"As part of our ongoing strategy to be an integral part of the sports in which our core customers participate and compete, we are very excited to have the VANS brand associated with the Triple Crown of Surfing Series, one of the most prestigious series of events in the world of surfing," stated Gary H. Schoenfeld, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We have had tremendous success with our sponsorship of these kinds of grass roots events including the Vans Triple Crown of Skateboarding , the Vans World Championships of Snowboarding and the Vans Warped Tour ."

The company acquired the Triple Crown assets from former owner Fred Williamson, a Honolulu business man, who purchased Triple Crown, Inc., in 1989 from sports enthusiast and surf pioneer Fred Hemmings.

The Triple Crown of Surfing will continue to be coordinated by Randy Rarick , who has been involved in the operation of the series since its inception, and who as executive director has signed a long-term agreement with the Company. In conjunction with its sponsorship of the series, the Company will also continue with the scheduled launch of a line of surf clothing next Spring, which will feature the logos associated with the series.

"Van's is happy to be working with the existing event sponsors, who are some of the biggest in the surfing industry and I look forward to working with Van's and the individual sponsors in raising the profile of the Triple Crown," said Rarick, of his role in handling year around expansion. "I hope to enlarge our presence to include a Triple Crown summer series on O`ahu's South Shore."

Casio, owners of the G-SHOCK line of surf watches, recently took over umbrella sponsorship of the Series which will be known as the G-SHOCK Triple Crown of Surfing. Celebrating its 15th year as a series competition, it features the world's best professional surfers on the world's best waves.

Individual contests in the Series are: The OP Pro® (men's, women's and junior competitions) from November 12 through November 23 at Haleiwa's Alii Beach Park; the men's Rip Curl World Cup of Surfing presented by Zeal Optics and the women's Quiksilver Roxy Pro from November 24 to December 6 at Sunset Beach; and the Chiemsee Gerry Lopez Pipe Masters from December 8 to December 20 at the Banzai Pipeline break near Ehukai Beach Park.

A women's world champion will emerge from the Roxy event, the final women's world tour competition presented by Kahlua. A men's world champion will be crowned following the Pipe Masters, the final competition signaling the end of the 1997 Association of Surfing Professionals Coca-Cola/ASP World Championship Tour. Both a men's and women's Triple Crown Champion will be crowned this year.

Vans is the official footwear of the Triple Crown. Other Vans promotions include team trading cards which profile Vans-sponsored pro athletes in snowboarding, skateboarding and wakeboarding. The featured surfer is Hawaii's Kalani Robb. Snowboarders include Daniel Franck, Jamie Lynn, Shaun Palmer, Megan Pischke and Circe Wallace. The line-up also includes skateboarders Steve Caballero, Simon Woddstock, Alman Agah, Sergie Ventura and Tom Boyle.

Vans, Inc. is a branded manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of active-casual footwear and apparel, performance footwear for enthusiast sports, snowboard boots and snowboarding outerwear. Products are sold through a network of independent and national retailers, internationally through distributors for 77 countries and Company subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and through 85 Company-owned stores and factory outlets.

For Triple Crown Information please contact:
Carol Hogan/Ocean Promotion
73-1241 Melomelo Street, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Phone & Fax: 808-325-7400
Email address: oceanpro@interpac.net

For sports promotion information: call Stacy Levine at Schneider Newman. Phone: 310-996-0239. Fax: 310-996-0249.