Kelly Slater wins Pipeline Masters for the eight time in his career. The ” Goat” as he is affectionately known has charged his way once again through the frothing young guns. Having beat Seth Moniz to claim victory 1 week before he hits the 50 years Kelly stated in an interview that it was the “Best victory of his life“

He said in a WSL interview after his victory …. “I committed my life to this. To all of this. To all of the heartbreak and winning and all this crap, you know, I’ve hated lots of it, but I savor this and this is the best win of my life.”

For Seth Moniz it was a totally epic start to his year. Not many get to challenge the greatest surfer that has ever lived. For Slater it was such a monumental win. Hes been making noises about taking a back seat for a while now. He was not so sure about Sunset , the next event. Circumstances with the pandemic , seem to be pointing in one direction.

The closely followed vaccinate or no-vaccinate situation for Slater has been coming to a head for a while now. With recent world attention drawn on Djokovic for the tennis grand slam ,not being able to play due to non vaccination. This has thrown concerns into all fields of competitive sport. With the Australian pandemic restrictions , it doesn’t look like Slater will be down under. But either way, a truly class way to exit a career if he chooses ! OR will he be going for a 12th world title ?

Hopefully between then and now the pandemic will calm and we can all get on with travelling as normal surfers do and chilling in the best spots in the world.. It would be great to see Kelly back on his preferred French spot to surf right here in Seignosse . Kelly has an amazing pad right on the beach. This is part of his quiver of amazing pads on all of the best waves in the world which most people agree he fully deserves.

Slater had his first Championship Tour event win at Pipeline way back in 1992 over 30 years ago His last win at Pipeline was back in 2013. After 8 wins at Pipe over 30 years and clocking up 11 world titles, its fare to say most people would be content. The rumors of a 12th world title will unfold in the fullness of time.

Well done Kelly you total legend in every sense