North Shore News
The 2021 Digital Vans Triple Crown of Surfing titles were recently awarded to North Shore’s own John John Florence and town’s Carissa Moore, who continued their dominance with back-to-back wins this winter.
The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is a marathon, not a sprint. In its digital version, there is a vast, added technical layer that makes it the most physically challenging surfing event in the world; 30 days, three unique surf spots, colossal surf, progressive craft requirement, and the strategic digital capture requirement that kept competitors hunting down clips late into the final hours of the month-long competition.
This year’s event saw 95 total athletes compete in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, submitting a total of 320 waves. Of those athletes, Hawaii surfers claimed 79% of the $223,000 total prize purse.
All said and done, only 25 surfers met every single demanding criteria of the competition by midnight, January 21, 2022.
In winning, Moore became the first woman to be the single highest prize money winner in the 39- year history of the series, surpassing Florence. Carissa won a total of $66,500 with a clean sweep across ALL categories: Hawaiian Pro (Haleiwa), World Cup (Sun-set Beach), Pipe Masters (Pipeline), Fan Favorite, and Overall Vans Triple Crown of Surfing women’s series champion.
“I’ve never surfed Pipe and Sunset as much as I did this winter. Those are two really challenging waves,” said Carissa Moore, who won her second Vans Triple Crown championship. “It was great motivation to get out there and keep pushing the limits of what we can do.”
“The digital format is definitely fun and interesting. It’s more of a free-surfing contest. It’s hard and it’s more stressful than a normal contest though because it’s unlimited in what you can do,” said Florence.
“The younger crew that’s coming up.. they all surf really good and that’s what makes this event kind of fun and hard and stressful. You don’t know what those guys are doing, they’re capable of so much it’s crazy. If they get the right wave it’s over. They can do it all. It definitely makes it interesting.”
In a historic first, 20-year-old Crosby Colapinto (CA) took the men’s title of Vans Pipe Master at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing amongst a heavily contested field. His win reflects the amount of time he’s put into this wave over the past few years and showcases the exciting stories that the digital competition format can expose.
2021 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing Champions
2021 WOMENS Vans Digital Triple Crown Champion:
Carissa Moore
2021 MENS Vans Digital Triple Crown Champion:
John John Florence
Individual Event Winners
2021 WOMENS VTCS Haleiwa – Hawaiian Pro Champion:
Carissa Moore
2021 MENS VTCS Haleiwa – Hawaiian Pro Champion:
John John Florence
2021 WOMENS VTCS Sunset – World Cup Champion:
Carissa Moore
2021 MENS VTCS Sunset – World Cup Champion:
John John Florence
2021 WOMENS VTCS Pipe – Pipe Masters Champion:
Carissa Moore
2021 MENS VTCS Pipe – Pipe Masters Champion:
Crosby Colapinto
Videography Winners
2021 MENS VTCS Filmer Award: Erik Knutson & Guillem
Cruells
2021 WOMENS VTCS Filmer Award: Layne Stratton &
Anna Hermes
Fan Vote
2021 WOMENS VTCS Fan Voting Award: Carissa Moore
2021 MENS VTCS Fan Voting Award: Tomas Hermes