Bells Beach defending champ, Mick Fanning, laying into one at the Bowl. Photo: Maxx Buchanan
What: Men’s Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour Stop #2.
When: March 24 to April 05, 2016 (13-day waiting period).
Where: Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia.
About the 2016 Rip Curl Pro: 55th year running; the world’s longest running surf competition.
The venue: The right point reef breaks of the Bells Beach Surfing Recreation Reserve. Rincon (high tide), Bells Bowl (low tide), and Winkipop as backup venue (if swell heights are lacking for Rincon and Bells Bowl).
WSL event slogan: “The Legacy Continues: Who Will Ring the Bell?”
Defending champion: Mick Fanning (4-time Bells Beach winner: 2001, 2012, 2014, and 2015).
Current Jeep Leaderboard #1: Matt Wilkinson.
Out due to injury: Felipe Toledo, Owen Wright, Bede Durbidge, Alejo Muniz, and Jack Freestone.
Injury replacements: Mason Ho, Stuart Kennedy, Adam Melling, Sebastian Zietz, and Dusty Payne.
Wildcards: Two surfers are yet to be determined.
Events unofficially adopted theme song: Hells Bells from Australia’s own AC/DC, played every morning before the first heat of the day.
About the locals: Victorian’s are among the most appreciative, knowledgeable, and competitive surf fans in the world.
Competitor’s creed: “You’ve got to win it to ring it.”
Bells history: Michael Peterson’s dominance in the early ’70s, Mark Richards’ late ’70s supremacy, Simon Anderson’s ’81 victorious debut of the thruster design in gigantic conditions, Tom Curren clinches ’86 World Title with a runner up finish, Mark Occhilupo’s brilliant backside winning performance in ’98, Mick Fanning’s 2001 win as a 19-year-old wildcard.
Surfline’s brief event forecast overview: “The first day of the event waiting period, Thursday the 24th, looks slow. However, a new SW swell looks likely to build slowly on Friday and peak sometime over the weekend of the 26th-27th with medium to possibly solid surf. Going further out, long range model guidance indicates a favorable pattern for at least medium size swell through much of the last week of March.”
My WSL fantasy surf team picks:
Tier A: John John Florence and Kolohe Andino
Tier B: Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Michel Bourez, and Conner Coffin
Tier C: Jordy Smith and Adam Melling
All the Live and On Demand action from the 2016 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach can be viewed on the World Surf League website.
