Aussie surfers get boost in new-look World Surf League
Australian surfers are the big winners in a revamped 2026 World Surf League calendar that has axed the divisive finals day to decide the world champions.
The WSL has announced a new schedule that sees the Championship Tour pushed back from a January start to kick-off at the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach in April.
This is followed by events at Margaret River and Snapper Rocks, giving Australian surfers a flying start in their home breaks.
"I think kicking off the tour in Australia is a great way to start," WSL boss Ryan Crosby told AAP.
"There's so many amazing and iconic waves in Australia, it was a really good opportunity for us to start the season here and we're excited to do that.
"This change actually does a lot of things for us as it puts us into a lot of really good swell periods for all of our venues.
"It also allows us to bring the European leg into October, which is a big help for us because that's a really good window for them so that'll be a big improvement.
"Portugal will now be in a time of year when the wave will actually be better."
There are still 12 events, with the Pipe Masters in Hawaii held in December the tour finale, with a win in that event worth 15,000 points instead of the usual 10,000.
The controversial mid-season cut has been softened, coming after the ninth tour stop at Lower Trestles in California, and that will be determined by a surfer's best seven results.
The fields of 36 men and 24 women will then be narrowed to 24 men and 16 women for stops 10 and 11 before all surfers return for the iconic North Shore event, with the top eight seeded.
Crosby said surfers were surveyed as well represented by a new advisory council in discussions about the changes.
"We were talking about what's the optimal form for the league and what do we want it to look like and the answer that kept popping up for us was finishing at the world's most iconic wave," Crosby said.
"We were listening to surfer feedback, to fan feedback - we spent a lot of time actually talking to the surfers."
Crosby didn't believe that the current finals format, where the top five surfers compete in one-day winner-take-all decider, was unanimously unpopular and said seeding surfers at Pipe meant they retained an element of it.
"There are differing opinions on the format across the board ... I will say I think there were more of the preferred the world champion being decided by aggregate points," the American said.
"This new system, in the way that it's designed, really gives us what we think is the best of both worlds."
West Australian Jack Robinson, who won at Bells Beach last month and has competed in the one-day finals over the three years its been held, backed crowning the world champion at Pipeline.
"Pipeline is what it's all about - there's a reason so many people dedicate their lives to mastering it," he said in a statement.
"Starting my 2023 season with a win at Pipe was huge, but I can only imagine how incredible it would be to end the season winning both the event and the world title there.
"It's exciting to see the CT keep evolving, and I'm stoked the WSL is listening to feedback and working hard to make the tour better for everyone."
THE 2026 CT CALENDAR:
CT1: Bells Beach, Australia
CT2: Margaret River, Australia
CT3: Snapper Rocks, Australia
CT4: Punta Roca, El Salvador
CT5: Saquarema, Brazil
CT6: Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
CT7: Teahupo'o, Tahiti
CT8: Cloudbreak, Fiji
CT9: Lower Trestles, USA*
CT10: Surf Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
CT11: Peniche, Portugal
CT12: Pipe Masters, Hawai'i, USA**
* End of regular season, start of post-season
** Full CT fields rejoin post-season surfers to compete for Pipe Masters Titles
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