The development of a large swell predicted to reach 30-foot has encouraged Big Wave World Tour organisers to put both the Quiksilver Ceremonial Punta de Lobos, as well as the Billabong Pico Alto event on yellow alert. Should the swell further materialise, one of the events will be given the green light 48 hours before commencing the first BWWT stop of the 2014/15 season.
“Nervous anyone?” asked reigning Big Wave World Champ, Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker, after the announcement was made. Twiggy has been preparing to defend his BWWT title, and the Durban North charger will be keeping his eye on the swell with his board bag packed and ready should the event be given the go ahead.
Check out the official press release below, and stay connected with www.aspworldtour.com to find out if the event gets the thumbs-up.
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ASP BIG WAVE WORLD TOUR ON YELLOW ALERT
Today, the ASP Big Wave World Tour (BWWT) is placing the Quiksilver Ceremonial in Punta de Lobos, Chile as well as the Billabong Pico Alto, Peru on Yellow Alert with a projected 30-foot ocean swell heading towards the region. Event organizers will monitor conditions closely and, if conditions warrant, declare a Green Alert 48 hours prior to the commencement of either event.
“The system is moving northeast from Antarctica and expected to land in the region by July 2nd,” said Peter Mel, ASP Deputy Commissioner. “If the elements continue to align, we’ll declare a start to this year’s first Big Wave competition.”
“Currently, we have a few options with this swell: run in Chile, run in Peru, run in both or run in neither,” Mel continued. “Our goal is always to put the world’s best big wave surfers in the world’s best big waves and Mother Nature ultimately makes this call. There are a lot of moving parts to these events and we have a great team behind us in preparing for South America.”
The 2014/2015 BWWT season is divided into Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere components, hosting three possible events within each. The Southern Hemisphere window runs from April 15 to August 31, 2014 with event options in Chile, Peru and South Africa. The Northern Hemisphere window runs from October 15, 2014 to February 28, 2015 with event options in Mexico, the Basque Region of Spain, and Maui. A stellar lineup of chargers has been assembled to compete in the various events.
Marcos Monteiro (BRA) winning the 2011 Quiksilver Ceremonial in Punta De Lobos, Chile.
In recent history, the Brazilian big wave chargers have solidified ownership of their “turf.” Brazilians Marcos Monteiro and Carlos Burle will be looking for repeat victories of the aforementioned events run. Monteiro is the defending champion of the Quiksilver Ceremonial having won the Chilean event the last time it was run in 2011. Burle will be defending the title in Peru.
“We’re halfway through the Southern Hemisphere window and we’re very excited at the possibility of getting the season underway,” Mel said. “The Brazilians have had a lock on the South American events lately and we have a great field heading into these opening events for 2014. We’ll be closely monitoring all the charts and data in the coming days.”
A team of experts track swell systems all over the world waiting for those that will produce waves 30 feet or bigger for one of the six world-class big wave venues.
Carlos Burle (BRA) (left) and Frank Solomon (ZAF) take on Pico Alto in 2011.
Surfline, official forecaster for the 2014/2015 ASP BWWT season, is reporting the following:
We’re currently monitoring the development of a major storm in the southeast Pacific off the coast of Chile. If this storm behaves as forecast in the next few days, Chile and Peru will see the largest swell of the season, thus far, and one of the more impressive swells of the last couple years.
The current thinking is that this swell will rapidly build into central Chile late on Tuesday the 1st, with peak day at Punta de Lobos on Wednesday the 2nd with face sizes easily exceeding the minimum requirements to run a BWWT event (30′) if the storm behaves as forecast. The big wildcard will be local wind conditions which could prove to be problematic and will need to be closely monitored over the next couple days.
Pico Alto, Peru would see a peak day of swell on Thursday the 3rd and local wind conditions look manageable at this point.
Surfline is currently monitoring the development of a major storm in the southeast Pacific off the coast of Chile.
The 24-man fields for the Quiksilver Ceremonial Chile and the Billabong Pico Alto will be comprised of the ASP BWWT Top 12, led by reigning world champion Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker, as well as six ASP wildcards and six local wildcards:
ASP Top 12:
1. Grant Baker (ZAF)
2. Ken Collins (USA)
3. Nic Lamb (USA)
4. Shawn Dollar (USA)
5. Kohl Christensen (HAW)
6. Alex Gray (USA) (INJ)
7. Greg Long (USA)
8. Ryan Augenstein (USA)
9. Anthony Tashnick (USA)
10. Ramon Navarro (CHL)
11. Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
12. Tyler Fox (USA)
ASP BWWT Chile Wildcards:
1. Kelly Slater (USA)
2. Damien Hobgood (USA)
3. Mark Healey (HAW)
4. Nathan Fletcher (USA)
5. Marcos Monteiro (BRA)
6. Gabriel Villaran (PER)
Local Chile Wildcards:
1. Diego Medina (INJ)
2. Christian Merello
3. Fernando Zegers
4. Mekis Federico (INJ)
5. Reinaldo Ibarra Tapia
6. Rafael Ibarra Tapia
ASP BWWT Peru Wildcards:
1. Kelly Slater (USA)
2. Ben Wilkinson (AUS)
3. Makua Rothman (HAW)
4. Jamie Sterling (HAW)
5. Carlos Burle (BRA)
6. Gabriel Villaran (PER)
Local Peru Wildcards:
1. Miguel Tudela
2. Rafael Velarde
3. Kodiak Semsch
4. Tamil Martino
5. Alejo Loret Del Mola
6. Renzo Zazzali
The ASP will provide updates as they become available. Watch both events LIVE on ASPWorldTour.com.
