Sunset Beach recently held its annual Vans Surf Competition with Australia’s Mick Fanning taking first place against Julian Wilson from Australia who took second, John John Florence from Hawaii took third and Matt Wilkinson from Australia took fourth.
Fanning made a shocking jump from fourth place to first within the last 13 minutes on the clock. He ended with a 9.87 for a “standing barrel combined with a huge re-directional wrapping cutback,” said the Vans Triple Crown Announcer.
Canlo Jibaja grew up in Lima, Peru and moved to Hawaii a few years ago. He grew up surfing and has a son who is five years old who attended the last couple days of the competition.
“I have always loved surfing and I want my boy to grow up with the same culture. I have consistently come to this competition for the past three years. The first couple rounds are always really boring to watch so we always wait for the last couple days. That’s where the exciting stuff is.”
Jibaja said he was excited to see Mick Fanning win because he hasn’t won in the previous years. “Some years are more exciting than others and this year was definitely one that was exciting to watch.” He said last year he and his buddies played ping-pong on the beach and everyone ended up watching them because the competition wasn’t as exciting. “This year we didn’t even play any games because it kept us up on our toes.”
This year had some really good competition with a lot of strong surfers but Mick Fanning pulled through when it came down to the wire. “I’ve gotten so close so many times, made pretty much every final twice but never got the cookie,” said Fanning. “I’m so honored to win here at Sunset, it’s such a tough event, and everyone was going so crazy. I’m just so stoked.”
The seven-mile miracle is home to the world’s most renowned surf competitions where surfers and spectators come from all over the world to see the legendary waves.
From Nov. 24 to Dec. 6, Sunset Beach hosted the Vans World Cup of Surfing. With its infamously long and shifty waves, Sunset is highly esteemed by big name surfers around the world. Many of the complex waves challenge many of the surfers, but the lineup of powerful waves made for an interesting ending.