The Marui Pro world tour contest, held at Chiba, Japan, was the least-popular event among IPS pros. It was a long flight for most surfers to get there, the language barrier was high, the surf was often flat, and the English-language surf mags usually didn't bother to send a reporter.
Yet the 1982 Marui Pro proved to be the bellwether event of the year. The surf, for once, was good—overhead and offshore. Mark Richards lost early, hobbled by a chronically sore lower back. Richards would win his...
