 Mick Fanning congratulates Pancho Sullivan on the Op Pro Hawaii winners podium Photo Carol Cunningham : Cunninghamphotos.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
Op Pro Hawaii:- Scores/Results/Photos/Videos etc
Pancho Sullivan wins Op Pro Hawaii.
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, Haleiwa, HAWAII - (Wednesday, November 23, 2005) - The Op Pro had the honor of awarding Hawaii's Pancho Sullivan, 32, his first Vans Triple Crown of Surfing victory after 15 years of trying. His win today all but guarantees him a place on next year's elite Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour (WCT), which will make him the oldest first-time WCT qualifier. He earned $15,000 for first place today and takes an early lead on the 2005 Vans Triple Crown Series ratings.
For years, Sullivan has been touted as one of the North Shore's greatest surfers and those in the know have considered a Triple Crown victory to be inevitable... but no-one guessed it would be this long coming. Today, a combination of highly contestable six- to eight-foot waves and a year of determination to compete well came together for success.
"I can't even believe this has finally happened," said Sullivan. "I'm one step closer to my ultimate goal: to win the Triple Crown. I surfed my first Triple Crown event at Sunset when I was 18.... I've always viewed Hawaii as the proving ground for surfers and to me, the Triple Crown has always been my chance to win a world title, because that's how much it means to us here."
As for qualifying for the WCT: "That's something completely different! I kind of let that part of my year go. When I got home from traveling all year, my focus was back on the Triple Crown, so I'm pretty psyched about it." Sullivan is now rated 11th on the World Qualifying Series (WQS) ratings.
 Mick Fanning powered to second place : photo Karen Tostee.com
The 35-minute, four-man final was action-packed. The most heated exchange was that between Sullivan and world No.4-ranked WCT surfer Mick Fanning. Fanning with his accelerated bottom-turn into top-turn slashes, and Sullivan with his trademark power gouges and strategic tube rides. Fanning never lost his composure, despite a snapped surfboard leash on his first ride.
After swimming to the beach, he proceeded to catch more waves than any other surfer in the final - nine, even holding down the lead at one point. Fanning finished second, earning $8,000. Third place and $6,000 went to Brazil's Raoni Monteiro, and fourth was 20-year-old Huntington Beach, Ca., surfer Brett Simpson. Simpson, who had never made it to a final before today, earned $4,000.
"I wanted to get a few waves under my belt just to settle down a bit," said Fanning, 24. "But I was just pushing it too hard at the start. The waves towards the end got me some good scores, but they unfortunately weren't enough. But I'm really stoked for Pancho to have a win and push his ratings up. I've been following his ratings the whole year. He's a legend.
"Now I'm pumped to get another result at Sunset and keep my Triple Crown ratings alive and hopefully push for the win coming into Pipe."
 Raoni Monteiro finsihed in third place : photo Karen Tostee.com
For Brazil's Monteiro, this was his first Hawaiian final in his seven-year career. He finished the day at 9th on the WQS rankings. "I'm just completely stoked. For me, this is my first final in Hawaii. This is my seventh year on the tour. This year has been very hard for me. I haven't had too many good results, so to be close to requalifying for the WCT is great."
Huntington Beach's Brett Simpson was the mystery man of the final, slipping under the radar as he systematically accounted for some serious talent: Australians Joel Parkinson and Luke Munro in the semi-finals, as well as local surfers Roy Powers and Ian Walsh earlier in the day. Simpson has jumped from relative obscurity to 20th on the WQS.
"It's my first year at this event, so this is a dream come true," said Simpson. "I never thought I'd be in the final, but I just stayed confident and did what I could do. Surfing with those guys, I knew I'd have to surf to the best of my abilities, so I just went for broke."
Surprise eliminations today largely came at the hands of the ocean, which occasionally bankrupted heats. Three-time world champion Andy Irons was one, losing in the round before the quarters. Jamie O'Brien was another, posting a paltry heat total of 0.37 of a point in the quarter finals, finding no good scoring ride in 25 minutes of waiting.
 Brett Simpson finsihed in fourth place : photo Karen Tostee.com
Defending event champion Sunny Garcia lost in the semi-finals today, placing equal seventh overall. It is still enough to keep him in Triple Crown contention. Garcia, 35, will be retiring from the pro tour at the end of this winter.
"To get into the quarter finals, the semi-finals, you keep yourself in contention," said Garcia "I've won the Triple Crown without winning an event before - it's about the most consistent surfer... and my track record at Sunset at Pipeline are pretty damm good. So there's next week. I'm back to the drawing board."
The Vans Triple Crown was ecstatic to welcome Op back into the Series this year, having been an event sponsor back in the mid-'90s. This is the first of a three-year commitment by Op, who plan to develop this competition into a major community event in the coming years.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing now moves seven miles along the North Shore for stop number two at Sunset Beach, which has a holding period from this Friday, November 25, through December 6. Men's and women's competition will be held on the best four days of surf during that period. Plenty of swell is forecast for the coming days, so competition could start as early as Friday.
Happy Thanksgiving!
 Four to six foot surf rolled into Haleiwa's Ali'i Beach park for the final day of the OP Pro Photo : Kistin/Tostee.com
Op Pro Hawaii - Results:
Final 1 Pancho Sullivan,Haw 9.33 7.9O -> 17.23pts 2 Mick Fanning,Aus 8.O7 7.83 -> 15.90pts 3 Raoni Monteiro,Bra 8.OO 5.43 -> 13.43pts 4 Brett Simpson,USA 7.27 5.33 -> 12.60pts
Semi Final Heat # 1 1 17.24 Raoni Monteiro Bra 2 16.03 Mick Fanning Aus 3 15.97 Adrian Buchan Aus 4 13.64 Sunny Garcia Haw
Semi Final Heat # 2 1 12.50 Pancho Sullivan Haw 2 11.16 Brett Simpson USA 3 9.04 Luke Munro Aus 4 5.83 Joel Parkinson Aus
Quarter Finals Heat # 1 1 16.16 Raoni Monteiro Bra 2 13.37 Sunny Garcia Haw 3 13.07 Luke Stedman Aus 4 9.94 Yuri Sodre Bra
Quarter Finals Heat # 2 1 16.33 Mick Fanning Aus 2 15.17 Adrian Buchan Aus 3 12.87 Kaipo Jaquias Haw 4 12.44 Tom Whitaker Aus
Quarter Finals Heat # 3 1 12.27 Joel Parkinson Aus 2 11.50 Pancho Sullivan Haw 3 10.60 Maz Quinn NZ 4 0.37 Jamie O'Brien Haw
Quarter Finals Heat # 4 1 16.84 Luke Munro Aus 2 14.50 Brett Simpson USA 3 10.10 Roy Powers Haw 4 7.57 Jarrad Howse Aus
The complete list of results is available here ....(Not on menu bar, but at lower left below "Contest Status")
More todays photos available here
Men's WQS Ratings After Evt#40 Op Pro Hawaii,Haleiwa, Oahu-Hawaii
Name Country Rating Points
| Souza,Adriano de |
BRA |
1 |
13128 |
| Martinez,Bobby |
USA |
2 |
10570 |
| Buchan,Adrian |
AUS |
3 |
10553 |
| Cansdell,Shaun |
AUS |
4 |
10515 |
| Henrique,Pedro |
BRA |
5 |
10353 |
| Powers,Roy |
HAW |
6 |
9640 |
| Moura,Paulo |
BRA |
7 |
9540 |
| Emslie,Greg |
ZAF |
8 |
9439 |
| Monteiro,Raoni |
BRA |
9 |
9281 |
| Weare,David |
ZAF |
10 |
9250 |
| Sullivan,Pancho |
HAW |
11 |
9065 |
| Sodre,Yuri |
BRA |
12 |
9053 |
| Picon,Mikael |
FRA |
13 |
9045 |
| Stedman,Luke |
AUS |
14 |
8870 |
| Khodr,Jihad |
BRA |
15 |
8849 |
| Reyes,Tim |
USA |
16 |
8669 |
| Pires,Tiago |
PRT |
17 |
8618 |
| Hall,Glenn |
AUS |
18 |
8418 |
| Logie,Travis |
ZAF |
19 |
8172 |
| Simpson,Brett |
USA |
20 |
8168 |
| Munro,Luke |
AUS |
21 |
8163 |
| Brooks,Troy |
AUS |
22 |
8130 |
| Howse,Jarrad |
AUS |
23 |
8036 |
| Bourgeois,Ben |
USA |
24 |
7950 |
| Dornelles,Rodrigo |
BRA |
25 |
7888 |
| Kling,Gabe |
USA |
26 |
7848 |
| Rocha,Marcondes |
BRA |
27 |
7772 |
| Ross,Daniel |
AUS |
28 |
7771 |
| Redman,Daniel |
ZAF |
29 |
7655 |
| Trekinho,Marcelo |
BRA |
30 |
7544 |
| Coutinho,Odirlei |
BRA |
31 |
7490 |
| Costa,Danilo |
BRA |
32 |
7451 |
| Acero,Eneko |
ESP |
33 |
7413 |
| Hitchings,Luke |
AUS |
34 |
7391 |
| Winter,Russell |
GBR |
35 |
7311 |
| Neto,Dunga |
BRA |
36 |
7257 |
| Neves,Leonardo |
BRA |
37 |
7189 |
| Mitchell,Beau |
AUS |
38 |
7177 |
| Curran,Nathaniel |
USA |
39 |
7168 |
| Thompson,Jay |
AUS |
40 |
7115 |
| Bryson,Royden |
ZAF |
41 |
7109 |
| Flintoff,Kirk |
AUS |
42 |
7077 |
| Quinn,Maz |
NZL |
43 |
6923 |
| Daltro,Armando |
BRA |
44 |
6906 |
| Nunes,Marcelo |
BRA |
45 |
6808 |
| Beven,Patrick |
FRA |
46 |
6778 |
| O'Rafferty,Darren |
AUS |
47 |
6776 |
| Riou,Alain |
PYF |
48 |
6670 |
| Kerr,Josh |
AUS |
49 |
6651 |
| Toth,Brian |
PRI |
50 |
6612 |
| Gouveia,Fabio |
BRA |
51 |
6591 |
| Rosa,Peterson |
BRA |
52 |
6574 |
| Muscroft,Nic |
AUS |
53 |
6561 |
| Rebiere,Eric |
FRA |
54 |
6519 |
| Otton,Kai |
AUS |
55 |
6512 |
| Pigmeu,Bernardo |
BRA |
56 |
6474 |
| Polo,Marco |
BRA |
57 |
6453 |
| Centeio,Joel |
HAW |
58 |
6400 |
| Davidson,Chris |
AUS |
59 |
6391 |
| Lipke,Marlon |
DEU |
60 |
6361 |
| Sedley,Leigh |
AUS |
61 |
6345 |
| Durbidge,Bede |
AUS |
62 |
6344 |
| Alves,Heitor |
BRA |
63 |
6321 |
| Robertson,Adam (Vic) |
AUS |
64 |
6289 |
| Dunn,Ben |
AUS |
65 |
6179 |
| Wright,Warwick |
ZAF |
66 |
6157 |
| Bortoletto,Antonio |
ZAF |
67 |
6156 |
| Santos,Bruno |
BRA |
68 |
6070 |
| Webster,Nathan |
AUS |
69 |
6063 |
| Courtney,Drew |
AUS |
70 |
6028 |
| Mujica,Justin |
PRT |
71 |
5948 |
| Cuizon,Dustin |
HAW |
72 |
5745 |
| Herdy,Guilherme |
BRA |
73 |
5732 |
| Martin,Toby |
AUS |
74 |
5727 |
| Moody,Sean |
HAW |
75 |
5699 |
| Galvao,Renato |
BRA |
76 |
5650 |
| Merle-Jones,Jesse |
HAW |
77 |
5647 |
| Mann,Samba |
AUS |
78 |
5552 |
| Nora,Wilson |
BRA |
79 |
5540 |
| Aranburu,Aritz |
ESP |
80 |
5526 |
| Boal,Tim |
FRA |
81 |
5457 |
| Flores,Jeremy |
REU |
82 |
5420 |
| Perrow,Kieren |
AUS |
83 |
5386 |
| Whitaker,Tom |
AUS |
84 |
5180 |
| Curren,Tom |
USA |
85 |
5149 |
| Thomson,Jamie |
AUS |
86 |
5148 |
| Eleogram,Ola |
HAW |
87 |
5105 |
| Gudauskas,Patrick |
USA |
88 |
5104 |
| Todd,Mike |
USA |
89 |
5074 |
| Ziems,Corey |
AUS |
90 |
5070 |
| Neve,Dayyan |
AUS |
91 |
5034 |
| Rocha,Renan |
BRA |
92 |
5003 |
| Lopez,Cory |
USA |
93 |
4975 |
| Barreto,Tanio |
BRA |
94 |
4972 |
| Walsh,Ian |
HAW |
95 |
4950 |
| Gonzalez,Jonathan |
CNY |
96 |
4919 |
| Gossmann,Shaun |
AUS |
97 |
4891 |
| Gray,Alex |
USA |
98 |
4874 |
| Romao,Simao |
BRA |
99 |
4850 |
| Belo,Jano |
BRA |
100 |
4830 |
 With the worlds best surfers competing in the Triple Crown of Surfing series, the competitors area showcases a fine selection of surfboards from the worlds foremost shapers : 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 & www.tostee.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 : Pancho Sullivan wins Op Pro Hawaii and Fanning second # 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 # 5 : Op Pro Hawaii final day action set for Wednesday 23rd # 6 : Pancho Sullivan wins Op Pro Hawaii & Fanning second
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 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.
Check the latest Hawaii Surf Reports and Forecasts More Hawaiian & USA Surfing News available here
Jodi Young
Triple Crown Series - Surfersvillage |