Reef Hawaiian Pro Day 1 wrap-up

Cory Lopez © ASP/Kirstin

Vans Triple Crown of Surfing

Reef Hawaiian Pro
ASP Prime Event
Alii Beach Haleiwa, Oahu
12 - 24 November 2012

Reef Hawaiian Pro Day 1 wrap-up in Video & Photo Slideshow

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 16 November, 2012 : - - Honolulu -- The 30th Anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, hydrated by vitaminwater, officially got underway on the North Shore of Oahu on Thursday. Organizers of the Reef Hawaiian Pro were forced to wait on Mother Nature before a solid swell increase at midday sent competition into immediate fever pitch. With $250,000 prizemoney on offer in this event alone, and eight rounds of competition from start to finish, much is on the line for the 128 surfers from 15 nations who make up the Reef Hawaiian Pro.

Surfline forecasts that wave heights will peak Friday morning before slowly declining through the weekend. It will be all systems go again Friday, and Saturday. Nathan Hedge, 33 (Australia), Cory Lopez, 35 (Florida), Hank Gaskell, 25 (Maui, HI), and Mason Ho, 24 (Hawaii) headed the field on Thursday.

Lopez is back after four months out due to an ankle injury that didn't hamper him in the least today. Cory took to the air in a display that shot him to an early lead in the Hawaiian Air Show that offers 250,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles for the top aerialist of the series. Nathan Hedge is back on tour after a two year hiatus, hunting down valuable requalification points. A former ASP World Tour Top 10 surfer, Hedge has returned to Hawaii this winter on a mission to requalify. While it likely won't happen this winter, points gained here in the Vans Triple Crown will give him a vital seed for his 2013 qualification campaign.

Hawaii's Mason Ho set up a late flare today with a double tube-ride to aerial that got the beach to its feet. Unfortunately the aerial was incomplete, or it would have been a perfect score. The son of early Vans Triple Crown champion Michael Ho, and nephew of Pipe Master Derek Ho, Mason has plenty of great family insight to draw from.

Coming up in the round of 96 tomorrow will be: Tanner Gudauskas (California); Dane Reynolds (California); the 2011 Hawaiian Air Show winner Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA); Mark Occhilupo (Australia); Jack Freestone (Australia); and Willian Cardoso (Brazil).

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