Triple Crown of Surfing Executive Director Randy Rarick doesn’t own a Blackberry or iPhone. In fact, he doesn’t carry any sort of PDA. A shocking fact considering that the 59-year-old, Sunset Beach local is inundated with Triple Crown-related e-mails and business calls on a daily basis. He has a cell phone, but never answers it. It’s not that Rarick is technologically handicapped, rather it’s that Rarick still values the laid-back lifestyle of The Country and not being on-call 24/7.

Rarick has been working with the Triple Crown since Fred Hemmings started the event in 1983 as a counter to the ASP’s (Association of Surfing Professionals) attempt to end the world tour in Australia. Hemmings created the surf-series to bestow a title on the best competitive surfer during the winter season on the North Shore. Eventually, the ASP got their heads out of their “arses” and joined forces with the Triple Crown. Today, the final two events of the QS (Qualifying Series) are the first two events of the Triple Crown: the Hawaiian Pro at Ali‘i Beach Park and the World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach.The WT (World Tour) concludes at the Pipeline Masters which is the final jewel of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.

Hemmings went onto politics and became a state senator, passing the torch to Rarick who has been the face and brains of the Triple Crown for the last two decades. Under Rarick’s leadership, the surf series has become a huge economic driver for the North Shore and is now the most prestigious surf title next to a world championship.

Rarick has lived on the North Shore for the past 40 years, moving from Town right after high school graduation. He’s been in the same house on Sunset Point for 33 years, first renting it in 1975 and buying the place in 1985. Ever since his move, Rarick has been living “The Country” life– surfing Sunset from 1-to 15-feet, building surfboards in the shaping bay in the back of his garage, and running the biggest sporting event on the North Shore.

Although the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing has grown into a year-round gig for Rarick, he still finds time to globe trot. He is widely regarded as the most well traveled surfer in the world, riding waves in over 70 different countries. But, for Rarick, there’s no place like home.

Contrast caught up with Rarick at his Sunset Beach home office after the Triple Crown. Although the surf series is done till next November, Rarick’s phone was still ringing off the hook during the interview.


Contrast: The Triple Crown only runs in November and December on the North Shore, but it must take a lot more time to coordinate and plan.
Rarick: It’s a year-round activity now. In the old days I used to make my living shaping surfboards. I went 80 percent of shaping and 20 percent of promotions. Now, it’s completely the opposite where it’s about 80 percent promotions and 20 percent making surfboards. Pretty much, in November and December, the Triple Crown is a full-time activity. After the events are done, I spend January going to the trade shows, setting up the sponsorships and lining up the contracts for the following winter. In May, June, July that’s when I can go on a surf trip or concentrate on building boards. Then I get back late-July into August and that’s when I start working on all the details for the Triple Crown coming up. It’s really a nine months out of a year job.

With your Triple Crown position you’re in the public eye a lot. What’s the biggest misconception of your job?
I think they all think I make a ton of money. It’s funny because this year we gave out over $800,000 and you give away a big purse like that and people think you make a lot of money. But, it really doesn’t work that way. I get paid a fee for my job and there’s a limit to obviously what I can charge. Everybody that works on the Triple Crown gets either a salary or they get a set fee. The other thing is people think I own the Triple Crown and I don’t. Fred [Hemmings] sold it to a businessman in Honolulu in the ‘80s and that businessman in turn sold it to Vans. I’m contracted by Vans as an independent contractor. Even though I’m the face of the Triple Crown and I’ve been doing it since Day One, I’m actually just a hired, paid employee.

Wow! On paper you’re an employee like everyone else, but unlike the rest, you have the most responsibility. What’s the most difficult part of being executive director?
The hardest thing is picking the surf. You’re either a hero or a zero. Luckily, after 35 years of doing this I have a pretty good feel for what the conditions are going to be. That added with all the modern technology of the buoy readings and surf reports, we use all that information. But really, when it comes down to it, I walk outside in front of my house at Sunset Beach every morning at about 5:30 a.m. and I pretty much make a decision about what I’m going to do before I even leave Sunset. The only difference is if we put the [Triple Crown] on a standby basis and we’re waiting for the swell to come up or the tide to improve or the wind to get better.

What do you think the Triple Crown means to the North Shore community?
We did an economic study about three years ago where [we found that] the North Shore benefits in the form of $9 million in direct spending and $14 million in auxiliary spending so it’s a huge economic driver. Surfing is the industry of the North Shore. While you have people that bemoan the fact that it creates crowds, traffic and tourists coming, but if you take all that away none of us would be able to live here because there wouldn’t be any way any of us could make a living to stay on the North Shore.

True that. Everyone has to make that money to eat. Other than the surf, what keeps people living on the North Shore?
I think that the people who live on the North Shore choose to live here because it is a unique place. The lifestyle, you give up a lot because you have to drive to Town [Honolulu], you gotta pay high prices, you go to Foodland and it’s the most expensive market in the world. You have to deal with the tourist traffic at Laniakea when the turtles are out. You gotta deal with the zillions of people during the surf contest season. But, when you peel all that away, you got the best surf in the world and it’s the mellowest place in the world. Still, after 40 years of living on the North Shore, I walk out, have a glass of wine at sunset at Sunset [Beach], and it’s the best place in the world. You know, I’ve surfed in over 70 countries around the world, and surfed the best waves in the world. But, there’s no place like home. And, there’s no place like Sunset Beach, especially on the North Shore.