The World Surf League has unveiled its 2016 schedule and as you’d expect, J-Bay is back, as is Rio, Portugal and, um, North Point.
First to J-Bay though. Mick Fanning’s tussle with a large shark there in July this year broke the Internet and drew 22 million viewers to YouTube (second only to hip tune, Gangnam Style).
ANYONE who’s surfed there knows what goes on under the water so it should come as no surprise that a shark would crash the party at some point.
That it would do so in such spectacular fashion…well, Mick, Julian and the WSL didn’t exactly suffer from the exposure.
Fanning, rightfully so, has since been internationally lauded for the way he handled the whole situation, evidenced best by his charitable donation to fellow attack victim, Matt Lee.
But lest we forget, J-Bay is also the most magnificent right hand point break on earth and rightfully deserves a spot on the tour.
Accordingly, the announcement the event will return next year comes with the obligatory safety warning and promises to beef up surveillance from Commissioner Kieren Perrow.
“Athlete safety is a top priority for the league,” KP said.
“The WSL has made significant investments in the areas of surveillance…and we are currently working with a number of firms specialising in the mitigation technology. The strides we’re making in the areas of surveillance and response are significant, but there presently exists no technology that has been proven to be 100 per cent effective*. Our athletes are aware of this, as they have always have been.”
Exactly what those “investments” and “strides” are have not been revealed.
The WSL went pretty hard for North Point last year, and this reporter recalls a conversation with KP behind the stage at this year’s Margaret River event where he alluded to as much.
As Ads De Souza stepped up to receive the silverware, KP fixed his steely and very masculine gaze upon mine and assured me it would be included next year, and so it has.
Exactly how the crowd will be catered for if the event shifts to the rather fragile and dangerous (as in, you either look from a high cliff, or amble over some pretty loose rocks) hasn’t been revealed by the WSL, though a plan of sorts can be viewed here.
The rest of the schedule comes as little surprise: Snapper, Bells, Rio (thank goodness!), Fiji, Chopes, Trestles, France, Portugal and Pipe.
And there you have it a tour that is perhaps best summed up by the WSL itself: “Staying true to its core DNA of putting the worlds best surfers on the worlds best waves.”
What say you?
*Pretty sure a wave pool would fix this.
