HONOLULU - Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 - As yet another high surf advisory is issued for Oahu's North Shore, the $845,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, is revving up for next week's Thursday start. Wave face heights reached 25 feet over the weekend and provided surfers with the ultimate warm-up session.
The men's Reef Hawaiian Pro will kick it straight into high gear as an unprecedented lineup of world surfing heavyweights takes to the waves of Haleiwa in pursuit of the Vans Triple Crown title, Nov. 12-23.
The only way to take a crack at the prestigious Vans crown is to compete in all three events. Defending Triple Crown champion Joel 'Parko' Parkinson (Australia) is keen to hold onto the throne and is also counting on Haleiwa to keep him focused on the ASP world title finish line.
Joining Parko at Haleiwa will be 2007 Vans Triple Crown champion Bede Durbidge (Australia), America's top-rated surfer CJ Hobgood (Florida, world #5) and his brother Damien (world #9), California's Taylor Knox, former world champion Andy Irons (Hawaii), and veteran Triple Crown champions Sunny Garcia and Derek Ho (Hawaii).
Running concurrently with the Reef Hawaiian Pro will be the women's
Vans Hawaiian Pro, featuring 16 of the world's Top 17 ASP surfers, headed by world champion Stephanie Gilmore (Australia).
Following Haleiwa, the Series moves on to Sunset Beach for the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, Nov. 24-Dec. 6, and kicks it up another notch as current world #1 Mick Fanning joins the fray. Also taking to Sunset will be Jordy Smith (South Africa, world #10) and California's Pat Gudauskas, who drew major attention at huge Sunset during the O'Neill last year and is looking to do it again as he wraps up a successful campaign to qualify for the 2010 ASP elite Dream Tour.
Pairing up with the O'Neill World Cup is the women's Gidget Pro Sunset Beach - the penultimate event for this year's ASP world title chase. The final women's event of the series is the Billabong Pro Maui.
When the series hits Pipeline for the Billabong Pipeline Masters, Dec. 8-20, it's all systems go as the men wager final battle for the 2009 ASP World Surfing title. Parko and Fanning, two regular-foot riders, will be looking to rack up some seriously deep barrel time on the official Nixon timing watch in pursuit of the glory. The Vans Triple Crown champion for 2009 will receive a $10,000 bonus as well as a diamond encrusted $10,000 Nixon watch.
Watch it Unfold Live - Online and on TV
Watch the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing live online at triplecrownofsurfing.com. For Hawaii's local audience, Oceanic Time Warner Cable helps you beat the crowd, delivering all three events of the the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing live in your living room via dedicated channel 250. Come Pipeline, FUEL TV takes the battle for the world title live to national television audiences across America.
Making the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink possible: Reef, O'Neill, Billabong, Gidget Worldwide, Nixon, Turtle Bay Resort, Hawaiian Airlines, JN Automotive Group, Surfing Magazine, Surfline.com, FUEL TV, The Honolulu Advertiser, Hawaiian Springs Water, Road Runner, and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP). The Series is proud to announce that it is working with local company Tr3ees to embark upon a greener, more sustainable future.
