Introducing the new "Pretty Big Wave World Tour!"
The World Surf League’s Big Wave World Tour is off to a swinging start, with two events, Nazare and Jaws, already in the bag and a third, Mavericks, looking very good to run this upcoming week. Years’ past have seen no big wave events run or maybe only one because the ocean does not cooperate and make any big waves.
This year there are so many big waves that the World Surf League is pulling out the tape measure and declaring, “Too big!” while then pulling the plug.
We saw it at Jaws, the surfers out there in the water when the commissioners office called it off and let the hornets take over. The event was completed the next day in what could charitably be called, “fine enough waves… I suppose.”
And today we’re seeing it preemptively called off at Mavericks. Shall we read?
The Mavericks surf contest will not happen on Monday because the waves are too big.
Half Moon Bay Sport Fishing, who runs boat tours for the big wave surf contest, told ABC7 News in an e-mail Thursday night that organizers informed them that the contest will not happen Monday.
They did say that organizers are looking at possibly holding the contest on Tuesday or Thursday of next week, and that the organizers would give an update midday on Friday.
Surfline, the official surf forecaster for the Mavericks Challenge, projects that the infamous surf break just outside Pillar Point Harbor will see waves between 40 to 60 feet tall and that some could even be above 65 feet.
Surfline called it “the kind of swell we only see around three times a decade.”
Well it’s a good thing that the league is being extra safe. Also, potential new sponsor Chicken of the Sea will be happy.
Mavs is 40 foot and perfect right now. There will be historic rides. The WSL BLEW THE CALL. I knew they would—like many here, the forecast was obviously looking good.
The not Too Big, big wave tour.
Big waves will be as rare as a nipple on insta
found out my wife has been faking it
Spoiler alert #2: Ziff gets voted Waterman of the Century by the Famous Five.
I’m a homebrewer, and a couple of years ago I smuggled many litres of a darkish ale into my local cricket stadium that I’d bottled in plastic and labeled “Disco Cola”. It was a fine day of test cricket! Or was it? I can’t really remember…
You had me at Chicken of the Sea
Well least the chick invites wont get their gstring pussy hugging bikinis ripped off.
Fer fucks sakes, wait till monday you monkeys.
Heats don’t work for big wave tour. Instead use the leaderboard scoring from the Wave pool event.
1. Choose the day. Event window is dawn till dusk. Epic. No matter what comes, a champ will be crowned.
2. The teams choose when, where, how often to go out. They run their own safety. After all, no one knows more than these guy, and it’s their life on the line, their choice. If they want to go hard, it’s to the limits of their capacity. It also then becomes a major tactical battle – spend energy early? Wait for wind or swell? Sit for 2 hours waiting for a paddle bomb or whip in to a few waves?
3. Can tow or paddle – leader board for both. Thus no backsies cuz it gets too big. Paddle surfer gets right of way if both are on the field of play. Gentleman’s rules on priority – safety first.
4. Free surfers can be in the mix as the day is likely to be the best if the season. They can get some coverage, but the Comp surfers get priority if they choose to go out, and the freesurfers are responsible to run their own safety. No safety, no going out. Will cut out the wannabes, but let the serious up and comers get a few while the pros are resting up or re-evaluating.
5. Limit the number of skis in the line up – if the conditions get good the free surfers are called out of the comp area, and priority goes to the teams and their safety.
6. Staging boat out in the channel/ out the back for safe launches.
7. Broadcast the whole day live for the purists who wanna see it all go down, split screens and expert commentaries, talk about equipment, nerd it out big time. Then dump all the footage to a team to work overnight (or on the other side of the world) to make a 2hr digest of the whole days action for the casual observer and to play on mainstream tv: drama, cut scenes, high production value, back story, explainers for the newly watching, interviews. Release it the next day. At sunset, crown the winner in the dusk glow and party on after a day of Herculean efforts.
Separate trophy for best non-competitor freesurfer bomb – single wave not leaderboard. Will promote the freesurfer to sit and wait for the perfect wave under priority, which could catapult them onto the tour and get them exposure for sponsors etc.
also award for the most charging surfer on the day – allows for the waves that weren’t finished and avoids the billy kemper style “he won without finishing a wave” controversy.
It’s a good call. You don’t want to ruin an epic swell with a stupid contest
gives me a great idea… write a bunch of derogatory articles about him then get him to pay me to take them down. I’ll accept payment in the form of sessions at Lemoore and back rubs from his missus.
#LetThemSurf
He allegedly has possession of Clapton’s famous (stolen!) Bluesbreakers 1959 Les Paul! In a fucking vault!
There’s enough big waves, then throw in barrel waves and it multiplies
The future, it’s coming soon.
Someone will do it independent of the wsl or any ‘mainstream’ media outlet, it’s all here surfing is slow to catch on.
I looked into it about 6 years ago, but couldn’t get it going.
Someone will turn up to swells, YouTube Livestream and have live commentary all day. Then they can slice and dice all their own footage for years of additional content across all platforms.
They will get all the traffic, captive audience, comments etc to make it profitable like any other YouTube vlog channel.
They will follow and live stream major swells around the globe and build a large subscriber list.
Then competition will follow and it will get even better for the viewer…
Beachgrit should throw some shekels at it before Stab does it first. It will be a big deal.
Seriously there’s great that can do this for under $5k.
And Beachgrit throw up some arbitrary prizes etc.
A seriously great idea there…
5k is going to get me that tummy tuck or cock enlargement. from a visual perspective its the same thing. I will live stream it for you.
I designed a rig to do this for one of the big publishers but they didn’t do it. You are exactly right.
The Beachgrit Commentariat have the ideas, and the know how!
Now if we only had two shekels to rub together…
The biggest obstacle isn’t the lack of cash. The business model is only successful when work is concentrated during the times of best swell. Most of the commentariat here do it the other way round…
There is a guy who does this… streams all the free surfing sessions around the WSL comps
BG should get in touch with him and scale him up
I’m reading with a James Earl Jones Conan the Barbarian voiceover in my head. Fantastic
The original voice is much closer to Glen Hall
Chicken of the Sea Big Wave Turd.
The elite aren’t stupid like the goyem they have little if any information about them anywhere!
Spot on!