#WorldSurfLeaks

TURBULENT TIMES: A giant reconfiguration is brewing beneath the surface. Photo WSL

There are gigantic changes afoot in the World Surf League. In fact, the winds of change are blowing a gale. Some of the surfers aren’t that happy, but them’s the breaks.

Being a professional surfer means that you don’t get to be taken too seriously if you whinge a lot. You do have a dream life, and the best job in the world.

The rumours circulating from the WSL, emanating from this article go something like this: The Championship Tour is going to start in Hawaii at the beginning of 2018. This means that next year, the CT won’t end in Hawaii at Pipeline. It’s not a bad idea starting in Hawaii. The months of January and February are great months for surf on the North Shore, and the season will start with a Pipe bang as opposed to a Snapper whimper.

THE END IS NIGH: The new CT looks set to finish in the thunderous waves of Chopes. Photo WSL

The tour will end in September, and it might end at Chopes. There will be fewer CT events on next year, and there may be one at an inland wave pool constructed by the Kelly Slater Company. I have no idea what events will be dropped, but JBay should be safe, after having the best event in the history of the sport this year and after signing a multi-year deal with Corona. Rio might not have an event, and the French event might be canned. Some might say that's fair.

At the end of the surfing year some time in September, the top tier (six) surfers in the world will head off to an exotic location (Mentawais probably) to decide the World Title. Maybe six men and possibly four women will duke it out in an attacking sudden-death format, with #6 vs #5, the winner vs #4, winner vs #3, winner vs #2, and ending with winner vs #1. Seems a bit unfairly favoured for number 1, as it is in South Africa, but then in the normal system, he would have probably been world champ anyway. It will be beamed around the world via the biggest production the surfing world has seen.

WORLD DECIDER: The world title might be decided on a perfect day in Indo. Photo WSL

Once the world title is decided, the Qualifying Series kicks in, and runs until the first event on the CT, ultimately making a CT season and a QS season. Surfers who have qualified on the CT via the CT can take this time off to train; chill and regroup. The others can then attack the shorter QS season with vigour.

The cost of competing will be dramatically reducedWith a very short, and most likely intense, QS season, the cost of competing will be dramatically reduced and it might prove to be way more viable for many surfers around the world. For South Africa, the cost angle will obviously be of benefit, but when it comes to the recently launched City Surf Series, it remains to be seen what will transpire.

It is all rumours, leaks and hearsay, but working on the very theory that nothing is real, we can throw our own theory and ideas into the mix about what it means for South Africa.

The Ballito Pro will need to change dates to fit into the QS season, and these dates will not coincide with the ZA winter or school holidays. At best it will be in spring time. It is doeable, and can easily work, but one hopes the organisers will be flexible so that our surfers get a fair chance in a local QS10,000 event. It shouldn't be a problem with the team we have behind this event.

TOUGH JOB: But someone has to do it. Wilko would be in the final six at the moment. Photo WSL

There is also a chance that a few of the smaller QS1,000 events might be cut from the shorter calendar. Some might see this as devastating for our surfing future, but it might necessitate a rethinking of these events into possibly Surfing South Africa events or specialty events. We can still have lots of fun here with a bit of ingenuity; something the surf industry has plenty of. Remember that this is just rumours and conjecture.

A sudden-death format could be enthralling, almost gladatorialThe Grand Finale of the CT is something to be excited about, provided you go about getting yourself into the coveted cut-off list. Basically, if it were to happen right now, the lucky six would be, in order of their current ranking, Jordy Smith, John John Florence, Matt Wilkinson, Owen Wright, Julian Wilson and Adriano de Souza.

Six places? That's a pretty elite group. Still, a sudden-death format could be enthralling, almost gladatorial. It would only be produced for webcast so there would be very little infrastructure with no spectators onsite, and it might be held at a place like six-foot HT’s, which will make for gripping viewing. It’ll be fast, and it’ll be high action, without losers’ rounds and not much waiting around. What’s not to love?

PERFECT QUEST: Less waiting. More perfect days. What's not to love? Photo WSL

As for the actual CT format changes, that remains to be seen, but we can be expecting another leak soon, as disgruntled most likely lower-seeded pro surfers vent their displeasure at the proposed changes. Most interested parties think that there will be a somewhat ironic elimination of the non-elimination rounds, as well as possibly more utilisation of the Slater dual heat system to get through events quicker, tapping into good swells without wasting too much time. These are positive changes for the spectators.

Change is good. The WSL has been fairly donkey for a very long time now, and we have all been expecting some sort of change. At the beginning of the year, in Australia for the Quiksilver Pro and Roxy Pro Gold Coast events, everyone mentioned that there was change in the air, that it felt like something was about to happen.

NATURAL WONDER: The real wave pool kicks in and we are there to share. Jeremy Bishop

That kind of fizzled out until the WSL announced a new CEO in Sophie Goldschmidt in July this year (story here), and then it continued along the road to fizzling out again.

Now the rumours are pouring out, and we need to embrace whatever comes our way. Much like when Zuckerberg makes fundamental changes to the Facebook that we know, complaints and chagrin don’t make an iota of difference.

One just needs to adapt to the new system, and the fastest adaptors (adopter?) are usually the most successful.