Alves and Lau stand out in pumping Sunset waves

Surfers from all over the globe took to Sunset Beach’s vast lineup in clean 4- to 8-foot waves Tuesday in search of glory, money and points.

The Vans World Cup is the last event on the Association of Surfing Professionals’ World Qualifying Series, with massive points ready to be won by competitors looking to qualify for the World Championship Tour.

The event is also the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

Brazil’s Heitor Alves, who currently sits in 91st position on the WQS, posted the day’s highest combined heat total with an 18.37.

Sunset is historically unkind to the goofy-footed surfers (right foot forward). In the past 10 years, only Florida’s C.J. Hobgood has come away with a title. Alves surfed with knife-like precision, going backside on the right-breaking wave to garner his high scores.

"I just caught the best waves in all of my life at Sunset," Alves said. "I have been training, I have good boards and I feel good."

Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau came up with the second-highest combined total of the day with an 18.10. Lau dominated the waves with some vicious layback hacks and power carves to amass his scores. He cites time in the water as his advantage over the other competitors.

"What I have learned is positioning is everything," he said. "You have to come down and spend time out here and watch it. Surf in the morning, surf after the contest so you can really narrow down where to sit, because at this level everyone surfs so good that whoever catches the best waves is going to do good."

Haleiwa’s Joel Centeio captured the last heat of the day with his patented frontside turns on Sunset’s powerful walls.

"It’s always great to get that first heat out of the way," he said. "To advance is great because Haleiwa (the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Reef Hawaiian Pro) was kind of a bummer for me, so now I am just focusing on this one. I got busy early, put some scores on the board so I could be a little patient and wait for some sets."

Surfers placing first or second in their four-man heats moved on to the round of 64.

Competition will resume on the next day of contestable waves before the holding period ends Dec. 6. The Billabong Pipe Masters will follow.