Triple Crown without horses

It’s that time of year when the surf scene heads to the North Shore of Hawaii for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The Triple Crown features the last rated surfing contests of the year in the big surf of Hawaii.

The first jewel of the Triple Crown is the six-star, $125,000 O.P. Pro Hawaii held at Haleiwa, which began Nov. 12 and finished today.

For the women, goofy-footed Aussie Chelsea Georgeson has won the first Triple Crown event, the Roxy Pro Hawaii, scoring the only perfect 10 of the contest with a triple vertical top-to-bottom turn on a steep 6-footer.

This is a surf break that offers high-performance surfing but can handle a good-size swell too. It breaks outside and peels, with a section called the Toilet Bowl where it jacks up and gets pretty hollow. A win here gives ya the lead in the Triple Crown race.

Next up is the six-star, $125,000 O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at the big wave spot, Sunset Beach, running Saturday through Dec. 6. At the same time is a women’s specialty event, the $10,000 O’Neill Sunset Challenge.

This break is known for having 10- to 25-foot surf that breaks about a half-mile off the beach. It’s a true proving ground of surf mastery and a place where reputations are made.

The surf here can be gnarly and life-threatening. A bad wipeout easily can lead to drowning.

The third contest is the World Championship Tour’s $270,000 Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters, Dec. 8 to 20.

Meanwhile, the women are off to the World Championship Tour’s $65,000 Billabong Pro on Maui.

Pipeline is one of the hollowest waves on the planet. It breaks in shallow water, 4-feet deep at times over some sharp, jagged coral.

Surfers take a risk when pulling in the barrel from 6 to sometimes 20 feet to get the tube ride of their life.

Former winners here are legends Gerry Lopez, Rory Russell, Derek and Michael Ho, Andy and Bruce Irons, Mark “Occy” Occhilupo and Kelly Slater, to name a few.

This year the world title has already been decided, with Slates winning his seventh overall world championship. Three-time champ Andy Irons is second heading into these events, so look for these guys to go all out with no pressure on them.

In the women’s, the battle is still on between the current world champ, Peruvian Sofia Mulanovich, and hot up-and-coming Australian Chelsea Georgeson. This title race should go down to the wire.

This is the 35th year of the Pipe Masters. The World Cup first started in 1983, also the first year the Triple Crown was started by former world champ Fred Hemmings.

The Triple Crown is the true measure of a professional surfer.

Hawaiian Sunny Garcia has won the overall series an incredible six times and has said that second only to winning a world title is winning the Triple Crown.

Others to win Triple Crowns include former world champ Derek Ho, who did it four times; “A.I.” Andy Irons won twice, as did Slater, Michael Ho and Australian “Kong” Gary Elkerton.

Aussie Tom Carrol and the Big Island’s Myles Padaca both won it once.

On the women’s side, Chelsea Georgeson won last year, Hawaiian Keala Kennelly took it in ‘03, Aussie Nerida Falconer in ’02. South African Heather Clarke has a win, and six-time world champ Layne Beachley has won it twice.

There is a $10,000 bonus for the win of the Triple Crown. The contest director is Randy Rarick, and he provides surfers the opportunity to achieve greatness and secure a permanent place in pro surfing history. Let the big show begin.

*

There was another big meeting with the parks and recreation commission and the Coastal Commission to save San Onofre State Beach Park and Trestles surf break from the proposed toll road.

It sounds like a victory for the environment, as the commission saw that the Transportation Corridor Authority’s proposal would lead to a violation of the clean water act if the toll road went over San Mateo Creek. Trestles is the Yosemite of surfing beaches and should be left pristine.

That’s it for now. Fig over and out.

* RICK FIGNETTI is an nine-time West Coast champion, has announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last 12 years and has been the KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 18 years, doing morning surf reports. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at (714) 536-1058.

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