"I couldn’t be prouder to see it get underway in my home town," said Ryan Callinan.
The World Surf League has pivoted, successfully, from a disastrous campaign to host an event at Lennox Head, to Merewether, a couple of hours north of Sydney.
Merewether, famous for its multi-generational talent, including four-time world champ Mark Richards, Matt Hoy, Ryan Callinan, and Craig Anderson, was an irresistible choice for the WSL, given the NSW state government had been strung up on a rack of frustration after Lennox locals turned on the event and was desperate to get a contest, anywhere.
Some quotes.
“The NSW government and World Surf League worked together to ensure that this competition went ahead,” said NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro. “Sun, surf and sand are a way of life in our regional coastal towns and we’re doing everything we can to ensure our coastal communities can reap the recreational, tourism and economic benefits that surfing provides.”
“WSL is excited to be commencing the Australian leg of the CT at the world-class break in Newcastle,” said WSL APAC General Manager, Andrew Stark. “We sincerely thank the NSW Government for all of their support in not only holding a CT event but for also agreeing to land our flight and accommodating our quarantining international competitors. We’re also extremely thankful for the support of the City of Newcastle to enable the event to proceed and we look forward to working with the local community in the delivery of the event.”
“I couldn’t be prouder to see it get underway in my home town,” said Ryan Callinan.
A chartered bird is gonna bring the tour’s surfers, men and women, into Sydney, mid-March, for two weeks quarantine before the tour leg starts.
Event dates are April 1 to May 31, although this encompasses the other three “tentative” CT events, Bells, Margaret River and the Gold Coast.
Victoria, WA and Queensland have been real trigger-happy on border closures and deeply hostile to opening their doors even to Australians travelling interstate.
Word on the street is the WSL has been sniffing around Pacific Palms, a dreamy stretch of beachbreaks a little north of Newy.
More if it develops.
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Bells is such a b grade wave anyway , good to see like Rip Curl its gone.
You forgot LE, Nicky Wood who used to flog them all as a junior.
From the SMH just now
Victorian government keen to ensure surf tournament returns to ‘traditional home’ next year
By Ashleigh McMillan
The Victorian state government says it is now in conversations with the World Surfing League to ensure Bells Beach receives the coveted Easter long weekend spot next year at the Rip Curl Pro surfing tournament.
It comes after the opening event of the series was shifted to Newcastle’s Merewether Beach for the first time in 60 years, due to what organisers claim was issues with quarantining international competitors in Victoria.
General manager of the World Surfing League Andrew Stark that the “only way” to get the international surfers into the country was through NSW.
“We obviously love Bells Beach, we love that event. But the first event this year, due to the pandemic and the challenging circumstances, has to happen in NSW because that’s where the charter’s landing,” he told The Today Show on Sunday.
“It’s a tough decision happening in global sport right now but we’ve just got stay alive and keep the tour alive.”
“As I understand it Mr Pakula and his team are working through those issues to make sure that in 2022, the Rip Curl Pro returns to its traditional home,” he told reporters on Sunday morning.
But Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien said the state government’s “dithering has let NSW swoop and grab the coveted Easter slot” for the tournament, due to take place on April 1-11.
“Major events are vital to Victoria’s economy and our confidence,” he said in a post on Facebook.
“This isn’t just a blow to jobs on the Surf Coast, it’s a blow to our claim as the major events capital of Australia.”
Nicky Wood… Wild Card
Why not make the surfers live on a charter boat off the Newy connest? That way you get the exclusive quarantine under control and all the fun of stir craziness being filmed ‘Big Brother’ style. Wins all round!
The real question is can Beachgrit’s the Culture of tattling on the WSL, Chad’s narcissistic smear campaign against Elo, and BG’s well crafted anti WSL Narrative’s be able to change this contest from tentative to cancelled? The story arch goes on.
There is a common reason why no one was out at snail bay………..
Unprecedented times indeed…we all have to change and adapt quickly
Do you think the wsl will evolve to a more appropriate tagline…
Worlds best surfers in the worlds best waves…
To maybe…worlds best surfers, wherever the fuck they are desperate enough to let us surf?
Heh, I get a bit cunty when it comes to Fiji.
Theres people up there I’ve known for a long time and I really don’t want them to get sick. Covid would spread like wildfire through the villages.
I think we all just like the idea of them fighting/boning on the boat and getting shacked in good waves than any realism
If it did go ahead I’d be more worried about Griff rooting the ships cat, tbh
The main question is whether to put Ryan Callinan as the pick in fantasy surfer.
Local knowledge says pick him and save the gun surfers for later. But if everyone does that and he bombs out, bingo, I might find myself last man standing.
Maybe many will side with JW for the same reason. Now with less events on the complexity of juggling your picks has just got a lot easier sadly.
1) How would the ship cope with an outbreak of Covid on board ?
2) Most Pacific Islands do not have anything like well equipped ICUs. Tahiti and Noumea would be the best equipped of all of them.
3) The sailing market is totally different than a charter with 100 odd people on board. The demands of support for a ship are far, far greater.
4) Most people start to go stir crazy after about 2 weeks. 1 month – some have totally cracked. 2 months and Kelly would be flying scalps from the bridge. Really. The old joke about a ship being a prison has elements of truth in it. I can’t imagine being at sea for longer than a week with 50 or so of the precious little darlings.
NZ just turned away a cruise ship that was running low on fuel and facing a TC for documentation that was not processed due to the Xmas break. They prolly went to Noumea.
There’s a million things that can go wrong.
I would trust WSL to get virtually nothing right.
It’s impractical.
Wait slow down for a second, so the 1st contest of the leg is the 4th while the 1st, 2nd and 3rd contest aren’t confirmed? Yes?
I have given up trying to figure out how it works. I am hoping margs doesn’t happen, bells is held at small winki if it runs. snapper has average banks with some deep holes and a jumbled swell (no chance of moving to d-bah because of quarantine restrictions) and merewether is crumbly onshore 3ft.
go Felipe!
I can’t blame any citizens or government officials anywhere in Australia not wanting an Elo-led disaster train/plane from setting foot anywhere in their country – especially filled with Americans and Brazilians right now – but I cannot keep up with the on-again, off-again plans for the 2021 WSL season. Someone just let me know when the first heat is in the water, and Turpel has his voice box ready to go. I’ll be watching Natural Selection or Free Scrubber for the 400th time in the meantime…
I think it’s time to rename it to the NSWSL
Seth, mate. Don’t take this personally- but you can fuck off with yer love boat full of pros.
Fiji and all the others will tell ya to fuck off, too.
Except the French Pacific island nations coz they’re French and have Parisian administration that know better than everyone else and have shares in the hotel chains and realise the importance of tourism to the local economy. Oh wait, did I forget to mention the importance of local support staff ? Stupid ol me …
longtom and surfads laptopping from the beach!
So all competitors and crew are coming on the same plane.
From where ?
Pretty sure they don’t all live in Lala land.
Will the plane be going around the globe to pick everyone up from home ?
Or will everyone have to get themselves to Lala, do a quarantine there, and then board the Sydney flight for another round of quarantining ?
Quarantine in Dixon then they are welcome!!! BUT really as Seth said below fuck off on a boat its a self quarantine thing and get in quality waves.
What revenue is coming from an event that will have no views anyway ???
Complimentary pipes on check in at the regal dicko commission towers.
Sponsor it with booze, product placement, mens and womens. Geordie Shore on the high seas. Fuck it would have been good.
Shark sighting shut down our boardriders at Newy today, lifeguard said it went under his rescue board and was substantially bigger than that. Had about half a dozen day-long closures from confirmed white sightings in last month too. Sounds to me like a rogue shark stalking E Lo across the globe, Jaws 2-3 style
ive already had burley out at stockton mate – just letting it fly with NE swell
I was going to do an extra early tomorrow.
That’s going to put the shits right up me.
She’ll be right
Did you find the unmarked bills by the flag? E-dawg finally living up to his word!
Nope just a used syringe
Welcome to Newy. Have a nice day.
Hot take: WSL’s going there BECAUSE of the sharks. Sharks = clicks!
Shark sightings x 2 yesterday, they shut the beach again around 3pm, and another sighting today at Newy closed the beach again…