The Northern Hemisphere season is officially underway! Photo: WSL
The Big Wave Tour is broken up into two portions: the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern. As of October 15th, the Northern Hemi portion is officially open for business. That means, of course, that events at Nazaré, Jaws, and Maverick’s are all potentially on the docket… at least if Mother Nature decides to cooperate.
The window remains open until the end of February, and yes, organizers seem to have overcome a seemingly endless amount of hurdles to include Mav’s (although I’m not going to believe it until there are waves and competitors are actually surfing on them). “We are excited to get the Big Wave Tour back underway with the winter season,” said Mike Parsons, WSL BWT Commissioner. “We have the window for Nazaré and Pe’ahi opening today and are working diligently with all agencies to finalize details for Maverick’s. We appreciate the ongoing support from the local community, and we anticipate a great season and epic conditions for the world’s best big wave surfers.”
And guess what? The Women’s Pe’ahi Challenge is back for the second time. Which is odd, because it should’ve been there all along. Assuming the Mav’s contest actually gets off the ground, the women will have a spot there, too. Which is nice, considering that the Titans of Maverick’s organizers had to be legally forced into including women. Or something like that. Everything surrounding contests has become a convoluted mess.
“The world’s best female big wave surfers will also have the opportunity to compete at Mavericks this upcoming season,” the WSL writes. “The WSL Commissioner’s Office will work with a committee made up of Maverick’s surfing icons to select six of the best female big wave surfers. The committee will consider performance results from the 2016 WSL Big Wave Awards, experience surfing at Mavericks, and overall big wave experience at all big wave locations around the world.”
Over the coming months, BWT officials will keep a close eye on any storms that could produce waves big enough and good enough to run events. Once they make a decision, competitors have 72 hours to get themselves to the contest.
2017/18 BWT Men’s Nazaré Challenge:
Invitees: Grant Baker, Pedro Calado, Greg Long, Jamie Mitchell, Billy Kemper, Nic Lamb, Will Skudin, João De Macedo, Cristian Merello, Kai Lenny, Makuakai Rothman, Lucas Chianca, Francisco Porcella, Trevor Sven Carlson, Tom Lowe, Garrett McNamara, Alex Botelho, Tom Butler, Andrew Cotton, Antonio Silva, Hugo Vau, Nic Von Rupp
Event Alternates: Kealii Mamala, Natxo Gonzalez
Performer of the Year Alternates: Peter Mel, Nathan Florence, Jojo Roper
2017/18 BWT Men’s Pe’ahi Challenge:
Invitees:Grant Baker, Pedro Calado, Greg Long, Jamie Mitchell, Billy Kemper, Nic Lamb, Will Skudin, João De Macedo, Cristian Merello, Kai Lenny, Makuakai Rothman, Lucas Chianca, Francisco Porcella, Trevor Sven Carlson, Tom Lowe, Shane Dorian, Ian Walsh, Albee Layer, Mark Healey, Aaron Gold, Tyler Larronde
Event Alternates: Shaun Walsh, Danilo Couto, Torrey Meister
Performer of the Year Alternates: Peter Mel, Nathan Florence, Alex Botelho
2017/18 BWT Women’s Pe’ahi Challenge:
Invitees: Paige Alms, Justine Dupont, Andrea Moeller, Keala Kennelly, Felicity Palmateer, Bianca Valenti
Alternates: Emily Erickson, Nicole Pacelli, Laura Enever
