Vaast has opened up his 2026 CT campaign with two heartbreaking losses by less than half a point. Photo: Hannah Anderson//WSL
Of the new class of rookies that joined the WSL Championship Tour in 2026, Tahitian Kauli Vaast is by far the most experienced. It’s hard to call him a rookie, already having competed in five CT events as a wildcard, including a 2022 finals appearance in Tahiti — not to mention an Olympic gold medal.
But even with the trove of CT heats under his belt, Vaast has been struggling just as much as all the other rookies. Through the first two events, he’s surfed two heats and both times lost nail-biters by less than half a point. The new elimination format, which gives no second chances, has been unforgiving for lower-seeded surfers like Vaast.
So aside from trying to make heats in the big show, Vaast is also joining the lineup of surf vloggers to start his own series, launching an episode for every CT stop. He just dropped his Bells Beach installment, where he shows the preparation for his first heat of the season. It was a glimpse of how harsh the new format can be — days of travel and training, and hours of freesurf sessions, to culminate in a single 30-minute heat.
“First stop of the year was a challenging one,” Vaast wrote. “But we live and learn, and we’re onto the next.”
The Australian leg may prove to be tough for Vaast, a goofy-footer, with three performance-oriented right-handers to kick off the season. He should get in his groove at the left point of Raglan, and especially the more tubular waves of Fiji, Tahiti, and Pipeline later in the year. But before that, he’ll have to rebound from two tough losses and perform at Snapper Rocks at the start of May.
