The Triple Crown and Surprise North Swells

By Carlos Rock

Sebastian Zietz Winner of Reef Hawaiian Pro. Photo: ASP/Kristin.

It was an action-packed weekend for surfing beginning with Kauai boy Sebastian Zietz besting fellow Hawaiians John John Florence and Fred Pattachia, as well as Alejo Muniz from Brazil to win the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa.

Zietz now leads the Triple Crown ratings with John John close behind as the North Shore gears up for the second contest of the Triple Crown of Surfing, The Vans World Cup of Surfing held at Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu.

With his win, “Seabass” is now able to qualify for the World Tour. That makes one more for Hawaii in contention for the World Title. It is this type of result that gives surfers recognition that can really help out an aspiring surfer to really make it big.

The contest is set to begin Tuesday-11/27 with a new 6-10 ft+ north/northwest swell and another 5-10 ft+ north swell for Friday. Catch all the action on webcast at: http://vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com/vansworldcupofsurfing2012/live.

Maui surfed a decent north/northwest combined with an east wind swell for the weekend into Monday (11/26).

For the surfers that made the journey out to Honolua Bay for the swell, they were rewarded with great surf without the usual crowded lineups. Saturday was a classic sunny and offshore day at the bay but the north swell direction kept the waves from completely wrapping down into the “keiki bowls” section of the break (the furthest into the bay).

Arguably the best wave on Maui. Photo: Carlos Rock.

However, head high waves minus the crowds at arguably the best wave on Maui are enough to keep any surfer smiling for the rest of the weekend.

November has been very generous to surfers in Hawaii as the northern hemisphere keeps pumping out swell after swell to keep your shoulders feeling like jelly from paddling back out for one more.

Monday was one of those days where the surf report was wrong in estimating the surf heights. According to Surf News Network, the north was only expected to be 2-5ft+ faces, however, after a session out to Ho’okipa, it was clearly not the case.

There were easily 8-10 ft+ waves on offer and due to the rainstorm that arrived, glassy conditions made for great rides.

One theory is that a combination of the north/northwest swell and the east swell made wave heights higher than predicted; another theory might suggest the storm brought with it bigger waves than expected.

That doesn’t look like 2-5ft. Solid waves at Ho’okipa. Photo: Carlos Rock.

The best way to tell if the waves are good or not is also the most obvious method. Seeing it with your own eyes.