Joel Parkinson is off to a grand start in his goodbye tour.
Retirement for the 37-year-old surfer is about a month away, but that ceremonial final wave can wait a bit longer. Parkinson ripped his way to a victory Saturday in the Hawaiian Pro. His hope now is to perfect his swan song with top-notch performances in the final two events of his accomplished 18-year career.
Parkinson’s two-wave total of 17.36 bested the three others in his four-man final heat. Brazil’s Mateus Hardy (15.83) took second, followed by New Zealand’s Ricardo Christie (15.83) and Brazil’s Deivid Silva (15.36).
Parkinson also won the Hawaiian Pro in 2010 and the world title in 2012, and with Saturday’s win, he is at the top of the Vans Triple Crown leaderboard. He’s aiming for a fourth VTCS title, which goes to best surfer in the three North Shore season-ending events combined. More big-time performances in the two upcoming events — the Vans World Cup of Surfing (Nov. 25 through Dec. 6) at Sunset Beach and the Billabong Pipe Masters (Dec. 8-20) at Ehukai Beach — could secure him the VTCS crown that he also won in 2008, ’09 and ’10.
In Saturday’s final, Parkinson nailed down the win by scoring a 9.33 (out of a possible 10) ride and following it up with an 8.03. It was his first event victory since 2013.
“Oh man, I’m just shocked,” Parkinson said. “I just started to feel it. I feel like I want to surf another heat. I actually really enjoyed the event. That’s probably been the key for me at this stage of my career, to enjoy it. That was enjoyable. I’ll miss moments like that, but I’m glad they’re coming to an end.
“Hawaii is a special place to us all. For years to come. I think we’ll be back and enjoying these waves. If this is the last time I ever stand on stage, surfing has been amazing to me. I love it. Next year I’ll just be a surf fan like all you guys. Can’t wait. I’ll always love surfing, I’ll always love the people in surfing and I thank you all for being a part of it and cheering me on.”
Saturday was also a big day for Hawaii’s Seth Moniz. By advancing to the semifinals, he earned enough World Surf League qualifying series points to make it on to the 2019 WSL championship tour.
“People were congratulating me, saying I got the points, but it never really sunk in yet,” Moniz said. “I knew I wasn’t going to be excited until I saw it on paper.”
The VTCS moves on to the middle event, the World Cup, which is the last event for surfers in the qualifying series to clinch spots in next year’s championship tour. At December’s championship tour finale, the Pipe Masters, a world champion will be determined. Only No. 1 Gabriel Medina of Brazil, No. 2 Julian Wilson of Australia, and No. 3 Filipe Toledo of Brazil have a shot at it.
Toledo was attempting to defend his Hawaiian Pro title, but was ousted in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
