$750,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Concludes With the World's Pre-Eminent Tube Riding Competition at Hawaii's Infamous Banzai Pipeline.Sports Editors & Surfing Writers/Columnists OAHU, Hawaii--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2002 The $250,000 Xbox Gerry Lopez Pipeline Masters, Dec. 8 to 20, is the final jewel in the 2002 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is the world's premier series of professional surfing events, offering three events to men and three events to women. For the men, those events are the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa Ali'i Beach Park; the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach; . Staged at the infamous Banzai Pipeline The Banzai Pipeline, or simply "Pipeline" or "Pipe", is a surf reef break located off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea of O`ahu's North Shore. There are at least three reefs here in progressively deeper water further out to sea that activate at various power levels , known for huge, death- defying barreling waves breaking over a shallow coral reef coral reef Ridge or hummock formed in shallow ocean areas from the external skeletons of corals. The skeleton consists of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), or limestone. A coral reef may grow into a permanent coral island, or it may take one of four principal forms. , the Pipeline Masters is America's most prestigious and the world's longest running professional surfing competition (32 years). Following 11 events spread across nine countries, Pipeline looms as professional surfing's biggest challenge and will crown the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing champion along with concluding the 2002 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT WCT World Championship Tour (surfing competition) WCT WIPO Copyright Treaty WCT Wind Chill Temperature WCT Wide Complex Tachycardia WCT Wavefront Conduction Time WCT Wright's Computer Technology (England) ). Just 100 feet offshore, swells that have traveled more than 2,000 miles to end in spectacular fashion on a barely submerged reef will rise up to five stories high before tumbling into hollow tubes that will send surfers hurtling toward shore at breath-stopping speeds. Ever since contest namesake Hawaiian Gerry Lopez (a two-time event champion) added his unique style to riding "Banzai ban·zai n. A Japanese battle cry or patriotic cheer. [Japanese, (may you live) ten thousand years : ban, ten thousand (from Middle Chinese muanh, uan) + zai, " Pipeline in the late '60s and early '70s, this strip of sand on the North Shore of Oahu has been the ultimate test for the world's best surfers. Among the world-class surfers competing for the record Pipeline Masters purse and a first-place prize of $30,000 are six-time world champion Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), five-time Triple Crown champion Sunny Garcia (Hawaii), 2002 world champion Andy Irons (Hawaii), former world champion C.J. Hobgood (Satellite Beach, Fla.) and Laguna Beach, Calif.'s Pat O'Connell. In celebrating the 20th anniversary of professional surfing's most prestigious big wave series, virtually every critical milestone in the sport is on the line. The Vans Triple Crown offers a record purse of $750,000 including the awarding of a Ford Ranger FX4 to the men's overall champion. Just as important, the men's and women's professional world titles, composition of the 2003 World Championship Tour, composition of the 2003 World Qualifying Series and the prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing titles are all at stake. After a one-year hiatus, the Xbox Pipeline Masters returns to the schedule as the season-ending WCT, making for unprecedented back-to-back grand prix events in the sport's birthplace. To top it all off, viewers from around the globe will also be able to catch the series on NBC Sports and Fox Sports Net. The Vans Triple Crown Series features the world's top athletes competing in three championship events in each of the following sports: skateboarding, wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a surface water sport which involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water behind a boat. It was developed from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques. , surfing, snowboarding, BMX BMX abbr. bicycle motocross BMX Noun 1. bicycle motocross: stunt riding over an obstacle course on a bicycle 2. and freestyle motocross. The series is made possible through proud sponsors Vans, Xbox, Mountain Dew, Ford Trucks, Right Guard Xtreme Sport, Fox Sports Net, Surfing Magazine and NBC Sports. Dramatic satellite news feeds (days, times TBD TBD abbr. to be determined ) and stunning digital photography are available throughout the series. For more information contact Mike Kingsbury or Cherie Garcia, MKM MKM Mathematical Knowledge Management MKM Mitsubishi Kagaku Media MKM Mortal Kombat Mythologies (gaming website) MKM Mukah, Sarawak, Malaysia (airport code) MKM Marksman MKM Myopic Keratomileusis , at 714/375-2188 or visit www.triplecrownofsurfing.com. |
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