The first stop of the Vans Triple Crown was finished yesterday and has found a worthy winner with the old master Joel Parkinson. The 37 year old Australian started his unofficial farewell tour with a bang of the drum and outclassed the competition.
In the top-class QS 10,000 event, the man from the Gold Coast played out all his experience, but was a bit lucky in the semi-final when he came in second and only 0.2 points ahead of Leonardo Fioravanti to clear the final ticket. In the final Parko didn’t give the competition a chance and secured the title in Haleiwa with a strong 17.36 points. The Brazilian Mateus Herdy was also a positive surprise. He had to give in to the Powerturns of Parko in the end, but he himself delivered an airshow of the extra class.
