And girls, VALS and the destitute revealed as heroes of surf travel.

An exciting new scientific research paper, Establishing a pre-COVID-19 baseline for surf tourism: Trip expenditure and attitudes, behaviors and willingness to pay for sustainability, has revealed a shocking truth. 

The better you surf, the more high-performance craft you ride, the less y’care about whether or not the joint you’re visiting puts a little back into the host country, employees locals etc. 

You want waves, some booze and maybe a few hookers on the last night. The rest is up to the hotel owner.

That’s my view, at least.

The paper, from Leon Mach, an  Associate Professor in Environmental Policy and Socioeconomic Values from Panama and Jess Ponting, Associate Professor in sustainable tourism at San Diego State University, finds girls, VALS and the destitute are the real heroes when it comes to looking after mother earth. 

Scroll down to page seven, 5.2, to find this lil gem. 

“The results of this study indicate that female surfers, younger surfers, and lower income surfers value both sustainable attitudes and behaviors more highly than other groups. Additionally, those who predominantly ride short-boards, and those with higher ability levels see less value in selecting sustainable tourism providers. Future research could explore the implications of this finding as it is likely that expert surfers will be among the most likely to travel before the pandemic is finally under control.”

And, how about this?

Two things. 

The word sustainable is meaningless. 

And, I’d got out of my way to avoid a joint that offered an “authentic”, “sustainable” surf experience. 

Click here to read…

Many twists, many turns.

As the WSL (somehow) soldiers on, it’s easy to lose track of of the absurdity of the last eight months.

Let’s examine.

July 17, 2020:

The WSL cancels the 2020 Tour, citing the “health and safety of athletes” and “the challenges of international travel.” While many lament the news, it seems rather prudent given the state of things.

Maybe a reset is just what the WSL needs.

In the same breath, the WSL introduces a new and improved Championship Tour. It boasts a revamped finals event (with a mystery location), new event locations, and kick-off events at Pipe and Maui.

The optimists among us muse about a finals event held at a tropical reef, but the realists remind us of a little cobblestone A-frame in Southern California.

November 10, 2020:

The WSL announces that the WSL Finals will be held at. . . Trestles.

Kolohe and Filipe rejoice.

The WSL also announces a myriad of new event locations for the 2021 Tour, axing Portugal and G-Land for Sunset and Santa Cruz.

The WSL never releases a formal statement regarding Portugal and G-Land. The November 10th press release simply reads postponed and TBD, respectively.

December 2020:

The first leg of the Tour kicks off, with the women at Honolulu Bay and the men at Pipe.

The morning before the women’s finals, a man is attacked and killed by a shark, putting the event on hold. Elo introduces us all to some new corpospeak, calling it a “shark incident.”

The women’s event is subsequently moved to Pipe, where the competitors opt for turns in lieu of tubes. Tyler Wright is crowned the winner of the Maui Pro at Pipeline.

Meanwhile, the men start the 2021 Tour at Pipe in pumping surf. Surf fans rejoice.

Then, the Billabong Pipe Masters is suddenly suspended as a result of positive COVID-19 tests “within the WSL staff, including WSL CEO Erik Logan.”

WSL viewers are largely left in the dark. Pipe continues to pump, unsullied by professional competition. Rumors abound about patient zero.

On December 15 the event resumes, albeit in smaller surf. John Florence banishes Gabriel Medina for the win and old man Slater takes a third place finish alongside Italo.

January 5, 2021:

Hawaii suspends all surfing competitions, forcing the WSL to cancel the Sunset Open and Jaws.

The WSL additionally announces the suspension of the Santa Cruz Pro, scheduled for February, citing the surge of cases in California.

Surf fans are left in the lurch. The next event isn’t scheduled until April.

January 7, 2021:

A Pulitzer Prize worthy bit of investigative journalism (snub of the year!) reveals that the WSL has failed to acquire the necessary permitting for the Trestles Final Event.

A finals event in California’s Central Valley seems more and more likely.

Kelly celebrates.

January 31, 2021:

Rumors abound of a potential CT event at Lennox Head, adding an additional contest to the Australian leg.

February 2-3, 2021:

The Lennox community rebels against the WSL, threatening protest paddle outs, while the WSL claims community support.

It appears the WSL has largely acted in the dark, leaving many community members out of the loop.

Surf journalism takes yet another step towards the edge of the cliff, with the likes of Stab and The Inertia ignoring the fallout.

Said community quickly mobilizes, forcing the issue to a head. Ballina Councillors reject the event.

WSL General Manager for Australia Andrew Stark says, “If you don’t want us to come to your town, we’re not coming.”

I mull staging a protest in Lemoore.

February 6, 2021:

The WSL quickly pivots, securing an event at Merewether.

The intention is to charter a plane for both Tours from Los Angeles to Sydney for a two-week quarantine in mid-March.

February 7, 2021:

Bells is cancelled, resulting in a reported $8 million loss for Torquay.

The WSL cites the government’s failure to approve a plan for quarantining the athletes.

The Newcastle Cup is scheduled for April 1-11. Mayor claims $15 million boost for economy.

February 15, 2021:

The WSL releases yet another updated schedule.

The new Australian leg will include events at Newcastle, Narrabeen, Margaret River, and Rottnest.

Snapper is the latest casualty, along with Pat O’Connell, who after only a year will be replaced by Jessi Miley-Dyer, the new Head of Competition.

Eight months. Six cancellations. Two Heads of Competition. Mass COVID infections. One “shark incident.”

Too many press releases.

This cements Starkey's future as WSL CEO and the eventual rehoming of the WSL downunder.

High, high times for hacks in the surf-jern biz. Glorious Woz Piñatas swinging in front of us on the daily.

Temperance and accuracy can go to hell when hitting the keys is this much fun.

Today tops all.

Starkey and the Australian taxpayer have double-handedly rescued the 2021 World Tour, in a stunning power move that reflects the historical and current reality of Oz as the centre of gravity of professional surfing.

Last week, Stark was riding a donkey in the desert, today he’s in the penthouse toasting four CT’s in the house and a well of human hatred run shallow and dry.

It was the brute force display of power I’d expected all along from my man.

Let’s be clear: his methods may be Machiavellian but Stark has kept the lights on in the building in a way no-one else could.

Imagine Elo trying to seal these deals across state borders with multiple political realities and stakeholder pressures?

Poor flim-flam man folds like wet lettuce and can’t even get the paperwork tight and right. This cements Starkey’s future as WSL CEO and the eventual rehoming of the org. downunder.

His pasodoble with NSW Deputy Prem John Barilaro has been legendary. Think of a famous pairing: Beavis and Butthead, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Fish and Chips, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Ali and Frazier, Batman and Robin, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, Don Quixote and Pancho Sanza, Sonny and Cher, just off the top of my head.

Stark and Barilaro best all of them without a doubt.

The line-up, as we already know, is a mixed bag, but generally praiseworthy.

Newy will be the weakest link in the chain for quality surf. Narrabeen offers a rare, quality left beachbreak with punchy rights at the Alley and excellent pies at Ocean Blend, the cafe directly across the road from the Northy carpark, the former site of Damien “Dooma” Hardman’s pie shop.

Maggie River we are well acquainted with along with the outrageous advantage offered to JJF at Mainbreak Rights and Jack Robbo at North Point or the Box.

Rottnest or Rotto, as DR has pointed out, suffers under the weight of a very dark history as both a penal colony and site of unimaginable animal cruelty when the inevitable Quokka kicking episode occurs during the islands regular Bacchanalian convulsions.

There are numerous B+ reefs on the Island with competition likely to run morning times before the dreaded Fremantle Doctor “breeze” blows out the main spot of Strickland Bay. A kind of cool-temperate reverse poor man’s Keramas if you need a mental image to sustain you. Very fun wave.

Five events locked in. Teahupoo likely. Tub, Trestles final. Australia, Hawaii, Tahiti, California. A Pacific World Champ.

Leaving aside that WA faces the Indian, it’s a concept too beautiful not to pay lip service to.

In a final sign of the ascendancy of Australia Bureaucratic Dominance and the shifting of power from USA to Aus, poor Patty O has been permanently benched from his role as Senior Vice Prez of Tours and Head of Competition after deciding “to transition out of his role to pursue new opportunities”, which I believe is polite corpo-speak for being shown the door but having as much time as you need to collect your stuff from under the desk.

Patty is being replaced by former CT competitor Jessi Miley-Dyer.

Pat’s reign was memorable for, um…..um…. I haven’t got much except missing the day of the waiting period at D-bah on a bad judgement call trying to get Snapper in 2019 when he was newly minted in the role. He brought a cheery presence and an understated credibility to video presentations with Elo and will one day have an excellent memoir ghost-written about his time at Santa Monica.

Australian Company Rip Curl, which sold 70% of the biz to NZ outdoor apparel Company Kathmandu in late 2019 for 350 mill and which has been enjoying bumper Covid induced sales has stumped up an undisclosed figure for the naming rights to Newy, Narrabeen and Rotto, the latter under the dormant Search Banner.

To the best of my knowledge I can see no resistance to holding comps at any of the proscribed locations, which makes Covid19 and the Great White Shark the only remaining challenges to getting things run and done.