Here in 2023, we have countless ways to consume amazing surf content, from YouTube to Stab Cinema and tapping into your favorite surf movies! Heck, even scrolling through Instagram can feel like a moving version of your favorite surf mag. There are clips and content everywhere. But watching surf competitions can be painstaking. With long lulls, lackluster waves, and questionable wave scoring, it’s no wonder surfing hasn’t become the mainstream sport everyone can relate to.
However, The WSL is changing this, working hard to create a platform where competitive surfing is not only watchable but exciting and engaging. The WSL’s mission is putting (as their slogan goes) the world’s best surfers in the world’s best waves. While several surf tours comprise the WSL, the overriding focus is on the Championship Tour and respective Challenger Series, where the world’s top high-performance surfers battle it out around the globe. In this post, we take a closer look at how this all works, so whether you’re new to competitive surfing or have lost track of how it works, take a seat, grab a cuppa, and let’s dive into the world of the WSL.
Table of Contents
What is The WSL?
The WSL is the largest governing body for international surfing. The largest platform for professional surfers to make or launch a career as a professional surfer. Comprised of multiple tours across various surfing disciplines, the WSL is a company that broadcasts and shows surfing to the world. With events all around the globe in epic waves, the free webcasts are a spectacle, and the WSL does an amazing service to surfing.
History of The WSL
Back in the day, competitive surf events ran much in the same way they do today, only they were held in sub-par conditions. These early days of competitive surfing were far from what we see today. The events were held in population centers (where sponsors could push their logos in front of as many beachgoing eyeballs as possible), but waves would often be crappy. Were’ talking Virginia Beach, Huntington Beach–1-2ft slop. There were no webcasts, no airs, and sponsorship deals were minimum, if not non-existent.
Eventually, surfers came together to end what was, at best, an average tour of average beach breaks. Icons like Rabbit Bartholomew from Australia were at the forefront of pushing the tour into what later became the Dream Tour, stating, “It should be the world’s best surfers, in the world’s best waves” after a series of meetings, the surfers, and the ASP came together to make a tour that was exactly that, with the addition of world-class surf spots such as Cloudbreak, Pipeline, G-Land, Snapper Rocks, the tour was transformed into the Dream Tour.
These incredible waves set the foundation for some of the most iconic moments in surf history, and the best surfing the world had ever seen. As surfing progressed, world tour surfers now had a platform to showcase what they could do in real waves. Through the early noughties, professional surfing entered its heyday; sponsorship deals were big, the waves pumped, and the most influential surfers of our time battled in epic rivalries! We’re talking Andy Vs. Kelly Slater, The Hobgood twins, Mick, Parko…Ahhh, what a time! Today, the ASP has rebranded as the WSL into a multi-million dollar company, but before we dive into the tours and WSL schedule, how does the WSL work now for surfers?
How Does The WSL Work?
Tours
The WSL comprises multiple tours. The Championship Tour (where the best surfers on earth compete for the world title), the Big Wave World Tour (where the best big wave riders compete in big wave venues when a swell is called on), the world longboard tour, and the junior series. By far, the biggest aspect of the WSL arsenal is the WCT, the championship tour, and qualifying for it is a big deal!
The Tour Schedule
The Championship Tour schedule is held at eleven different events in various locations. Over the years, locations have chopped and changed around due to rights issues, waves, contracts, and not mention Covid, but now as we move through 2023, the WSL looks to solidify a consistent tour schedule.
- Event 1: Pipeline, North Shore, Hawaii
- Event 2: Sunset Beach, North Shore, Hawaii
- Event 3: Supertubos, Peniche, Portugal
- Event 4: Bells Beach, Torquay, Australia
- *Event 5: Main Break, Margaret River, Western Australia
- Event 6: Surf Ranch, Leemore, California
- Event 7: Punta Roca, La Libertad, El Salvador
- Event 8: Saquarema, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
- Event 9: Jeffery’s Bay, South Africa
- Event 10: Teahupoo, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Event 11 – The WSL Final (Top 5 Only)
After event 6, the tour gets cut in half after the WSL announced the return of the mid-year cut, where the lowest-ranking surfers at this stage in the season fall off the tour and are relegated to the challenger series. This leaves a condensed tour for the reaming half of the season, with only the top-performing surfs competing for the final five places.
Then, the top 5 surfers do battle at Lower Trestles, a perfect a-frame in Southern California and a platform where high-performance surfing can go down! In the beys of the WSL. this is the venue to decide the World Title. This decision was met with much criticism in the surfing world as previously, the world title showdown would traditionally happen at Pipeline, in heavy barreling waves.
Each contest is held over a waiting period, which ensures good waves for each event. If you’ve ever competed at a local boardriders event, you’ll know firsthand that scheduling a surf contest on a random weekend doesn’t always give you good surf. The WSl typically has 10-day event windows and only runs a competition on the best days.
Ranking
Regardless of the tour, surfers are allocated points based on how they finish in a competition. Then surfers are ranked in the leaderboard system, and whoever has the most points finishes at the top and either qualifies for the WSl finals (if competing on the CT) or makes the CT (if competing on the Challenger series).
Competition Criteria
In contests, surfers are judged on various criteria, which change slightly depending on the waves, as the waves on the WSL tour require different styles of surfing. For instance, the long walls of Bells Beach require are more flowing/carving approach, while the Pipeline event is all about barrel riding, so getting the best waves according to what the event is about will determine surfers’ score for waves.
Each contest is made up of heats, where two surfers go head to head and are scored on their best two waves in that heat. Waves are scored out of ten, so surfers aim to get as close to a 20-point heat total as possible in a 40-minute heat. While events and conditions dictate what surfers are scored on, there are criteria that remain still through most events:
- Speed, power, and flow
- Combination of major maneuvers
- Innovation & progression
- Commitment & degree of difficulty
Surfer progress through heats and amass more points, which contribute to the overall rankings on the leaderboard. The closer a surfer gets to the final, the more points they are awarded.
Qualifying For The CT
To qualify for the Championship Tour, surfers must compete in the Challenger Series. Firstly, surfers must do well and rank highly in their respective regions. The WSL consists of several regions, including Oceania, Asia, Africa, the Pacific (Hawaii/Tahiti), North America, South America, and Europe. After competing in regional Qualifying events, surfers can qualify for the main Challenger Series. A series of 6 events held throughout the year in Australia, South Africa, California, Europe, Brazil, and Hawaii. The challenger series include 100 surfers per event, all looking for a coveted spot on the Championship Tour. Only the Top 10 from the challenger series make it on the CT, so spots are scarce and competition fierce.
How To Watch The WSL
There are various ways you can catch the WSL action. I’d suggest following their Instagram so you can stay up to date with when contests are held on and when the call is on or off. All the events are broadcasted live on the WSL website. YouTube and Facebook, and if the waves are good, are a spectacle to watch. Throw in the added drama of the mid-year cut and qualification for the tour or top 5, and you have a recipe for an exciting watch, something the WSL has been working hard to achieve.
The Future of The WSL
In my opinion, the WSL is pretty innovative in making events better to watch and more appealing to a broader audience (which, at the end of the day, is in their best interest). I don’t know what the future holds for the WSL, But what I do know is that when faced with issues and adversity, the WSL continues to progress and adapt to provide us with epic surf events. Notably, during Covid, when travel was restricted, and events were held at various locations in Australia, where they could have just canceled the tour.
Additionally, when the Margaret River Pro was canceled due to a spate of shark attacks in the area, the WSL tagged the remainder of the event onto their Kermas event and held it at Uluwatu. So whatever is happening and wherever the events are held, it’s a spectacle to behold and is by far the most exciting platform to watch surfing on. Oh, and it’s all FREE! So, whatever happen’s ill be watching! I mean, who doesn’t want to watch, the world’s best in the world’s best waves?
Luke is an avid athlete and the driving force behind Surfhungry, a vibrant online platform dedicated to sharing the joy and passion of surfing and water sports with enthusiasts around the world. With a deep-rooted love for the ocean and a lifelong commitment to riding waves, Luke’s journey as a surfer has inspired him to create a community where like-minded individuals can come together to celebrate their shared passion.
