Hawaiian John John Florence Becomes Youngest-Ever Competitor in Sport's Most
Prestigious Competition Series, Pipe Gala to Feature 22 Former Champs
NORTH SHORE, OAHU, Hawaii, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's most
dangerous wave. Seven seconds of sheer terror. A force of nature. All aptly
describe the final jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the Rip Curl Pro
Pipeline Masters. Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2005, the world's
longest-running professional surfing event will be staged at the famed Banzai
Pipeline on Oahu's North Shore, Dec. 8 to 20. Twenty two Pipe champions
representing four decades of excellence will gather at an invite-only gala on
Dec. 6 to formally recognize the landmark milestone.
The Pipeline Masters takes on added significance this year as three of the
sport's icons call it a career: Kelly Slater (Florida), Sunny Garcia (Hawaii)
and Mark Occhilupo (Australia); while 13 year-old Hawaiian John John Florence
becomes Pipe's youngest-ever competitor. Slater, a five-time event champion,
attempts to cap his career with Vans Triple Crown, Pipeline Masters and world
titles for the second time. Garcia, a six-time Triple Crown winner, and
three-time world champion Andy Irons (Hawaii) stand in Slater's way.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the world's premier big wave series,
begins with the Op Pro Hawaii (Nov. 12 - 23 at Haleiwa) and is followed by the
O'Neill World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25 - Dec 7 at Sunset Beach). Both are
six-star World Qualifying Series (WQS) rated and carry $125,000 prize purses.
The Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters is the grand finale of the Association of
Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour (WCT) and offers a
$270,000 prize purse. The entire Series broadcasts live at
http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.
The Pipeline Masters was founded in 1971 by Hawaiian Fred Hemmings.
Although Jeff Hakman won the inaugural competition, fellow Hawaiian Gerry
Lopez was riding the wave with such a casual elegance that the contest was
later named after him (Lopez was not present in 1971 having been duped by the
crafty Corky Carroll into thinking the event had been cancelled). In 1972 and
1973 Lopez won the event with a display of surfing so beautiful that it caused
Jim McKay, the legendary ABC announcer, to wipe tears from his eyes ... on
air.
To the surfing world, a Pipeline Masters title is the pinnacle of the
sport; surfing's version of Valhalla. Its stature grew quickly as the NY
Times declared a huge day in the early years as "A day of days on earth."
Sports Illustrated published a cover story in 1982 called Thunder from the
Seas. ABC's Wide World of Sports featured the event for nearly a decade.
The first documented ride at Pipeline was in December of 1961 by
Californian Phil Edwards and captured on film by legendary filmmaker Bruce
Brown. Californian shaper Mike Diffenderfer called it "Pipeline" after large
concrete pipes being laid in nearby Kamehameha Highway. Locals called the
beach "Banzai" after the small beachside nursery of Bonsai trees.
Pipeline rears up 50 feet from shore and showcases waves of up to five
stories high that march shoreward before exploding upon a barely submerged
coral reef. Hitting with speed and power, these swells launch abruptly,
'jacking up' from just a few feet in height to 15 or 20 feet in a matter of
seconds. The effect of this is a hollow, barreling wave that has made the
name "Banzai Pipeline" famous around the world.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Series was borne on the strength and
prestige of the Pipeline Masters in 1983: three separate events staged at
three distinct locations along the most notorious seven-mile stretch of surf
on earth. The Series quickly evolved to become the ultimate proving ground
for professional surfers. Virtually everything that matters in the sport
culminates at Pipeline-the World and Vans Triple Crown Series championships.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is made possible through the support of
O'Neill, Roxy, Billabong, Rip Curl, Op, Surfing, Oahu's Turtle Bay Beach
Resort, Hawaiian Airlines, G-Shock, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Fox Sports Net
and Road Runner High Speed Online.
SOURCE Vans Triple Crown of Surfing
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Related links:
http://www.triplecrownofsurfing.com
CONTACT:
Mike Kingsbury of MKM, +1-714-375-2188,
mike@teammkm.com, for Vans Triple Crown of Surfing
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