Watch Live in a few hours (8am HI):

http://triplecrownofsurfing.com/choloshawaiianpro/live

Overhead waves at Haleiwa could well see the $900,000 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, kick off at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. The first jewel of the Crown is the men’s Reef Hawaiian Pro and the Cholo’s Women’s Pro, at Haleiwa Ali’i Beach Park. The official website for the series is www.vanstriplecrownofsurfing.com.

Organizers will be looking for the present swell size to hold for a start tomorrow. Beyond that, the forecast for Haleiwa looks very good with an above-warning-level WNW swell expected to arrive some time Sunday and persist into the new week with reinforcements. The complete holding period for the Reef Hawaiian Pro & Cholo’s Women’s Pro is November 12 through 23.

While Saturday may be the smaller day of surf in the immediate window, the action continues on the beach with the crowning of World Miss Reef at 4 p.m. This event will feature 2010 Miss Reef winners from Panama, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Aregentina, Chile and the USA, and  will be broadcast live on the internet.

Live internet coverage happens every day this winter, starting at 7:45 a.m. with  “THE CALL” – the Triple Crown’s live daily morning show that features all the latest news, highlights and happenings. The series will also be broadcast live  on television around Hawaii on Oceanic Time Warner Digital Cable channels 250 and HD1250.

The free VANS LIVE app can now be downloaded for iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. The app features video highlights, photo galleries, results and live coverage from the North Shore of Oahu, via 3G or WiFi.

read more at triplecrownofsurfing.com

Vans releases their first-ever book ‘Vans: Off the Wall’

It’s been talked about for many years and now is finally coming to life. On June 1, Vans released its first-ever book, Vans: Off the Wall, featuring 20-some-odd stories that collectively tell the story of the brand: from Rowley to Warped Tour, from Customs to Joel Tudor, from Alva and Cab to artist collabs.

The book is 208 pages in hardback, with more than 350 full-color photos, and published by Abrams, world renowned for high quality pop culture books. Vans is rolling out lots of bonus content and book info all of which can be tracked at vans.com/vansbook

story via

More restructuring at VF:

Kevin Bailey has been named president of Vans Americas.

Bailey used to run Vans’ retail division and was a key executive during the company’s turnaround years of 2002-03, Steve Murray, president of VF’s Action Sports Coalition told me this morning.

“As you know, over the past few years Vans has grown strongly in both size and complexity and we feel it’s the right time to add to our leadership team,” Steve said via email.

Bailey career has included stints at Lucky, Nike and American Eagle.

Steve, who previously served as Vans president, will now focus more deeply on the Action Sports Coalition, which currently includes Vans and Reef, he said.

Key areas he plans to focus on include “long term strategy, brand and product extensions, supporting our international regions better, getting after the China market, exploring new acquisitions, people development, organizational design etc.,” he said.

Vans has been one of VF’s strongest performers and has continued to post strong results even during the recession.

story via