Occy bids farewell at Pipe Masters.

by Ester Spears, December 2007

Mark Occhilupo, one of only a hatful of surfers who can truly be tagged with the epithet ‘Legend’, has retired from the WCT at the age of 41. His defeat in the dying moments of the third round heat of the Pipe Masters to Troy Brooks after spending his entire working life as a pro surfer ushered his transition into surfing icon-dom. 

It was in 1983 that the precocious goofyfoot born and raised in Kurnell, Sydney, burst onto the scene, when the then seventeen year old, finished 16^th in the world, the following year he finished 3^rd, then 4^th, then 3^rd again in a period that was epitomised by his celebrated back to back WCT wins at Huntington Beach, both against Tom Curren. He was a Pipe Master and single handedly redefined backhand surfing at Jeffrey’s Bay but it seems it was too much too young for the ‘Raging Bull’ and he dropped off the tour in 1987 amidst stories of drug abuse and became an alleged 17 stone couch potato. A decade later a rejuvenated and born-again Occy retook the Dream Tour like a tornado and finished runner-up to Kelly Slater. In 1999, he won three of his 12 World Tour victories to post one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history by winning the coveted ASP World Title at the age of 33.

Occy has become synonymous with his sponsor, Billabong and it was Gordon Merchant, friend and brand founder who stood by the wayward star during the dark years, along with filmmaker, Jack McCoy who showcased the Occy talents in such films as Bunyip Dreaming, Green Iguana and Sik Joy. Merchant is the author of possibly the truest tribute about the most powerful backhand surfer to have lived:

“Occy has the ability to surf like most mortal surfers just dream about” 

Back on the Tour of Dreams and this years the PipeMasters was plagued by ‘average’ conditions, and the final was held at Off-the-Wall – a break about a 100 meters down the beach from Pipe. With none of the underdog - Pipe specialists able to upset the touring apple cart and the World title already wrapped up by Fanning it was down to the un-fancied Aussie, Bede Durbidge, who is currently without a sponsor, to make his own statement. His near perfect 9.5 in the final secured him the Pipe title and also clinched the Vans Triple Crown, earning the Aussie a cool 75,000 dollars in cash and prizes - the biggest single-day gain in the history of professional surfing.

© Ester Spears. Plagiarism is the sign of a lazy journalist and could cost you a fortune in damages.