After six consecutive days of flatness, finally the Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons has been called on yesterday.
We saw one of the most exciting days of competition this year, with the entering of Kelly Slater for the men and the victory of Gilmore in the women’s duel.

[©ASP / Adrian Buchan defeated Fred Patacchia by less than half a point to advance to the next round.]

Kelly Slater, reigning 10-time ASP World Champion, continued to assert his dominance amongst the world’s best surfers posting the event’s only Perfect 10 and advancing directly through to the Quarterfinals.

[©ASP / Kelly Slater]

Slater will surf against Adrian Buchan (AUS), 28, in Quarterfinal No. 2. Buchan needs to win the Billabong Pipe Masters to clinch the 2010 Vans Triple Crown.

[©ASP / Jeremy Flores came close to snapping his board en route to Round 4.]

The Vans Women’s Triple Crown of Surfing culminated at Pipeline yesterday, with reigning four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore, Hawaiian Coco Ho, Tyler Wright, and Alana Blanchard, battling it out in classic Pipeline conditions.

[©ASP / Stephanie Gilmore]

It was one more time Gilmore who the Vans Duel for the Jewel at Backdoor Pipeline, earning her third Vans Triple Crown title.

[©ASP / Stephanie Gilmore]

Vans Duel for the Jewel Final:
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 14.50
2 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 7.50
3 – Coco Ho (HAW) 6.86
4 – Alana Blanchard (HAW) 1.50

[©ASP / Coco ho]

[©ASP / Stephanie Gilmore and Tyler Wright]

And here are the results of the men’s rounds and the quarter-final Match -ups.

Billabong Pipe Masters Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.00 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 8.33
Heat 2: Owen Wright (AUS) 7.40 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 4.17
Heat 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 11.33 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 3.27
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.66 def. Fred Patacchia (HAW) 11.50
Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.10 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.00
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.90 def. John Florence (HAW) 14.23
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 17.10 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.87
Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.50 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 9.10
Heat 9: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 10.93 def. David Wassell (HAW) 10.66
Heat 10: Dane Reynolds (USA) 13.43 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 11.66
Heat 11: Taylor Knox (USA) 14.66 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 14.34
Heat 12: Dusty Payne (HAW) 18.87 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.94

[©ASP / Dusty Payne]

Billabong Pipe Masters Round 4 Results:
Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.66, Taj Burrow (AUS) 10.40, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 4.97
Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.17, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.23, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 8.17
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.27, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.03, Damien Hobgood (USA) 6.67
Heat 4: Taylor Knox (USA) 12.33, Dane Reynolds (USA) 11.54, Dusty Payne (HAW) 6.60

Billabong Pipe Masters Round 5 Results:
Heat 1: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.30 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.60
Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 16.34 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 9.43
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 17.90 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 17.67
Heat 4: Dane Reynolds (USA) 11.23 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.84

[©ASP / Kieren Perrow]

Billabong Pipe Masters Quarterfinal Match-Ups:
QF 1: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA)
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
QF 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
QF 4: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)

Highlights from the Billabong Pipe Masters will be available via http://triplecrownofsurfing.com/billabongpipemasters/

Pictures:  ©ASP

Yesterday the winners of the O’Neill World Cup have been crowned.

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Among the men, the victory is of  Raoni Monteiro, 28 years from Brazil, who became the first South American male in 20 years to win the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, since Fabio Gouveia in 1991. Monteiro is only the second South American male in the 28-year history of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing to win any event here. His victory today was worth $20,000 and major credibility.

Second was Julian Wilson, third Granger Larsen and fourth Josh Kerr.

The third and final stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is the Billabong Pipe Masters, that has a holding period of December 8-20.

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Among the women, Tyler Wright (AUS), 16, won the O’Neill Women’s World Cup of Surfing, topping Sunset Beach local Coco Ho (HAW), 19, reigning four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 22, and ASP Women’s World Tour No. 2 Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, in two-to-four foot (1 metre) surf at Sunset Beach.

Tyler Wright, competing for the first time of her young career into theVans Triple Crown, quickly catapulted into the lead in the Final, smashing the event’s highest single-wave score of a 9.57 out of 10 en route to the highest heat total of a 17.24 out of 20.

Second was Coco Ho, third Stephanie Gilmore and fourth Sally Fitzgibbons.

The final stop on the 2010 Women’s Vans Triple Crown will see the current top four surfers on the ratings after the first two jewels, Tyler Wright, Stephanie Gilmore, Coco Ho, and Alana Blanchard (HAW), 20, battle for the prestigious ASP Specialty Series title in a one-heat battle at Pipeline, the Vans Duel for the Jewel. The event will take place during the Billabong Pipe Masters waiting period, December 8 through 20th, 2010.

The O’Neill World Cup is the second stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing consists of three men’s and three women’s professional surfing events that are the final stop on the 2010 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour. In its 28th year, the Vans Triple Crown is considered the most prestigious title in surfing next to the ASP World Title.

Pictures and part of the story: © ASP

Let’s see what’s happening at the first stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

For those who don’t know it, the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing consists of three men’s and three women’s professional surfing events that are the final stop on the 2010 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour. In its 28th year, the Vans Triple Crown is considered the most prestigious title in surfing next to the ASP World Title.

[©ASP / Jay Thompson tops himself a place in Round 4.]

Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is presented by Rockstar Energy Drink.  The first jewel of the Crown is the men’s Reef Hawaiian Pro and the Cholo’s Women’s Pro, at Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park. The official website for the series is www.vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com.

[©ASP /Corey Lopez dominated his round of 96 heat to advance into the next round in first place.]

Men are battling to the title and certainly an highlight of the event is the return of Joel Parkinson. Parko is back after having been off the tour for the past six months nursing a serious foot injury. He opened his account with a perfect 10 and signed off on the heat with the highest two-wave total score of the event to date: 19.87 out of a possible 20 points.

[©ASP /Haleiwa local Sean Moody advanced in second place.]

Among the women, we see another victory of the Australian Stephanie Gilmore, the 4-time ASP world champion of surfing. She eclipsed the field to win the Cholo’s Hawaiian Pro – the first leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. With the world title locked away, Steph’s victory here puts her in good stead to gun for a third Vans Triple Crown title to round out the year. Gilmore, 22, earned $4,500 for today’s win.
Surfing in double-overhead waves, Gilmore was untouchable in every round with near-perfect scores and flawless, critical maneuvers. Runner-up was rookie Australian Tyler Wright, 16, from Lennox Head, who threw down some of the most futuristic maneuvers women’s surfing has ever seen, but failed to match Gilmore’s well-rounded performance. Third was Alana Blanchard (Hawaii), and Jacqueline Silva (Brazil) was fourth.

The next stop for the ladies is Sunset Beach, stage 2 of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, Nov. 24 through Dec. 6. The third and final event, open to the top 4 Vans Triple Crown contenders only, is the Vans Duel for the Jewel at Pipeline, December 8-20.

[©ASP ]

Finally for what concernes the Clash of the Legends, world champion surfers Tom Curren (USA), 46; Tom Carroll (Australia), 48; Sunny Garcia (Hawaii), 40; and Mark Occhilupo (Australia), 44, gave a good exhibition.

The Clash of the Legends will see all four of these surfers battle a total of three times. Their top two scores from each heat (six waves total) will be tallied to determine the Ultimate Legend by the close of the Reef Hawaiian Pro.

Curren, Carroll, Occhilupo and Garcia amassed an incredible number of titles and records during their collective 87 years on tour, laying claim to a total of $3.3 million in prize money; 130 tour wins; a total of 1,163 events surfed; and no shortage of rivalry. If anyone thought this was just a fun heat, they were clearly wrong.