Taj Burrow Wins Pipe, Joel Parkinson Wins Triple Crown

It was a small day on the north shore of Oahu, but the swell was dropping and the rest of the week looked like it was gonna be junk, so the contest directors did what needed to be done. They held the contest.

The quarters, the semis, and the finals, all held on a day when getting barreled wasn’t gonna win you the contest. You needed aerials to make it count, and Taj Burrow did just that. The only barrel of the finals scored Kelly a measly 3.93 whereas the aerials for Taj Burrow scored him a 7.00 and a 5.83 and a win in the final jewel of the Vans Triple Crown and $90,000.

Winning the overall three contest prize was Australian Joel Parkinson who was eliminated on Saturday which also eliminated him from an ASP world championship title which would go to Mick Fanning, a fellow aussie surfer and friend. In fact, this image to the right is Joel Parkinson falling on his final wave which would have had him cliniching the ASP.

It’s been a great 6 weeks on the North shore of Oahu with the Vans Triple Crown, womens triple crown, the eddie, a couple of other free surf comps and more.  Congrats to all the surfers.

Tags: Joel Parkinson, Kelly Slater, North Shore, Oahu, Pipe Masters, Pipeline, Taj Burrow, Vans Triple Crown