Plus eliminates the elimination round!

Well, it only took five, or so, years but the World Surf League has finally admitted to its absolutely horrible schedule decision to begin the season at Pipeline and end it al Lower Trestles but, even more, have recognized the past five, or such, years as an abject disaster.

Beginning in 2026, the Championship Tour will begin in Australia and end at Pipeline. There will be no more “Final Five” and the elimination round has also been dropped.

Can’t believe?

Read my personal edit of the presser for your very self.

The 2026 season will mark the 50th year of professional surfing, a milestone that comes alongside a significant evolution of the Championship Tour (CT) calendar and competitive format. Today, the World Surf League (WSL) is announcing major schedule and format changes to the CT for the 2026 season and beyond. Anchored by the return of the iconic Pipe Masters as the closing event of the season, the CT will culminate on the North Shore of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, at Pipeline, the sport’s most revered location.

The CT season will run from April to December, starting in Australia and concluding in Hawai‘i. The 12-stop schedule welcomes a new evolution of the CT, reimagined to meet the ambitions and momentum of surfing’s next chapter. Based on surfer and fan feedback, along with considerations of partner and permitting components, the CT will utilize a cumulative rankings format that combines a high-stakes finale with the depth of a full-season Title race.

In the new design, nine “regular-season” events will be held before the 36 men and 24 women are narrowed to 24 men and 16 women for the final two “postseason” events. Surfers will carry only their best seven of nine results from the regular season into the next stage. The final season rankings, and ultimately the World Titles, will be determined by a surfer’s best nine of 12 results.

The final stretch of the Tour will include two “postseason” events followed by the reimagined Pipe Masters, where the rankings and performances in each will shape the World Title race. The top eight men and women heading into Pipeline will earn the competitive advantage of deeper seeding in the draw. The Pipe Masters will now award 15,000 points, 1.5 times more than a standard CT event, making it the most consequential stop on Tour. These changes reflect the importance of Pipe and ensure the finale delivers elite performances, meaningful consequences, and defining moments in the World Title race.

Additionally, all CT events will feature a streamlined format that removes non-elimination rounds. This change raises the stakes from the outset and creates greater opportunities for high-impact heats to run in optimal conditions.

As previously announced, the women’s CT field will expand from 18 to 24 surfers in 2026, creating more opportunities and further global representation.

Under an agreement with Vans, the intellectual property rights to the Pipe Masters title will be transferred to the WSL Championship Tour. Vans will serve as the exclusive footwear and apparel partner for the Pipe Masters.

Surfer qualification for the CT will continue through the three-tier pathway, the regional Qualifying Series up to the Challenger Series. More information about these competitions will be shared in the coming months.

Thoughts?

Here’s how the season will look:

CT1: Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia

CT2: Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia

CT3: Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia

CT4: Punta Roca, El Salvador

CT5: Saquarema, Brazil

CT6: Jeffreys Bay, South Africa

CT7: Teahupo’o, Tahiti

CT8: Cloudbreak, Fiji

CT9: Lower Trestles, Calif., USA*

CT10: Surf Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

CT11: Peniche, Portugal

CT12: Pipe Masters, Hawai‘i, USA**

More thoughts?

"Ventura has had fatal shark attacks every year since 1983."

They sure don’t build them like the Malloys anymore. One of Northern Southern California’s most iconic surf families, Chris, Keith and Dan have carved a path on how to be both a surfer and not wilting li’l wimp at the very same time. They climb mountains, hunt game, chew tobacco, make important films and ride cold-ish waves.

Neither of the three is an influencer, thus the general surfing public sees less of them than desirable but Chris, I think maybe the oldest or , just popped into the social medias, likely after doing something tough and fulfilling, to perform a classic bit of smoke blowing.

The Ventura native, you may recall, here last regaling us with a tale of the time he fought a whole Canadian hockey team by himself.

“I was in a restaurant in Waikiki with this girl I really liked,” he told Derek Rielly. “A Canadian hockey team walked in and one of them just started feeling her up. Right there in front of me! I was out-numbered but it drove me crazy. I jumped on the guy and got him good, three or four times with a beer mug. The rest of the team beat the shit out of me. I woke up in a cop car. The next week I was in G-land and my ribs were so sore I could barely surf. Perfect Speedies and I’m in the channel wincing. Another lesson learned.”

The bit that brought Chris out recently, anyhow, was an Instagram short which listed the five worst beach towns in California.

Fifth place Oceanside, grimy beaches, crime ridden streets, seedy outdated shops. Fourth Ventura, crime and homelessness, a dull dated bad vibe with little to do. Third, Long Beach more a port than a coastal retreat. Second is Huntington, packed trashy shores polluted with rowdy “bro” crowds. First is Imperial Beach, a “grim coastal disaster.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Oceanside Food Reviews (@eatingoceanside)

The comments were, predictably, filled with locals from each burgh who felt saddened, offended or both.

Not Chris Malloy.

Knowing well that this is the exact sort of bad publicity true surfers crave, the hirsute hero simply declared, “Ventura has had fatal shark attacks every year since 1983.”

Brilliant and worthy of a Pulitzer Prize.

"This was never about money for us it was about us against the system that system that kills the human spirit."

Tough financial times in San Diego, California otherwise known as “America’s Finest City.” A $258 million budget shortfall is stalking, haunting, forcing elected officials to consider many drastic measures in order to close the loop. Included in Mayor Todd Gloria’s chops is closing beachside restrooms during the winter as well as permanently removing beach fire pits.

According to projections, the fire pit removal will save around $135,000 per year as well as reducing noise levels at night and other naughty activity like beer drinking plus young couples making out underneath blankets.

Mission Beach local, and likely surfer Rogelio Huerta, was not happy about the potential loss, telling the local ABC affiliate, “No, $135,000 isn’t worth it. Maybe you invest a little more in managing the resources and prove that they’re not efficient before you take away the public’s benefits because we, you know, we pay taxes.”

Christian Barroso, likely not a surfer, came out as pro no beach fire pit, declaring, “I don’t think it’s very safe having these fire pits around.”

Regarding the issue of winter bathroom closures, that move is projected to save over $1 million a year, the sound of which local Steve Jones, maybe or maybe not a surfer, likes.

“I believe it’s a good thing for them to do that because it’ll help balance the budget and alleviate other cuts to resources that are more important than the bathrooms, like police and fire for our public safety,” he said.

On one hand, surfers enjoying using wetsuits as bathrooms during the winter. On the other, more police means more tickets for beer drinking/public indecency.

Do you have thoughts?

I have one. How does removing beach fire pits save $135,000?

Here’s a nice beach fire scene while you’re thinking.