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?
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In Turps speak the Tour is evolving. Be evolving more if the poorest locations were dissolved. Punta Roca, Peniche and Sackarema for starters.
this was likely their only chance to lure John John back…
Now they have ban all gaslighting. If the waves are crap the announcers must be able to say it. Trying to convince us we aren’t seeing what we are seeing is a big turnoff. Sometimes, I would rather watch the view than listen to these gasbags announcing the comps.
Find it hard tune in regardless..
Anyone good enough at maths to figure out the time/heats saved with no elimination round vs. sending 2nd and 3rd from round 1 into a 3 man elimination round where again only the winner goes through?
It’s a keeper when not held in the shoulder season like this year. They just have to know you only get 1/2 day most of the time.
Why not Colorados in May? Always offshore.
They’re on the right path. Drop Abu Dhabi and Portugal. Restore the “Triple Crown” Haleiwa, Sunset, Pipe and make Pro Surfing Great Again!…
Moving Portugal to the penultimate event is also a great move no one seems to have noticed. Waves there can be serious at that time of year and it’s not always dog shit brown water and dishwater grey skies like in March.
Ar – hah !
This is all very good barring a few little tweaks that should come in following years. Kiss off the Middle east pool of blood and tears, instead give us a 2nd Hawaii comp – make it mobile North Shore anywhere in any given week before Pipe. Or even better, take the Portugal comp too and make it a proper triple crown again with Pipe still holding the 15k points bonanza.
The previous WSL dark and lonely years shall now been known as the *Asterix Era* – meaning the * can be applied to the conversation whenever anyone sees fit and it will always be apt.
BIG hook in the pocket!
Well, holy shit.. WSL makes a good move.
Now drop the wave pool and bring back Gabe and John somehow, and I’ll start watching again.
Love that Pipeline will be worth more points than the other venues
Farrk why would they not dump margaretshitriver and put in a proper Indonesian wave.
I always thought you were a sandgroper.
$’s from Govt !
Does the hardcore surf fan matter again?
Hossegor mercifully spared, love not having to dodge the circus there!
Xox
El sal is a keeper they should just go mobile to la bocanna if the point is inco
Keep the pool, its a point of difference and is done quickly and efficiently, given most people hear whinge the comps take to long the they should be happy
entire plan seems imbued with a ‘we’ll do anything to get jjf back on tour’ kind of vibe
Its fucken spot on and sick, i hope you and dls will finally stop constantly fucking whinging on the grit coz unless your god your always gona get shit waves for a comp no matter the location or waiting period
The poo poo touch has been all but washed away!
The contributions and legacy of Erik Logan are being erased from professional surfing – isn’t anyone upseat and angry?
He was totally necessary to find the the stage we are now moving too
Festivals are how low ranked events make bank. No one really cares about the surf