|
|
|
|
CHANGING SPAIN
Why this year's Billabong Pro Mundaka will be better than last year's
|
VIEWS:33343
COMMENTS:61
|
|
By:
Marcus Sanders
All photos: ASP/Covered Images
September 27, 2008
More than any event on the ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Mundaka has always had issues.
The wave itself is absolutely flawless when it's on - probably one of the best waves on Tour. And it's a great town. (*See economic impact of the contest below.) But it takes a big swell to actually break. And even when it does break, it's only good a couple hours either side of the low tide. And when it's not breaking, the backup venue of Bakio is possibly the worst wave in the world.
So, with all this in mind, and with a little breathing room between France and Spain this year, we figured it was time to talk to the ASP about the event. Surfline sat down with ASP CEO Brodie Carr and ASP Tour Manager Renato Hickel at their hotel in Hossegor on Friday, September 26th, just after the Mundaka press conference and before one last big weekend out in France. -MS |
|
SURFLINE: First off, we've heard that Bakio is no longer the backup venue for the Billabong Pro. BRODIE CARR: We wanted to get a better quality backup for the Dream Tour. Billabong came to us with Sopelana. It's more of a drive for the guys, but it's a way more quality wave. If we need to, we can run heats there, we can finish there. What's the wave like? RENATO HICKEL: It's not as good as Hossegor, but it's a bigger beach [than Bakio] and has three different peaks. And the formation of the beach, it takes way more than a quick swell to change the sandbars around. That's what happens at Bakio - you can have a good sandbar one day, and gone the next day, 'cause it's such a small beach. Sopelana also used to be an event on the world tour, back in the early nineties, the Sealand Pro. - Sunny won, Elko won. Many of the top 45 surfers have said they voted the Mundaka contest out -- why have it? BC: The guys are so used to surfing quality waves, that Bakio as a backup venue hasn't really produced quality waves for us in the past. We worked with Billabong to get Sopelana - and the guy's are happy with that. We also dropped the loser's round for this contest and allowed the pros to drop three events instead of two. So that if we have a chance, we want to run at Mundaka as much as we can - we'll only need three days to run instead of four. Have you talked about eliminating the loser's round for all events? BC: We've discussed it. We're always discussing different formats and different ways to make it exciting for spectators and easier for events to run -- 'cause a normal swell window lasts three days, and we currently need four days to run. Is this going to be the last year? BC: At the end of the event we'll discuss with surfers and Billabong and we'll see where it goes from there. Billabong is committed to doing an event in Europe, so there will be at least two European events -- and there could be more. We might have a couple rounds in Sopelana, and have six- to eight-foot Mundaka to finish off the event, and that might be all we need - maybe we'll keep it
--ASP Tour Manager Renato Hickel
Any other places you've thought about? BC: There's lots of great places in Europe - Canaries, Madeira, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal. But [this waiting period] is actually quite early for Mundaka. Maybe we could run it later, put it another event in between 'em. Quiksilver want to move back a week, so we start one week later here in France, put another event in between. And the later you go, the more consistent Mundaka is. RH: There is a problem with the tides and the running time of the event. It's shorter than any other place. But it's not as bad as the surfers say - everybody seems to forget the good days we've had there in past years. But we've just had such bad luck in the last three years, the guys are all over it. A lot of guys stay in France, so that event has always been a burden to them, driving down every day, etc. So you're going to talk about this after the event? BC: I'm actually heading home early and we're going to have an ASP board meeting in Australia. Graham Stapleberg from Billabong will be there, so we're going to talk about it some, and we'll assess it fully after the event. How does that process work, getting the surfers what they want? BC: The surfers are represented on our tech commit and they make up half of our board, so they have a lot of say in where we should go and how we should run. We'll listen to Kieren Perrow and Jake Paterson. RH: Keep in mind, this year we ran a vote, the majority of the top 45 agreed to have the event. We put it to an individual vote because we knew some of the opinion makers amongst the 45 didn't want the event there. But we needed to know on an individual basis. The majority said yes, that's why the event is on. We might have a couple rounds in Sopelana, and have six- to eight-foot Mundaka to finish off the event, and that might be all we need - maybe we'll keep it. Again, the option to move the event to later in the year is on the table. If another event comes to the Euro leg, then Mundaka can be the next one. BC: We're always looking at dates when we run the events - next year we're moving Brazil to June. Renato was there this year during when the waiting period will be next year, and the surf was firing. We want to be crowning our world champs in quality waves. *** OK, folks, the Billabong Pro Mundaka waiting period stretches from next Monday, September 30 to Sunday, October 12 and will be webcast LIVE via www.billabongpro.com -- Surfline is the official forecaster of the event, so you can be sure they're gonna get the best waves the North Atlantic can dish out. *** *The Impact of Surfing on the Local Economy of Mundaka by Melissa Murphy, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University + Maria Bernal, University Madrid, Spain (Commissioned by Save The Waves Coalition) Summary of Key Findings: 1) Surfing and the wave at Mundaka has an estimated positive economic impact of up to $4.5 million per year to the local economy - in a town of approximately 1,900 people. 2) Surfing at Mundaka adds up to $1.5 million in annual personal income to the local population, and supports up to 95 jobs. 3) A majority of survey respondents claimed they would no longer visit Mundaka if the wave there were significantly degraded. 4) Local businesses estimated that up to 40% of their customers are surfers or surf spectators, and that the loss of business due to the degradation of the wave and the cancellation of the Billabong Pro contest could be as high as 50%. *** Top 10 ASP World Tour Ratings going into the Billabong Pro Mundaka 1. Kelly Slater (USA) - 7852 points 2. Taj Burrow (AUS) - 6002 points 3. Bede Durbidge (AUS) - 5668 points 4. Adriano De Souza (BRA) - 5426 points 5. Joel Parkinson (AUS) - 5373 points 6. Mick Fanning (AUS) - 5310 points 7. Bobby Martinez (USA) - 5092 points 8. C.J. Hobgood (USA) - 4880 points 9. Adrian Buchan (AUS) - 4719 points 10. Jeremy Flores (FRA) - 4407 points Billabong Pro wildcards: Marcos San Segundo, Hodei Collazo and Mark Occhilupo. Comments: (61) Add Your Comment
delo 10/01/2008 05:34 PM
wct to morocco,good waves and good people. it's one of the longest wave in the world.open the world don't close it.
Kukai 09/30/2008 12:44 PM
Jeff and Spicolli, Both you guys are kooks. Da problem you folks get is... Cannot focus. Try focus on da real issues, yeah? Mundaka is holdin' out fo' one local grind restaurant. No L&L??? You know what mean? Why think da Irons Braddahs wen left da contest? NO local grinds! Come on. Try focus on da issues, yeah? Tamarak, Peru, Portugal, None get local grinds. Not even one shave ice maker. Only one thing left fo' do. Bring more events back to da islands. Honolua? Waianae? Bring'em
GLEN GREMILLION 09/30/2008 06:02 AM * PREMIUM MEMBER - Real Name
Portugal...hands down. West exposer gets all swells and has tons of reefs, points and beach breaks. Its inexpensive with the world class food/surf/night life. If you have ever surfed the places (France,Spain and Portugal) you would understand that the best spots have not even been looked at. Portugal ...hands down
Iggy 09/30/2008 02:34 AM
Ask Bartolomew,curren,carrol abaut mundaka,sopelana o meñakoz(breaks also with 20 feets)?
jimmy jazz 09/30/2008 02:25 AM
Breaks always pipe or hossegor?Mundaka is one of the best waves in da world & breaks all the year.Will you let this contest´cause don´t break the day you want to?
Dean 09/29/2008 05:24 PM
Good opition for back up spot. Sopelana is not a world class wave by anyones standards but its a fun little beach break thats easy as to surf. Forgiving wave with fun close out sections. Bakio is so bad, easy to make mistakes. Good move boys. Ah, and just over the hill from Sopelana is Menakoz. oooh that right has a little push in it, But if Menakoz is on you would probably take it back to Mundaka. For the knocked out few at Sopelana, Menakoz and drinks on the beach in nice little spanish bars.
Wes 09/29/2008 04:31 PM
Isn't this the dream tour? If you've ever seen Trilogy you know Mundaka can get perfect. But how often? There are many better and more consistent spots around the globe. What about GLand? mainland Mexico (pescuales, puerto,etc)? Ericeira? Periscopes? Come on!
Mike 09/29/2008 01:29 PM
Mundaka is fantastic, nowhere in europe will have such a nice chance for surfing and business. All is about business.
Neco 09/29/2008 12:37 PM
What about the Caribbean? An ASP event in PUERT RICO will be SICK. All types of waves there.
cheyne 09/29/2008 11:56 AM
yea they gotta have an event in indo! D-point would be a perfect arena
miguel 09/29/2008 10:22 AM
make it in portugal!!!
Dane Holland 09/29/2008 09:40 AM
Stay true to yourself Andy Irons. You've got nothibg to prove to anybody. You took three world titles during Slater's reign, you've got a wife and family. Go freesurf man - I want to see ya'rip like that. kudos Andy!
Gav B 09/29/2008 08:17 AM
Bring back Sunset,wipe Mundaka. Or go to portugal.
rodrigo 09/29/2008 08:05 AM
mundaka is very good in december,january and february,why not celebrate in this months?
aeschylus 09/29/2008 07:18 AM
Andy Irons' dropping out of a Billbong-sponsored WCT event is pretty weak. Man up AI!
View All Comments (61 comments)
Add Your Comment:
SURFLINE HOME PAGE(Your comment will be moderated by our staff before appearing on the site) MORE SURFNEWS |