22 year-old Tahitian Michel Bourez won the first leg of the Vans Triple Crown, taking the Reef Hawaiian Pro crown and clinching a spot on the 2009 ASP World Tour.

The win bested his previous highest result, a win in the Canary Islands in 2005. Bourez is now ranked #2 on the WQS, and bested Brazilian Jihad Khodr to win the contest. "Everybody was getting barreled I was screaming my head off. It was so sick,” said Bourez. “I was having so much fun out there and that’s what I call a good contest. It means a lot to just (qualify for) the ASP World Tour. I’ve been dreaming about this my whole life since I started to surf. I’ve been watching all the best surfers, like Kelly (Slater) and (Rob) Machado, all those guys. And, right now I can surf with them. It’s a good opportunity for me and all the Tahitian surfers. I’m stoked for Tahiti."

Bourez also is now the current Vans Triple Crown leader, which moves to Sunset Beach for the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing, the final WQS event of the year. Listed below are the current top 20 on the WQS, and their season point totals; only the top 15 advance to the ASP World Tour next year.

1) Curran,Nathaniel USA 13200
2) Bourez,Michel PYF 12775
3) Davidson,Chris AUS 12525
4) Kling,Gabe USA 12476
5) Khodr,Jihad BRA 12150
6) Kerr,Josh AUS 12075
7) Bacalso,Kekoa HAW 11913
8) Muscroft,Nic AUS 11900
9) Boal,Tim FRA 11888
10) Pires,Tiago PRT 11750
11) Barca,Dustin HAW 11726
12) Emslie,Greg ZAF 11626
13) Courtney,Drew AUS 11600
14) Lipke,Marlon DEU 11450
15) Weare,David ZAF 11450
16) Gudauskas,Patrick USA 11438
17) MacDonald,Phillip AUS 11263
18) Bettero,Hizunome BRA 11125
19) Romao,Simao BRA 11000
20) Simpson,Brett USA 10838