It was a monumental day at Alii Beach on Thursday, with a rising west swell greeting competitors at the Hawaiian Pro.
Waves were 12 to 15 feet, with some 20-footers pushing through for Day 4 of the World Surf League’s qualifying series event, which is also the first contest in the season-ending Vans Triple Crown.
Organizers called it “arguably the best conditions” at the Hawaiian Pro in the past 10 years.
And it was a big day for 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, who narrowly avoided elimination in the fourth round. He hammered a critical section on a 15-footer to overtake Australia’s Jacob Wilcox by less than a half-point into second place behind Brazil’s Luel Felipe in his four-man heat.
Felipe, who made the quarterfinals along with Slater, was grateful to be out in those epic conditions, a sentiment shared by nearly all of the surfers on returning to the beach.
“This is going to be forever,” Felipe said. “One day I will retire, but I will remember this day forever.”
Earlier, Slater won his third-round heat with a late high-scoring wave, complete with laybacks and power slides.
“Haleiwa is one of my favorite waves in the world,” he said. “I’ve come close, but was never able to seal this one. It’s kind of funny. I’ve had a first at Pipe, I’ve had a second here and a third at Sunset and that’s kind of the order I put the waves in my categories. This one is a close second.”
Hawaii’s Barron Mamiya (best single wave of the day, a 9.60) also surfed through to the quarterfinals with heat victories in the third and fourth rounds. Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau, Billy Kemper, Finn McGill and Eli Hanneman were eliminated.
One day of competition to hold the quarterfinals through the final heat remains for the Hawaiian Pro. It could be today if conditions stay good.
After that, the Triple Crown will continue with the Vans World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25 through Dec. 7) at Sunset Beach and the Billabong Pipe Masters (Dec. 8-20) at Pipeline.
Before Christmas, a new world champ and a Triple Crown overall titleist will be crowned, and the winners of the three contests will have padded their resumes.
Five surfers are still in the world title chase that will be won at Pipe — Italo Ferreira, Gabriel Medina and Filipe Toledo of Brazil, Jordy Smith of South Africa, and Kolohe Andino of San Clemente, Calif.
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VANS TRIPLE CROWN OF SURFING
>> Hawaiian Pro, at Alii Beach Park, today
>> Vans World Cup of Surfing, at Sunset Beach, Monday through Dec. 7
>> Billabong Pipe Masters, at Pipeline, Dec. 8-20
