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MUNDAKA LIVES
Despite rumors, the Billabong Pro Mundaka is on for 2008
By:
Mike Cianciulli
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April 9, 2008
32471 visits
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At the end of February, some surf-related websites out there reported that the 2008 Billabong Pro Mundaka was canceled.
Surfline dug a little deeper into the reeling, European lefthander's status on the ASP World Tour by going directly to the source. We cornered Billabong's VP of Marketing Graham Stapelberg to find out if Mundaka will live to see another visit from the circus.
Yes. After working everything through with both the surfers and the ASP, we feel that all the concerns Billabong had have now been addressed. This gives us a level of confidence that we'll have the best opportunity to get decent waves in the window provided. |
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WHAT SPARKED RECENT RUMORS THAT THE EVENT WAS CANCELED? Billabong did indicate to the ASP that if we have to run it under similar terms and conditions then it would not be in our or the surfers best interest to stage the event in 2008. We never wanted to force anyone to go and compete at Mundaka, and hence there have been ongoing discussions since last year's disappointing waves. The majority of surfers wanted another event in Europe and were willing to make compromises to the format to ensure the event went ahead. HOW DO YOU DEFEND THE MUNDAKA EVENT AGAINST SOME OF THE NAY-SAYING TOP 44? I believe the surfers have every right to voice their opinion, and some of their arguments about the viability of the event are very sound. IS THERE A DIFFERENT BACKUP VENUE BESIDES BAKIO THIS YEAR? Yes. A second backup venue will be Sopelana, which is another 20 minutes past Bakio. WHY DID BILLABONG INITIALLY DECIDE TO SPONSOR THE EVENT? At the time, we had some level of success getting really good Mundaka in early September, when we were using Anglet as the main site. We felt by going later in the season it offered Quiksilver an opportunity to go early with their event in Hossegor and we could take advantage of a better window for waves later in the season at Mundaka. This also guaranteed the surfers two back-to-back events in Europe, which no other leg on tour provides. "Billabong did indicate to the ASP that if we have to run it under similar terms and conditions then it would not be in our or the surfers best interest to stage the event in 2008."
-- Graham Stapelberg, Billabong VP of Marketing
WILL MUNDAKA CONTINUE TO BE A TOUR STOP AFTER 2008? This is too early to tell. However, no one can question Billabong's commitment to this event. We have done everything possible to appease all the factions, which is not always easy. IF MUNDAKA DOESN'T HAPPEN IN 2009, WILL BILLABONG LOOK FOR ANOTHER VENUE FOR THE BILLABONG PRO OR WILL THE ASP LOSE AN EVENT? We will consider other locations for 2009 if the Mundaka event is not a success this year. In my opinion, the new proposed format of reducing the number of surfers on the WCT from 48 to 36 -- which was agreed in principle at the ASP Board Meeting for implementation in 2009 -- would alleviate a lot of the issues at Mundaka and allow us to complete the event within one swell cycle. Unfortunately, the ASP Tech Committee and some of the surfers have reversed the decision to move forward with this proposal. SURFLINE HOME PAGE MORE SURF NEWS |
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