Romain Cloitre and Hank Gaskell clinch victory in Round 2 at first Vans Triple Crown of Surfing stop
France’s Romain Cloitre and Hawaii’s Hank Gaskell got through into the third round (Round of 64) at the Reef Hawaiian Pro, the first of three stops on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, after walking away with a win from their
respective Round 2 (Round of 96) heats that went down at Alii Beach in Oahu, Hawaii, on Friday, November 16, 2012.
America’s Gabe Kling finished just below Cloitre in second place, thus accompanying the latter into the third round. Hawaii’s Billy Kemper finished in third place, while Australia’s Lincoln Taylor had to settle for fourth place.
The sixth heat saw America’s Cory Lopez advance to the third round alongside Gaskell after clinching runner-up place. Brazil’s Jean Da Silva and Australia’s Matt Banting rounded out the bottom-two positions.
Despite the demanding surfing conditions on offer at the event site, the talented surfers from 15 countries were expected to deliver an exciting show of skills and perseverance in order to stay alive in the contention for a slice of the $250,000 prize purse.
Pitted against Kling, Kemper and Taylor during the fifth round of Round 2, Cloitre scored a 6.67 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with a 4.33-point ride, which allowed him to finish with a decisive total of 11.00 points.
Kling finished in second place with a heat-total of 10.24 points, comprising of a 6.67 and 3.57-point ride, which proved sufficient to carry him through into the next round.
Kemper and Taylor failed to make the Round 3 cut after finishing with a heat-total of 9.93 and 9.43 points respectively.
The sixth heat saw Gaskell walk away with a convincing victory. The Hawaiian surfer made use of his local knowledge of the waves to get his hands on a 7.83-point ride. Backing it up with a 3.93-point wave, Gaskell registered a heat-total of 11.76 points.
Lopez also managed to extend his life in the event after earning a 6.83 and 2.14 off his best-two waves, thus finishing with a heat-total of 8.97 points.
Da Silva finished in third place with a heat-total of 5.00 points, whereas an ordinary performance by Banting resulted in a heat-total of 2.00 points.
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