Winners podium : photo Karen Wilson/Tostee.com

Vans Triple Crown of Surfing

O’Neill World Cup of Surfing *
Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
25 November - 6 December 2005

Vans Women’s Triple Crown of Surfing
O’Neill World Cup of Surfing Sunset Challenge *
Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
25 November - 7 December 2005  

Scores/Results/Photos/Videos etc

WEST AUSTRALIAN REDMAN-CARR WINS O'NEILL SUNSET CHALLENGE
Kauai's Rochelle Ballard Runner-up & Alana Blanchard Nose Guard Rookie

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, Sunset Beach, HAWAII - (Wednesday, November 30, 2005) - West Australian Melanie Redman-Carr, 30, capitalized on home-grown big-wave knowledge to win her first professional surfing competition at Sunset Beach today, in the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing women's Sunset Challenge. Second place in the four-woman final went to Rochelle Ballard, 30, (Kauai), third was 15-year-old Kauai teenager Alana Blanchard, and fourth was Claire Bevilacqua, 22, (West Australia).

Contested in waves of 6- to 8-feet, Redman-Carr posted one of the highest heat scores of the day - 15.33 points over her top two rides, in the final. Her best ride, a 9.33, was her reward for a three second tube ride - the only successful tube ride of the final. Born and raised on the powerful surf of West Australia's famous big-wave surfing venue Margaret River, Redman-Carr was comfortable at Sunset today, despite having only surfed here once in the past few years, as there hasn't been an event here for the women since 1997. Melanie won $2,500 for today's victory, and takes the lead on the Vans Triple Crown of Series ratings for women, the winner of which will take the $10,000 bonus purse at the conclusion of the Series.

"I'm really happy to win out here at Sunset, because whenever the waves are big, those are the results everyone talks about," said Redman-Carr, who has been coming to Hawaii for the past 10 years. "  On her top-scoring tube-ride: "It's nice to get in, but it's even nicer to come out. Those kind of waves were hard to find.

Melanie redman Carr : photo Karen Wilson/Tostee.com

"Today was pretty tame for Sunset. It's similar to West Oz, there are waves like this there - where you get that lost-in-space feeling and you're all alone out in a huge lineup. But all the girls were charging today - even the young ones. I think it's necessary to have an event like this for women's surfing."

Tube-riding was the difference between winning and losing today, but more importantly, successful tube-riding. While it takes enormous courage to tackle the tubes of Sunset, there is no reward unless the surfer successfully exits from the barrel. Kauai's Rochelle Ballard - a seasoned Sunset Beach surfer, charged head-first into the 30-minute final, hunting down the kind of tube-rides she has become famous for. But both her first and second attempts on the first two waves to be ridden in the final each cost her dearly, breaking two consecutive surfboards and losing valuable time in the lineup. Receiving scores of 3.83 and 4.5 consecutively for those rides - a total of 8.33 points, Ballard, 34, earned enough for second place and the runner-up purse of $1,250.

"It's a bummer - those were good boards," said Ballard. "But when it comes to a final, you've got to go for it. Unfortunately, I just didn't get the waves that allowed the scores I needed. That first barrel was such a good one, but I got kind of caught up in the white-water ball and I couldn't get back down. I should have had another meatball last night - it's hard when you're small! (Ballard was the smallest woman in the final at just 5'0".)

Melanie Redman Carr : photo Karen Wilson/Tostee.com

"But I was thrilled to just be out there, to be honest. I've been out of the water for about two-and-a-half months (with an ankle injury), so I was thrilled to be making heats."

Blanchard, and a new-comer to the North Shore's winter surf events, won over a host of new fans with her gutsy performance today. Not only did she win $1,000, she was also awarded the Nose Guard Vans Triple Crown Rookie Award, for being the best newcomer to the Series this year. Blanchard scored 8.03 points in the final for rides of 4.93 and 3.10. Earlier in the day she accounted for the loss of reigning world champion Sofia Mulanovich (Peru), in the quarter finals.

Fourth-placed Bevilacqua, $850, was the highest heat scorer earlier in the day, posting 18.16 in the semi-finals, where she placed first ahead of Redman-Carr, Megan Abubo (Hawaii), and current world number one Chelsea Georgeson (Australia). The top two in each heat today advanced. Unfortunately the most she could muster up in the final were rides of 3.07 and 1.53 for a total of 4.6 points. In the semi's Claire, like Redman-Carr in the final, was awarded 9.33 points for an excellent tube ride.

Alana Blanchard : photo Karen Wilson/Tostee.com

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing women's standings after two events are as follows: 1. Melanie Redman-Carr; 2. Chelsea Georgeson; 3. Claire Bevilacqua; 4. Megan Abubo (Hawaii); and 5. Rochelle Ballard. The third and final event of the women's Triple Crown will take place at Honolua Bay, Maui, December 8-20. The Triple Crown bonus $10,000 purse will be awarded upon completion of that event.

One day of competition remains for the men's O'Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach. Today's swell is forecast to drop into tomorrow, with a new swell expected on Friday, which would see the event come to a close.

Final results were as follows;-

1, Melanie Redman-Carr (Aus )
2, Rochelle Ballard (Haw )
3, Alana Blanchard (Haw )
4, Claire Bevilacqua (Aus )

Today's complete results available here ....(Not on menu bar, but on left side below "Contest Status")

      
More O'Neill World Cup of Surfing women's Sunset Challenge photos available here

Surfing events will be covered live on:
www.oneill.com
www.aspworldtour.com 
www.triplecrownofsurfing.com 

More Photos; 
www.tostee.com
www.cunninghamphotos.com 

O’NEILL SUNSET CHALLENGE FOR WOMEN

O’Neill, the world’s original surf brand, has announced the inclusion of a $10,000 women’s event in conjunction with the men’s O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, November 25 to December 6, reigniting the Vans Women’s Triple Crown of Surfing for 2005. As part of the second jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing on Oahu’s famous North Shore, the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing Sunset Challenge will be open to the world’s top 17 ranked women surfers from the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Championship Tour, along with seven wildcards, yet to be announced. The seventh wildcard invitation will go to O’Neill’s Junior Pro Island Girl event winner, Bethany Hamilton, who dominated the junior pro event in 4-6 foot waves last month on Kauai’s South Shore.

More info available here 

Surfing events will be covered live on:
www.oneill.com
www.aspworldtour.com
www.triplecrownofsurfing.com

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 : Chelsea Georgeson wins Roxy Pro Hawaii & leads tour 
# 7 : Melanie Redman Carr wins the O’Neill Sunset Challenge 
# 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
# 1 : Perfect Sunset surf for the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing 
# 2 : Sullivan secures WCT future at the O'Neill World Cup...
# 3 : O'Neill World Cup of Surfing goes on hold for Tuesday
# 4 : Coming soon  

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 : Melanie Redman Carr wins O’Neill Sunset Challenge 

www.op.com
www.oneill.com
www.roxy.com/roxypro
www.aspworldtour.com 

 

  www.triplecrownofsurfing.com 

       
                      O'Neill World Cup of Surfing              Vans Triple Crown of Surfing            O'Neill World Cup of SSC                       

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 O’Neill
O'Neill is the world's original surf brand. The family-owned and operated company distributes its products to 85 countries, including more than 2,000 specialty wetsuit and clothing retailers in the U.S. O'Neill Clothing USA is a licensee of O'Neill International. For more information log on to oneill.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