Contrast Magazine

The 2009 Reef Hawaiian Pro wrapped up today in solid 6-8 foot surf at Hale`iwa’s Ali`i Beach on the North Shore of Oahu.  The Reef Hawaiian Pro is the first Jewel of the coveted Million Dollar Triple Crown of Surfing events held annually on the North Shore.

Today was the perfect setting for a story book ending waiting to happen.  Hale`iwa’s Joel Centeio surfed brilliantly and survived 3 days of grueling competition to advance to the final day of the event.  With friends and family watching on Centeio did his thing and surfed Ali`i’s rights like it was just another day in the office.

The Hawaiian Water Patrol escorts Joel out on the ski for the Final.  Eyes on the prize just moments before the Final.  The Final consisted of Joel Centeio, CJ Hobgood, Jay Thompson and Alain Riou.

It was power moves like this that won Joel all 6 of his heats to advance on to the Grand Final!  Joel like many top Professional Surfers has been training hard to prepare for the Tripe Crown, and it was that stamina that carried him all the way to the Final!

This is a defining moment in the 35 minute final, where Joel pulled into the biggest barrel of the final and was awarded a 9.33 out of a possible 10 points!  When Joel came flying out of this tube the entire beach errupted!!!  I’ve never felt a more positive vibe at a professional surfing contest than today!

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 YEAH!!!!!!!!  The boys showed their praise and stoke for Joel Centeio’s outstanding performance!!!

This is an amazing shot of Jason Centeio, Joel’s Dad!!!  This expression is priceless!  Uncle Jason knows how hard Joel has worked to achieve his goals and today was so sweet for the Centeio household.

Joel Centeio is the 2009 Reef Hawaiian Pro Champion and current ratings leader of the Million Dollar Vans Triple Crown of Surfing!!!  Not to mention the $20,000!!!

Congrats Joel from the entire Contrast Crew!!!

All photos by LanciferVisual

Day 1 or the Reef Hawaiian Pro got off to an early start on the very first day of the 12 day waiting period.  The Reef Hawaiian Pro is a 6* World Qualifying Series event and the first of 3 events for the Men to decide the Triple Crown of Surfing Champion.

Yesterday the conditions were barely average on a local scale.  The swell direction was coming in predominantly Easterly which totally misses Haleiwa.  The waves were huge at Puena Point just to the right side of the event and at Paradise and Avalanche to the left.  Nonetheless it was a great call by Randy Rarrick and Marty Thomas to get the event running.

Despite the waves only being in the 1-2 foot range the surfers in the Rounds of 136 and 128 made the most of the lackluster conditions.  In an event which Haleiwa is the star, the roles were reversed and it was the surfers who could perform the best maneuvers in their respective 25 minute heats that got the shine.

The boys who were featured in “North Shore” issue of Contrast in the Icons 2 segment did great!  Hank Gaskell continued his success from his Xcel Pro win last week with a heat win at Haleiwa.  Hanko managed to boost one of the few air 360’s of day one’s competition.

Joel Centeio is a former finalist here in this event, he made his intentions known that he wants to take this event in ‘09!  Joel out-surfed his other competitors and has been spending a lot of time practicing out here at Alii’s.  Looks like the practice and training is paying off!

Moody is Reef’s Haleiwa Ambassador.  Sean grew up surfing Haleiwa from day 1.  He’s been a big part of Reef supporting a major WQS at Haleiwa.  It’s key having someone like Sean in the Reef family, because he looks after both the traveling competitor’s and the local’s best when the call needs to be made.  Stay tuned for Sean’s upcoming feature in Contrast’s Travel Issue.

The entire Round of 128, Heats 1-16 were scheduled to surf until the end of the day.  With the swell dying down and the conditions deteriorating, event officials were on the verge of calling off the event for the day. Just as the 5 min horn sounded (which is when we were supposed to paddle out), Marty Thomas the Vans Triple Crown Managing Director ran up asking if I wanted to surf or not.

At first I was a little hesitant, but I had been down at Haleiwa before the sunrise, watched the conditions for a good 8 hours and watched every heat analyzing what it takes to win.  Within an instant I yelled, eh were on , I’m out there and TJ Barron and the other competitors jumped into the water.  I was confident, I wanted to win!  The feeling of confidence is usually confused with pressure of competition, but I wasn’t feeling it for once and I knew I had to surf.  What a good choice it was!  Both TJ and I were able to advance to the next round of competition.

I’ve attached some of the heats on demand for you to watch.  To check out all of the event’s coverage click the links below.

photos courtesy of Surfline.com/Sean Rowland

Triple Crown of Surfing - photos, video, news

Press Release

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink makes history today, announcing the Triple Crown - Triple Threat bonus purse that makes this prestigious Hawaiian series the first $1,000,000 stop on the Association of Surfing Professionals Dream Tour. More than 150 surfers from 17 nations have a crack at the loot as the series kicks off this Thursday, November 12, at Haleiwa on Oahu’s North Shore.

Vans is very proud to announce that the Triple Crown - Triple Threat will award $50,000 to the men’s Triple Crown series champion, an extra $50,000 for the Billabong Pipeline Masters winner, a $50,000 bonus to the ASP’s men’s world champion, and a $25,000 bonus to the women’s Triple Crown champion. The $175,000 Triple Threat is in addition to the existing $825,000 in event prize money, making for a $1million total purse.

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing will culminate with the final battle for the 2009 ASP world title at the Billabong Pipeline Masters, December 8-20. Not since 2006 and the world title battle between Kelly Slater (Florida) and Andy Irons (Hawaii), has there been such a climax to the showdown. This year it will be between Australians Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning, and on that final day, it is possible that one surfer could walk away with a record $230,000.

“2009 has been an incredible year for pro surfing and this Hawaii showdown will be a fitting finale,” said Doug Palladini, Vice President of Marketing at Vans.

“Vans has a 43-year history of giving back to action sports and I can think of no better way to carry on that tradition than with the Triple Threat bonus purse. On behalf of all the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing staff, our event partners Billabong, Reef, O’Neill, Gidget and the ASP, we are proud to share our aloha with the talented surfers who have made the Vans Triple Crown what it is today.”

The events of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing:

Reef Hawaiian Pro (men) - Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park, Nov, 12-23
Vans Hawaiian Pro (women) - Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park, Nov, 17-23
Gidget Pro Sunset Beach (women) - Sunset Beach, Nov. 24-Dec. 6
ONeill World Cup of Surfing (men) - Sunset Beach, Nov. 24-Dec. 6
Billabong Pro Maui (women) - Honolua Bay, Maui, Dec. 8-20
Billabong Pipeline Masters (men) - Banzai Pipeline, Dec. 8-20

Hale`iwa’s Ali`i Beach will be the setting for the 2009 Reef Hawaiian Pro.  The event is set to kick off this Thursday, November 12 with surf permitting.  The Reef Hawaiian Pro is the 40th of 41 World Qualifying Series (WQS) events on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) tour.  The Reef Hawaiian Pro is the first jewel of three in the prestigious Triple Crown of Surfing. The Contrast crew will be down at Hale`iwa bringing your the insiders scoop of the event.

reef-hawaiian-pro-2009 (Heat Draw)

Watch 2009 Reef Hawaiian Pro LIVE (Internet)