Joel Parkinson triumphed in the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing this morning, defeating Sunny, Mick and Dusty in a well contested final. Sunny Boy lead from the beginning with a 9.4 for a throaty baz across the Inside Bowl, but with time running out Parko’s steady nerve saw him earn the 6 he needed to take the ‘second jewel’ of the Vans Triple Crown. Sunny had been the one of the standouts of the day, as was Mick Fanning, who seemingly peaked a heat early. In his semi, he combo’d the field from the outset and seemed to get barreled every time his feet touched his wax, but despite a late rally in the final, had to settle for 3rd.

Parko’s clean carving saw him take the win and thus a psychological boost over World Title rival Mick. Will it matter? Dunno.

Glenn Hall, flying the Irish tricolore needed to first advance from is QF heat of death (Mick, Pancho, Torrey Meister) and then get at least 3rd in the Semis. Waves didn’t come his way, and thus he misses out on the 2010 WCT by one heat. Devo’d. Tonight, his facebook status reads ‘Fuck.’

Maui’s Dusty Payne on the other hand needed the same pozzy and got it, making the Final. He becomes the first ever Maui surfer to make the WCT.

Dusty Payne looked solid all event, with good wave selection and ever-aggressive at the lip. He didn’t have a very good heat in the final never finding decent waves, but won’t be too bothered about that tonight. Him and AI could indeed spearhead a exciting youth/experience Hawaiian revival on the Dream Tour next year assuming the Rebel Tour doesn’t nause em, among other things. The skinny on the final WQS rating coming out of ASP headquarters is that Joan could yet qualify if Jay Thompson qualifies through the WCT at Pipe and thus doesnt take his WQS spot. Basically, the immediate future of European surfing is in the hands of this man:

Lord have mercy.

In other news, some of the North Shore’s population, or at least those lining the ocean front are sandbagging and preparing for the worst. ‘Bigger than 98’, ‘bigger than 69’, and ‘biggest ever’ are just some of the calls being made about the size of the swell that’s currently marauding through the extra-tropical regions of the North Pacific, in this very direction. After the final around midday, the swell picked up, then dropped off again, before picking up again at nightfall. Worryingly, there’s a helicopter with searchlights on doing fly-by patterns between Waimea and Sunset right now in the dark, never usually a good sign.

Stand by for the Eddie in memory of Quiksilver which may well run, if indeed it isn’t too onshore, too west, or too big.

Here’s the vidyo from today: