Hawaii’s Carissa Moore and John John Florence capture the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing
COURTESY VANS
Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, who was announced winner of the 2021 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing women’s trophy on Monday, pulls into a big barrel at Banzai Pipeline.
On Monday, Hawaii natives and world champions Carissa Kainani Moore and John John Florence won the 2021 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing on Oahu’s North Shore, scoring back-to-back victories after winning in 2020.
The storied competition, held digitally for the second year in a row, used a format in which 95 contestants were filmed surfing on their own rather than in scheduled heats, and uploaded video of their top rides.
It ended January 21, and Hawaii surfers won 79% of the total $223,000 in prize money, sponsor Vans announced.
Her win launched a promising new year off the back of a historic banner year for Moore, 29, a five-time world surfing champion and current world title holder, who won a gold medal at the debut Olympic surfing event in August.
The Honolulu native and Punahou grad also swept the three contests that make up the points of the crown: the Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, World Cup at Sunset Beach and Pipe Masters at Banzai Pipeline—and was voted women’s fan favorite.
“I’ve never surfed Pipe and Sunset as much as I did this winter,” Moore said in a statement, adding, “those are two really challenging waves.” In last year’s Triple Crown, the first to be held digitally, she won only the Haleiwa contest, but took the overall title based on her cumulative scores.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
This year, her total win of $66,500 marked the first time a woman took home the highest prize purse in the event’s 39 years.
Florence, 29, a two-time world champion and Kahuku grad who grew up on the shore at Pipeline, swept the Triple Crown last year and this year won the Haleiwa and Sunset events to take his fifth Vans Triple Crown championship.
“You just don’t know any more with this format because anybody can be at any spot whenever,” said Florence, noting competition was tough, “especially when you have waves in the 8 to 10-foot range for a lot of the days, where all three spots are good.”
Other winners were Californian Crosby Colapinto, at the Vans Pipe Masters; Erik Knutson and Guillem Cruells, Men’s Filmer Award; Layne Stratton and Anna Romanio,Women’s Filmer Award; and Brazilian Tomas Hermes, the men’s fan voting pick.
Visit vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com.
