The Rip Curl Cup at Padang Padang is one of the best surfing events on earth. The wave, of course, is the real star of the show, but what makes it so great is that the surfers aren’t the usual suspects that we see on the WSL webcasts. Instead, the invite list is a who’s who of insanely good surfers who may or may not however many points one needs to hang on the ‘CT. They’re surfers that everyone wants to watch surf, and putting them on one of Indonesia’s finest waves makes for some damn fine viewing. Included in this year’s lineup are Tom Curren, Mason Ho, Bruce Irons, Clay Marzo, Jack Robinson, Ryan Burch, Mega Semadhi, Rizal Tandjung, Garut Widiarta, Lee Wilson, and a handful of others.
On Friday morning, a solid pulse hit the archipelago, and the wave at Padang Padang came to life. It a beautiful sight–but not quite consistent enough to run the event. Instead, the contest directors and the surfers agreed that an expression session was in order… and it was nothing short of an incredible show.
