CJ Hobgood during boom times in Mundaka. Photo: ASP
In the following years Tahiti’s Teahupoo, Spain’s Mundaka and Fiji’s Tavarua were added to the roster. South Africa’s Jeffreys Bay made a mighty return to the schedule, as well. And Reunion Island, Mexico, Sunset Beach, Bali, and Chile all made guest appearances. Pipeline was no longer the only stunner on tour.
But the Dream Tour as we’ve known it may have been a bubble epitomized by the decade between 1998 and 2008.
As surf fans, did we take those boom times for granted?
Ziul himself warned, “The locations [from which] we deliver this entertainment are tough, remote and difficult (and expensive). Surfing’s biggest challenge is to create a financially viable formula capable of supporting such expensive solutions anywhere on the globe.”
The perception of safety issues at G-Land curtailed its tour appearances after 1997. A coup within the Fijian government combined with the expense of hosting an event at Tavarua halted Globe’s run after 2008. The viability of scoring world-class Mundaka with the European leg’s window always presented problems, finally ending the hallowed contest in 2009. The replacements for such heritage destinations, however, may indicate that the ground has shifted under the “financially viable formula” of which Ziul spoke.
In 2010 Quiksilver took an extremely large contingent of surfers, documentarians and staff on a trip to G-land. The waves and performances generated an enormous amount of media attention. Sources close to the company contend that it was a dual-purpose mission, however: Quiksilver intended to measure the viability of bringing a tour event back to the break. A decision on whether or not to host a 2011 event at G-land had to be made by November of 2010. After their mega-trip, a commenter aware of the process said that the company was 75 to 80 percent in favor of the historic return. Then in October of 2010, something changed and the G-land option was dropped from consideration.
Alternatively, in January of 2011 Quiksilver announced that it would be hosting the Quiksilver Pro New York at Long Beach September 4 though 15. The event rounds out Quiksilver’s Pro Global series, which includes their events in France and Australia. The press release also stamped “the month of September for a series of demos, films, parties, music concerts and art exhibits that represent the best of surf, skate and snowboarding cultures.”
Essentially, the decision came down to holding a contest either in the real jungle, or the concrete jungle — and though the bushes have eyes, there’s a lot more advertisement value in affecting the ones on the street. And so, the Quiksilver Pro New York fits neatly into a revived trend toward the ’80s tour schedule of festival-type contests located near large urban centers or large surf markets — much in the vein of Hurley’s recent success with the U.S. Open and Trestles events.
Still, a single change of venue has never hampered the dream. When one takes a look at the tour changes worldwide — the loss of Mundaka on the European leg, a hole filled by Rip Curl’s event at Peniche in Portugal — the trend is more apparent. Long Beach and Peniche are not bad venues, it’s just that they are not Cloudbreak, Mundaka or G-Land. In fact, a glance at the 2011 World Tour Schedule lists only two events that do not hone to the “bums on the beach” near large or emerging surf markets trend: Tahiti’s Teahupoo and Rip Curl’s Search (recently announced to be held in San Francisco??!!).
By year’s end, it just may be that we’ll be left with but one troubled vestige of what was once known as the “Dream Tour.” The engineers of the ASP’s financial formula have had 30 years to figure out the best value for their marketing dollars. As one source said, “The event sponsors host events in places like Huntington because they know it works.”
But does this mean the Dream Tour doesn’t?
This article was originally published by ESPN December 17, 2010.
Read more from Kimball Taylor and be on the lookout for a new book at KimballTaylor.com.
