"Lopez Wins Masters Again, Honolulu Advertiser, Dec 5, 1973

Hawaii's Gerry Lopez , surfing the Banzai Pipeline's eight-foot waves to near perfection, won the Hawaiian Masters Championship and the $1,000 first prize of the $1,500 total purse yesterday.

Lopez led a field of four goofyfoot surfers who took the top four places at the Banzai's breaking left-slide waves. California's Mike Armstrong was second, followed by Hawaii’s Rory Russell and Australia’s Dick Harvey.

Jeff Hakman in fifth and David Balcerzak in sixth, two regular stance surfers, couldn't work the tubing waves as well since their backs faced the watery wall.

Lopez, who also won last year after Hakman won the first Masters title in 1971, placed first on all three judges' sheets for the one-hour session.

Ripping across the face of about 15 waves— more than anyone else—Lopez stunned the crowd of about 500 with a fantastic tube ride on his eighth ride, which earned him a maximum 20 points, a very rare score.

‘‘Lopez got locked in for one, two, three seconds,” said meet director Fred Hemmings. “It was unbelievable. The guy was gone and you know how you wait for the surfboard to pop up? Lopez blew out of the end of it. He was sensational.”

Lopez's title was a rewarding finish to the professional surfing season for the goofyfoot rider who placed last in his semifinal heats of the Smirnoff and Duke meets on right-slide breaks at Sunset and Laniakea.

Armstrong and Russell also pulled off brilliant rides, and to some it looked like a close finish. Harvey, Hakman and Balcerzak—according to Hakman—were fighting to stay out of last.

Since the Pipeline waves were steep, positioning was critical for the surfers after they dropped and made their bottom turns.

“There’s no way a backsider can see the waves as well as a frontsider,” said Hakman, who managed to rip off a nifty ride to the right—unusual for the Pipeline.

The entire meet was just one hour long and consisted of only the six surfers. The unique surfing event was sponsored by Continental Airlines and filmed by ABC-TV.

1973 Pipeline Masters

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