The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing

Once a year, surfing’s top-ranked men and women spend a few weeks on Oahu’s North Shore to take on the world’s most challenging waves in epic battle otherwise known as the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. This famous surfing event entails over $1,000,000 in prize money and all-important seeding for the following season on the World Cup of Surfing tour.

For the men, the event begins with the Reef Hawaiian Pro (Nov. 12 – 23 at Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park), followed by the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach (Nov. 24 – Dec 6 at Sunset Beach), and finishes with the Billabong Pipeline Masters (Dec. 8-20 at Banzai Pipeline), which offers a $300,000 prize purse.

The women’s event is just two-fold this year, beginning with the Cholo’s Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa Ali‘i Beach Park (Nov. 12 – 23), followed by the Gidget Pro (Nov 24 – Dec 6, at Sunset Beach).

Each event has an extended holding period of more than 10 days, allowing competitors and organizers to pick and choose the biggest and best days within the allotted time frame. Each competition will run a total of 4-5 days within its specified holding period, with heats scheduled from 8am to 4pm on days of competition.

The waves at each break are quite different. At Sunset, they can be thick and up to four stories high – similar to last year. At Banzai Pipeline, waves rear up 50 feet from shore and the reef shelf here creates a hollow, barreling wave that looks like a pipe. Each surf break therefore requires special equipment, unique strategy and exceptional mental toughness.

Over the past 28 years, the Triple Crown evolved from a local series to the premier competition in professional surfing. This is a wonderful chance to witness some of the world’s best surfers riding some of the most famous waves in the world.

Photo courtesy of bugsy (Flickr)