Andy Irons has never lost in a final heat at the Pipeline Masters, and yesterday was no exception.

Midway through the final, Irons found a double-backdoor barrel that he rode for the only perfect 10 of the day — a score that ultimately delivered a victory in the Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters.

The victory completed a triple-triple for the 27-year-old Kaua'i surfer. Irons' third Pipeline Masters victory also gave him his third Vans Triple Crown of Surfing championship. He also is a three-time world champion (2002, 2003, 2004).

Irons scored 17.33 points for his two best rides in the final, and won $30,000 for the Pipeline Masters victory. He received an additional $10,000 for the Triple Crown title.

Australia's Mick Fanning, who also was in contention for the Triple Crown title, finished second with 12.33. Bruce Irons, Andy's younger brother, was third (11.33) and Kalani Chapman of O'ahu's North Shore was fourth (6.37).

The Pipeline Masters was the third of three North Shore events in the prestigious Triple Crown series.

"I'm over the moon, stoked, can't believe it," Andy Irons said. "The waves were so fun and so good all morning. Being in the water with my brother and Kalani and Mick — we were all competitive, but we were all looking around going, how good is this?"

Despite the increasing wind's crumbly effect on the waves, the dynamic of the final four was undeniable.

Fanning came out charging with an opening ride of 7.33. Chapman and Bruce Irons found low-scoring lefts and rights at the beginning of the heat. Andy Irons waited it out until his 10-point backdoor wave arrived with 12 minutes remaining in the 35-minute final.

"Hunting around, I didn't catch a wave for a long time," Andy Irons said. "When that wave came, I knew it was going to be a good one. I just made sure I positioned myself behind the chop, and got under and made it through — and then to get barreled again, I was just going, 'Oh, I have to make this.' It just all came together. Patience paid off."

Fanning still retained the lead, but with 7 1/2 minutes left, Andy Irons threaded an elusive Pipeline barrel for a 7.33 that left Fanning needing more than 10 points to win.

"I had one that I got in and traveled for a while but didn't come out; if I had come out, it could have been a different story," said Fanning, who finished second in the Triple Crown.

Bruce Irons, meeting his older brother in a final for the fifth time, scored an 8.33 on a follow-up wave, but it was not enough.

Chapman, 23, made it to the final heat after qualifying for the contest through a separate trials event. He said yesterday's experience was invaluable.

"It was hard to pick out the winning waves," he said. "There weren't many of them. I'm almost ready again, right now."

Chapman advanced to the final from a semifinal where world champion Kelly Slater was eliminated by an interference call.

Slater owns records of seven world championships and five Pipeline Masters championships.

Slater edged Irons for this year's world title. After yesterday's results, Slater finished 2005 with 7,962 points to Irons' 7,860.

"This definitely has made it a lot easier, that's for sure," Irons said of not retaining his world title. "I was one heat away from bringing it to Pipe in Brazil, and now I've got in the back of my mind a lot of what-ifs. But I really wanted to do well here in the Triple Crown and Pipe and I achieved my goal."

The early morning saw clean and consistent 6-foot waves out of the northwest that lent themselves to open barrels in both directions. Surfers frequently split the peak, shooting Pipeline to the left and Backdoor to the right to the delight of the 5,000 spectators at 'Ehukai Beach.

Defending champion Jamie O'Brien of the North Shore was ousted when he placed third in a quarterfinal.

Sunset Beach's Pancho Sullivan also was eliminated during the quarterfinals. Sullivan won the first leg of the Triple Crown, the OP Pro, on Nov. 23.

Former world champ Sunny Garcia of Wai'anae gracefully surfed the last wave of his 20-year professional career in the second semifinal, where the numerous barrels he found just weren't enough to defeat the indomitable Irons brothers.

RIP CURL PRO PIPELINE MASTERS

1, Andy Irons (Hawai'i), $30,000. 2, Mick Fanning (Australia), $16,000. 3, Bruce Irons (Hawai'i), $11,000. 4, Kalani Chapman (Hawai'i), $9,000. 5 (tie), Damien Hobgood (Florida) and Luke Egan (Australia), $8,500. 7 (tie), Kelly Slater (Florida) and Sunny Garcia (Hawai'i), $7,500. 9 (tie), Jamie O'Brien (Hawai'i), Cory Lopez (Florida), Nathan Hedge (Australia) and Mark Occhilupo (Australia), $5,500. 13 (tie), Lee Winkler (Australia), Trent Munro (Australia), Tim Curran (California) and Pancho Sullivan (Hawai'i), $5,100.

Foster's ASP Men's World Tour final standings:

1, Kelly Slater (USA) 7,962; 2, Andy Irons (Hawai'i) 7,860; 3, Mick Fanning (Australia) 6,650; 4, Damien Hobgood (USA) 6,148; 5, Phillip MacDonald (Australia) 6,060; 6. Trent Munro (Australia) 5,748; 7, Taj Burrow (Australia); 5,512; 8, Nathan Hedge (Australia) 5,426; 9, Bruce Irons (Hawai'i) 5,294; 10, CJ Hobgood (USA) 5,248. Also: 14, Fred Patacchia Jr. (Hawai'i). 33, Sunny Garcia (Hawai'i). 36, Kalani Robb (Hawai'i).

Information from www.triplecrownofsurfing.com was used in this report.