Sunny Garcia : photo Kirstin/Tostee.com 

2005 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing 

Mens events:    
Op Pro Hawaii* ASP 6 star WQS
O'Neill World Cup of Surfing
Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters

Womens events:
Roxy Pro* ASP WCT #8/2005
O’Neill World Cup of Surfing Sunset Challenge
Billabong Pro

Venues:
North Shore, Oahu, & Maui, Hawaii
12 November - 20 December 2005

Live webcast - Op Pro Hawaii:- Scores/Results/Photos/Videos etc
Live webcast:- Roxy Pro Hawaii:- Scores/Results/Photos/Videos etc

DEFENDING CHAMPION SUNNY GARCIA OFF TO A PERFECT START

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, Haleiwa, HAWAII - (Thursday, November 17, 2005) - In his final season on the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Tour, and in defense of his Vans Triple Crown and Op Pro Hawaii titles, Sunny Garcia (Hawaii), 35, picked up today where he left off in last year's final. Garcia surfed economically in the consistent eight-foot surf, notching up only the mandatory two waves to post a perfect 10 and a 5.4-point ride that sealed a round three win for him.

Reading the wave like a favorite old book, Sunny's perfect 10 was every bit a brilliant ride, featuring three on-rail, top-to-bottom carves, and two perfectly positioned barrel rides.

"I've been surfing this wave since I was a kid," said Garcia. "It just comes down to experience. Just because I'm older doesn't mean I can't surf well... I've been surfing on the tour for 20 years and I can still win."

Excellent surf and postcard Hawaii weather brought out an adoring crowd for Garcia's clash with Bobby Martinez (USA), Tim Reyes (USA) and Jihad Khodr (Brazil), making the most of the opportunity to see one of the sport's true greats in his last professional stop.

Andy Irons : photo Kirstin/Tostee.com

It was a nostalgic moment for Garcia. "Since the first Op Pro here (in the early '90s), it's become such a big event with so many more people interested. Plus people can watch it live on the Web.

"Haleiwa was the first place I ever surfed in an event. It's always good to surf here... good memories here. It's one of the most underrated surf locations. It's always good, but you only see a few people surfing it and that's usually right before this event. Vans said they would make the Triple Crown a big thing and they came through. There's always room for improvement, but they did what they said they would do, and it has been good."

Garcia was just one of a slew of Hawaiians to dominate today's second and third round action. The highest heat scores of round three (at time of writing) went to Joel Centeio (Haleiwa) - 18.23 points out of 20; Andy Irons (Kauai) 16.9; Fred Patacchia Jr. (Haleiwa) - 16.87; Myles Padaca (Haleiwa) - 16.5; and Garcia's 15.4.

Southern California's Taylor Knox was ecstatic to advance to round four today. Long-hailed as one of the most gifted talents on tour, Knox has been coached throughout the years by legendary Hawaii surfer and shaper Ben Aipa. His knowledge of Haleiwa helped secure him a fourth round berth today.

Pat O'Connell : photo Kistin/Tostee.com

"I've taken my worst (physical) beatings on the North Shore by this wave," said Knox. "People don't realize how strong
a wave it is. It will smack you down and beat you up, but it doesn't take you to the sand: it keeps you out there and holds you there."

On the subject of Op's return as sponsor of this event, Taylor expressed the sentiments of many on tour: "A lot of the guys on tour are glad that Op took this contest over. They'd like this to be a WCT (elite World Championship Tour) event. They wouldn't say that if they didn't consider it to be a great wave. Someday, I hope it's a 'CT. It's a great wave and deserves that kind of respect."

Australians also fared well in early round three heats, with wins posted by Jake Paterson and Luke Stedman. Stedman advanced in first place in Taylor Knox's heat. Knox placed second. Other Australians to advance included Tom Whitaker, Adrian Buchan and Mick Fanning.

With a slow decline in swell forecast through tomorrow and the weekend, organizers are looking forward to getting underway tomorrow with the women's Roxy Pro. The first heat to take to the water will be a surf-off between Hawaii surfers Bethany Hamilton, Carissa Moore, Tory Titcomb and Chastity Baltazar, for the lone wildcard into the Roxy Pro. The penultimate WCT event of the women's ASP World Tour, the Roxy Pro will play a major role in determining this year's world champion. Three surfers are in contention: defending world champ Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), Chelsea Georgeson (Australia), and Megan Abubo (Hawaii).

Results available here (Not on menu, but at lower left below "Contest Status"

More todays photos available here

Joel Centeio : photo Kistin/Tostee.com

Surfing events will be covered live on:
www.op.com
www.triplecrownofsurfing.com
www.aspworldtour.com
www.roxy.com/roxypro

Photos  www.cunninghamphotos.com 

Previous reports: - Vans Triple Crown of Surfing
# 1 : Vans Triple Crown of Surfing to top off an exciting year
# 2 : Vans Triple Crown of Surfing set to start this Saturday
# 3 : Op Pro Hawaii & Roxy Pro on hold -- opening ceremomy
# 4 : Triple Crown/Roxy Pro event produces new tour leader  
# 5 : Coming soon
# 6 : Coming soon
# 7 : Coming soon
# 8 : Coming soon  

Previous reports: - Op Pro Hawaii, Haleiwa.
# 1 : Op Pro Hawaii 1st event at Vans Triple Crown of Surfing
# 2 : Op Pro Hawaii & Roxy Pro on hold - opening ceremomy
# 3 : Teenage rookie debuts in huge waves at Op Pro Hawaii
# 4 : Sunny Garcia off to a perfect start at the Op Pro Hawaii     

Previous reports: - Roxy Pro, Haleiwa.
# 1 : Roxy Pro Hawaii celebrates 50 yrs of womens contests
# 2 : Mulanovich/Georgeson battle for world title this w/end
# 3 : Roxy Pro Hawaii will begin minus Beachley and Woods  
# 4 : Lay Day for Roxy Pro Hawaii Day One, swell on horizon  
# 5 : Roxy Pro Hawaii expecting a sizeable swell Wednesday
# 6 : Chelsea Georgeson wins Roxy Pro Hawaii & leads tour 

Previous reports: - O’Neill World Cup of Surfing Sunset Challenge
# 1 : O'Neill announces Sunset Beach Challenge for Women
# 2 : O'Neill puts Triple back in Womens Crown at Sunset...
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon

            
                      Op Pro Hawaii                       Vans Triple Crown of Surfing                   Roxy Pro Hawaii                       

The men's Op Pro Hawaii and women's Roxy Pro Hawaii are the first of three events in the 2005 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Series. The complete holding dates for this for stop extend to November 24. Following that, the Series moves north to Sunset Beach for the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing men's and women's - Nove,ber 26 - December 6, followed by the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters and women's Billabong Pro Maui, December 8-20.

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is made possible through the support of Op, Roxy, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Billabong, 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 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.

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Jodi Young

Triple Crown Series - Surfersvillage