WET ‘N’ WILD WITH ROCKIN’ FIG:

The surfers scored some heavy barrels on the North Shore at the last world championship tour event of the year at the Billabong Pipeline Masters. The ever-legendary Banzai Pipeline produced some 8- to 12-foot plus, super hollow rights and lefts dredging over the reef.  

The man of the hour was none other than this year’s newly crowned world champ Kelly Slater, making it look easy, pulling into barrel after barrel to score his sixth win of 11 events he surfed in this year. That’s wins at Pipe for Slater in ’92, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’99 and now 2008, plus he won a classic Gerry Lopez surfboard, a Pipeline legend back in the ’70s.

Slater defeated San Clemente’s Chris Ward, who was going off all event too, racking some of the best tube rides of his career.

Ward jumped from 27th in the ratings to 14th, and also gained respect from all who watched, and even Slater called Ward one of the best barrel riders in the world. Slater barely got by Huntington Beach’s Timmy Reyes, though, in the semis, as Reyes scored a 9.10 wave and had Slates comboed till the last six minutes of the heat. Slater somehow found two sick barrels in less than three minutes, racking a nine and then a perfect 10 to advance to the final.

Reyes was happy with his effort and said it’s tough to beat the nine-time world champ even though he had him on the ropes till the end. Reyes also had some heavy shacks in Round 4, knocking out Aussie Joel Parkinson, who ended up winning the overall Triple Crown title. With his equal third placing, Reyes ended up securing a top 16 place in the WCT standings with his best finish of the year. The top 10 saw Slater first, Australian Bede Durbidge second, Aussie Taj Burrow third, Aussie “Parko” fourth, Florida’s C.J. Hobgood fifth, sixth Australia’s “Ace” Buchan, seventh Brazil’s Adriano De Souza, eighth Aussie Mick Fanning, ninth Santa Barbara’s Bobby Martinez, and No. 10 French man Jeremy Flores.

The Billabong Pro Maui for the gals is down to the quarter finals, as they’ve been running in 4- to 6-foot Honolua Bay.

Seven-time world champ Layne Beachley is trying to win her last event before retiring, and she’s up against South Africa’s Rosanne Hodge. Aussie Stephanie Gilmore, 20, who just notched up her second world title, is against fellow country women Rebecca Woods.

Hawaii’s trials winner Carissa Moore, who upset No. 2 in the world, Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich in her earlier heat, is surfing against buddy Hawaiian Melanie Bartels and another Hawaiian, Megan Abubo, is surfing it out with Brazil’s Silvana Lima.

Bear Mountain, Snow Summit, Snow Valley and Mountain High opened with 1- to 2-foot base depths.

Fig over and out.

RICK FIGNETTI is a 10-time West Coast champion and a longtime KROQ-FM surfologist. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.