WTF Is A Progressive Craft And How Will It Help You Win The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing?

The waves have been all over the place these past few weeks on the North Shore… and so have we. From Sunset Beach to Wahiawa, we’ve been jamming around in our ’60s Chevy Apache, picking up a couple of young reporters for the show (hey Pua, Hanna, & Tosh), and conspiring with a cast of legendary board-builders who are crafting their steeds for the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing’s all-new progressive craft rule.

This new rule states that every competitor MUST submit at least one of their six counting waves on a “progressive” craft of their choice. If you still aren’t aware of what that means, allow us to put it simply: Machine-cut thruster or quad, no. Tripped-out asymm from that guy down the street, let’s go. 

To make things a bit more fun, and so any high-performance only competitors don’t have to go knocking on doors for boards outside of their comfort zone, we’ve worked with a handful of iconic Hawaiian (and beyond) shapers to provide a literal truckload of progressive crafts for competitors to swing at the holy trinity – Haleiwa, Sunset, and Pipeline.

With the men’s draw filled and just a few slots left in the women’s, the VTCS is loaded with some of the most explosive surfers to ever take on the North Shore. We’ve got a pu pu platter of alt sleds ready to go, and plenty of that pure, unadulterated Hawaiian juice on the way — all we need to do is put it in a bottle and shake it up.

Tap into episode two of The Pick-Up for a deeper dive into progressive crafts and the VTCS at large. Oh, and if you’re on the North Shore, stay tuned for how to find us and our truck full of alt sleds. 

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing  runs December 21 – January 21. For more contest details, head to vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com