John John takes Vans World Cup

John John Florence has been ripping at Sunset Beach since small-kid time, so it was perhaps fitting that he captured the Vans World Cup of Surfing on Friday in perfect 8- to 10-foot barrels.

Florence put together two spectacular waves in quick succession to get the best of a final heat that included Michael Bourez of Tahiti, Adam Melling of Australia and Hank Gaskell of Hawaii.

His 17.00 score clearly outdistance the others. Midway through the heat Florence caught a pretty roundhouse cutback good for a 9.5. He followed that with another barrel into a cutback good for a 7.5 that left the other three surfers out of luck.

"Sunset is such a challenging wave; I am so stoked right now," Florence said. "I got my best score on kind of a smaller one. I stroked into it and got one good pump on it and came flying out."

The victory boosted Florence into the top spot in the Triple Crown standings as well.

"Going into Pipe, which is my home break, I feel really confident and happy," Florence said. "I hope the waves are good."

Bourez, whose powerful style fits Sunset perfectly, got a number of barrels and did some huge turns to finish second in the final with a score of 12.03.

"I’m third right now in the Triple Crown going into Pipe," Bourez said. "Going into Pipe I just hope we have good waves and put on a good show."

Third-place finisher Melling was second at Haleiwa and is second in the Triple Crown standings.

"It would have been good to go one better than the last contest, but I guess that’s how it is," said Melling.

"But if there’s barrels and John John’s around I’m sure he’s in them somewhere."

Gaskell, of Hana, also earned a slot in the upcoming Pipeline Masters with his finish.

"I was in the lead, then moved up to the point from the bowl and went from first to fourth," he said. "I should have stayed on the inside bowl. Hat’s off to John John. He is one of the best barrel riders in the world, so I am not ashamed to lose to him."