OCEAN PACIFIC LANDS ON THE NORTH SHORE AS TITLE PARTNER FOR THE OP PRO HAWAII,
THE FIRST JEWEL IN THE VANS TRIPLE CROWN OF SURFING
 
OP Pro Hawaii Scheduled at Oahu’s Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park November 12 to 23

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 26 September, 2005 : - - Santa Fe Springs, CA (September 26, 2005) – Ocean Pacific (Op), the original icon in American surfing, has signed on as title sponsor of the Op Pro Hawaii, the first jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing®, for the next three years.  The Op Pro Hawaii holding period is Nov. 12 to Nov. 23, 2005 at Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park on Oahu’s famous North Shore.

“We are excited to take the Op Pro back to Haleiwa, the home of 1993’s celebrated Op Hawaiian Pro,” said Eric Crane, vice president of marketing and advertising at Op.  “Haleiwa, the cultural center of the North Shore, is an ideal setting for us, as we build this first leg of the series into a lifestyle event incorporating local business, music, film and art, and involving the community in cool ways.”

Crane continued, “The Vans Triple Crown property is one of the most respected and visible venues for world-class surfing, with an unparalleled mainstream audience, and Vans is the perfect partner in this—our neighbor, industry friend and patron of surfing since the birth of our Company.”

A Vans Triple Crown of Surfing title is considered by many to be the sport’s most coveted championship and the six-star World Qualifying Series (WQS) rated, $125,000 Op Pro Hawaii provides the first challenge.  The chase for the title continues at the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25 – Dec. 6 at Sunset Beach (a WQS six-star event)) and the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters, the grand finale of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour (WCT), held Dec. 8 to Dec. 20.

“We’re pleased to bring Op on board again, having been a previous sponsor at Haleiwa back in the early mid-90s,” said Randy Rarick, Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Executive Director.  “It further solidifies surf industry support for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.  With Op partnering on the initial event at Haleiwa, we can concentrate efforts on making the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing bigger and better for surfers and fans alike.”

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is made possible through the support of Op, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Surfing, Oahu’s Turtle Bay Beach Resort, Hawaiian Airlines, G-Shock, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Fox Sports Net and Road Runner High Speed Online.

About Ocean Pacific (Op)
Founded more than three decades ago, Op was the first surfboard manufacturer to offer a full range of products for surfers both in and out of the water.  Today, through sponsorship of world-class sporting events, athletes, artists and musicians, and manufacture of goods ranging from apparel and footwear to fragrances and accessories, Op, a division of The Warnaco Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WRNC), caters to an ever-growing worldwide youth culture by remaining true to its mission: to create quality products with authenticity and style. For more information, log-on at www.op.com.

About Vans
Vans, Inc., a subsidiary of VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), is a leading lifestyle brand for the youth market.  Vans® collections, which include active and performance footwear, apparel and accessories, snowboard boots and bindings and the Pro-tec® line of protective gear, are sold in the United States through 150 company owned stores and factory outlets as well as independent retailers.  Internationally, Vans sells its goods in approximately 50 countries through a network of distributors, sales agents and foreign offices.  Vans supports and promotes the action sports lifestyle through such events as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing™, the Vans Warped Tour™, and the Vans Cup at Tahoe™.

For more information on Vans, please visit www.vans.com. 

To learn more about the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, please visit www.triplecrownofsurfing.com

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Chris Overholser/Vans
chris_overholser@vfc.com

Alain Mazer, Ocean Pacific
alain@opcorp.com

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