Heading into the 1993 Pipe Masters, six surfers remained in contention for the World Title. Kelly Slater, Damien Hardman, Martin Potter, Gary Elkerton, Dave MacAulay, Rob Machado and Derek Ho all had a shot. In 5th place and at 29 years old, Hawaiian Derek Ho was oldest among the contenders - which included defending champ Kelly Slater and world champ Martin Potter - but his Pipeline knowledge beat the odds, making him the first Hawaiian to win a World Title in the entire 18 years of the tour's history. While he'd claimed the title by making the semifinals, Ho continued on to win the Pipe Masters as well - possibly because he didn't know he'd won already.
