on replacing the plastic roofing panels at the beginning of each year.
Everyone on the crew stepped up to the plate this year and it felt like we overcame a lot of obstacles this year with the event.
Get your aloe ready because the sun is gonna burn and the waves are gonna pummel! Lexus Pipe Pro presented by Yeti went off with a loud concussive bang as the waves thundered onto the reef. Well…not at first but eventually they did!
The build this year was a Tier #2 dubbed T2-2. We built the kit on un-even ground utilizing shim packs and some creative shoveling to level out the structure. It took a solid 2 days of construction/assembly to put our swift current stamp of approval on the build. Then we were on to executing infil of the laser, merch and all the bells and whistles that make people go “oh my gosh, you have no idea how many yeti things I have, my husband is gonna kill me but how much for this cup?”.
We raised funds this year for the Mauka to Makai Makaha Foundation (same as last year) supplying 500 pieces of various drink ware to be custom etched on site by our pro squad of laser operators. We utilized a ‘flash sheet’ this year to show off the graphics offered and give a quick description of what we were doing. This was a spray painted sheet of steel that we laser etched. But we all know people don’t read signs so we got very good at saying “Mauka to Makai Makaha Foundation”. I am excited to see the final amount of money we raised for the foundation and I estimate the number to be north of $10,000!
We dealt with a very slow event this year due to swell size being sub par for a long while. We/WSL got extremely lucky with a solid swell on the Semi Final’s day (Friday 2/7) and just enough swell for the finals day on the final day of the window (Saturday 2/8). Although Yeti ambassador John John Florence chose to drop out of the CT this year he did accept a Wildcard slot for Pipe and he surfed well before getting eliminated by the event winner Barron Mimaya. Yeti ambassador Caity Simmers put on a proper clinic on how to surf pipe like a bada** but unfortunately did not get any waves during the finals leading to her placing 2nd. But Yeti was prominent throughout the event with those two surfing like they own the north shore!
The benefit of the new layout in the vendor area was that the Yeti booth was directly next to the awards ceremony. It would have been incredible to have been able to create a yeti viewing area for the ceremony or get more interactions during the award ceremony. But it was awesome being able to drop a wall panel and be right next to the ceremony and watch the awards being given out!
Overall the event went well! This is a challenging event for a multitude of reasons but the Swift Currents Crew step up to the challenges with a steadfast dedication to getting the job done and still having smiles on our faces. Also big shout out to the Yeti folks who continuously crush it and provide only solutions in the face of possible failure.