Greg Long off Pe’ahi, at Jaws. Photo: ASP
The second half of the Big Wave World Tour kicked off yesterday with three events in three countries. The window runs until February 28, 2015, and centers around Northern Hemisphere storms sending swell to Punta Galea, Spain; Pe’ahi, Maui; and Todos Santos, Mexico.
For an event to run on the Big Wave World Tour, it requires waves of at least 25 feet, but obviously the bigger, the better.
Gary Linden, BWWT Vice President, said in a press release from the ASP: “Punta Galea has been very consistent two years in a row, while we have not run an event at Todos Santos for four years. I’m confident that Punta Galea will continue its great run and hopeful that this will be the year Todos Santos delivers.”
“To round out the season with a never before seen paddle-in event at Pe’ahi, Maui is the goal of a lifetime. Let the storms begin!”
With only one event run in Pico Alto during the first half Southern Hemisphere season, Hawaiian Makua Rothman is sitting atop the leader board after taking home the trophy. With such a tight race, it’ll be interesting to see what happens on the back half.
The prize money from the Dungeons Challenge and Quiksilver Ceremonial Chile has been carried over to the remaining contests bumping both Todos Santos and Punta Galea up to $75,000, and Jaws up to $100,000. With the stakes this high all we can do is hope Mother Nature delivers.
“We’re excited to get the Northern Hemisphere season under way,” says Peter Mel, ASP Big Wave Commissioner. “We’ve seen a unique weather pattern over the summer, which bodes well for an active upcoming season. All the signs are there so we’re very hopeful.”
We are, too.
Who all’s competing? According to the presser, the 24-man fields for the Northern Hemisphere events are comprised of the Top 12 seeded ASP BWWT surfers plus six ASP BWWT Wildcards and six Local Wildcards.
Top 12 BWWT Surfers:
Grant Baker (ZAF)
Ken Collins (USA)
Nic Lamb (USA)
Shawn Dollar (USA)
Kohl Christensen (HAW)
Alex Gray (USA)
Ryan Augenstein (USA)
Anthony Tashnick (USA)
Ramon Navarro (PER)
Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
Tyler Fox (USA)
ASP BWWT Wildcards:
Kelly Slater (USA)
Mark Healey (HAW)
Shane Dorian (HAW)
Dave Wassel (HAW)
Makua Rothman (HAW)
Gabriel Villaran (PER)
Pe’ahi Challenge Wildcards:
Ian Walsh (HAW)
Billy Kemper (HAW)
Albee Layer (HAW)
Shawn Walsh (HAW)
Kai Lenny (HAW)
Tyler Larronde (HAW)
Todos Santos Challenge Wildcards:
Derek Dunfee
Rusty Long
Nic Vaughan
Coco Nogales
Diego Petrusso
Vincent Yazbeck
Punta Galea Challenge Wildcards:
Adur Letamendia (ESP)
David Bustamante (ESP)
Aritz Aranburu (ESP)
Naxto Gonzalez (ESP)
Indar Unanue (ESP)
Jon Garai (ESP)
