The Triple Crown is one of the most prestigious events in surfing, and Vans is keeping it going with a reimagined format. Photo: Courtesy Vans
Editor’s Note: This feature is brought to you by our partners at Vans.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing event window is upon us. The list of athletes is set, videographers are ready to go, and as of December 21, the submission window is open, and the larger swells are starting to roll through.
Submissions are already starting to flood in. You can take a look at the entries here on the Vans Triple Crown website. While that’s going on, take a second to get to know some of the competitors we have our eyes on this year, below.
Door to Door, an all-new video series this year, will be coming out with weekly episodes highlighting the local up-and-coming talent entering the Triple Crown, hosted by Vans family member Nathan Florence – who’s also competing, of course.
The first episode (above) takes us down the road to Mākaha to meet Pua DeSoto, daughter of Duane DeSoto and member of the legendary DeSoto Hawaiian surf family. Pua is taking on her first triple crown season on the North Shore. “As a native Hawaiian, surfing is more than winning a world title or an Olympic gold,” says Pua. “Going into this contest my hopes are to push my limits, and the sky is the limit!”
Episode Two takes us to meet Shayden Pacarro, a 24-year-old ripper from the Big Island. To win the Triple Crown, a surfer needs balance, as they will need to put in the time at three very different waves along the North Shore. Shayden is the perfect definition of someone who has learned to balance family, a young child and a surfing career all in one.
“It’s not about me anymore,” says Shayden. “I want to inspire my son, and show him that I didn’t give up on surfing because of him. In fact, he has made me better and stronger.”
Get stoked for future episodes where we’ll get a deeper look into the lives of surfers like Moana Jones Wong and Imaikalani DeVault, surfers who Nathan believes will be representing the “next generation” of talent coming onto the scene in the years to come.
Many surf fans will have their eyes on Moana Jones. Moana has built a reputation for herself as a certified badass in the Pipeline lineup. In other words, she’s already put in the necessary work to ensure she’ll be able to get the waves she needs to win the Pipe section of the Vans Triple Crown. Not only that, but she won the Pipeline section of the 2020 VTC, although she was bested by Carissa Moore in the overall Triple Crown competition, and just took home the win at the HIC Pipe Pro earlier in December.
“Last year, I had a lot of fun but I wish I would’ve tried harder,” Moana told us over email. “This year I want to give it 100 percent and try to win the whole thing. Recently, I’ve been taking my surfing more seriously. I want to not only get bigger and better barrels at Pipe, but get some sick ones at Sunset and Haleiwa as well.” So far, she’s bagged a few sick ones, as can be seen in this video she just submitted of a sweet double barrel at Pipeline.
Billy Kemper will be another competitor to keep an eye on. Coming off of a harrowing injury last year, he’ll be hungry for some top-scoring rides. Photo: Vans
As well as the up and coming local rippers, there are plenty of other exciting surfers competing for the Triple Crown this year to keep one’s eyes on. Mason Ho’s surfing always entertains and we’ll be curious to find out what he chooses for his “progressive surf craft.” He’ll probably be teaming up with his sister, Coco Ho.
There’s actually a lot of families that are competing. All three Florence brothers will be a part of the action, Crosby and Griffin Colapinto are making the trip from SoCal for the competition, and the Gudauskas brothers are back as a matter of course. Dane I’m sure was a large inspiration for the progressive surf craft rule with his taking out a twin fin to maxing Haleiwa in the event last year. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dr. Cliff Kapono riding his Alaia at some point during the competition.
Stay tuned to VansTripleCrownofSurfing.com for more info and fan voting opportunities. New submissions are filtering in as we speak, and weekly judging rounds have begun handing out the first scores. The Week One Crown Clip winners are Kū’i’o’okalani Young with a 14.8 on a progressive craft at Pipeline, and Zoë McDougall with a 12.5, also on a progressive craft at Pipe.
