When the Championship Tour surfers commenced their world title quests in April, none of them knew they’d be headed to the Philippines. Cloud 9 was a mid-season addition to the tour to replace the Abu Dhabi wave pool, caught in the crossfire of war.
The surfers, accustomed to chlorinated waves in the title race, suddenly had to prepare for a reef on Siargao Island that many had never surfed. They’ll have to adapt quickly because the stakes couldn’t be higher.
As the penultimate event, Cloud 9 will set the stage before the season finale at Pipeline. You can bet the eventual world champs will have good showings in the Philippines.
Here are five storylines to keep an eye on as the Philippines Pro unravels from October 31 to November 11.
Double back-to-back champs
Neither 2025 world champions led the overall rankings during the first two-thirds of the season. But now, with two events remaining, Yago Dora and Molly Picklum are sitting in the top spots, creating a real possibility to see both surfers defend their titles. That hasn’t occurred across the men’s and women’s tours since John John Florence and Tyler Wright went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.
Some questioned the value of Dora’s 2025 title without Gabriel Medina and John John Florence. However, in 2026, going toe-to-toe with Medina, Dora has hushed the naysayers by putting on a well-balanced performance across the tour venues. He’s only failed to make the quarterfinals three times this year and has stacked up quality results across right and left points, beachbreaks, and barreling reefs. He heads into Cloud 9 with a nearly 3,000-point lead over second-place Italo Ferreira.
Meanwhile, Picklum surged to the top of the women’s rankings with a win in Portugal. She’s had a consistent season and has capitalized on poor results in recent events from other title contenders. Picklum has been a standout at Pipe, making the final in 2024, so she’ll look to build as much cushion as possible in the Philippines to set up her title defense on the North Shore.
Griffin Colapinto is peaking at the right time
Griffin Colapinto went through a rough patch mid-season with early exits at the Gold Coast, El Salvador, and Saquarema. He already has three 17th-place finishes that he needs to throw away (each surfer gets three throwaway results), so he can’t afford anything other than excellence from here on out. With his win in Portugal, he skyrocketed from sixth to third in the rankings and suddenly is within reach of his first-ever title.
Colapinto has called Cloud 9 the “most high-performance wave on tour.” The aerial and tube combinations on his forehand will bode well as he looks to gain ground on the pack of goofy-foot Brazilians that sandwich him in the rankings.
He’ll face the winner of Cole Houshmand and Filipe Toledo in round two. While it’s been a down year for Toledo, Cloud 9 looks to favor his surfing, which could be a formidable obstacle for Colapinto.
If Colapinto can improve his position heading into Pipeline, he’ll have a real chance to bring the first men’s world title to California since Tom Curren in 1990.
Can Carissa Moore hang with the aerialists?
Carissa Moore is less than 2,000 points behind Molly Picklum for the rankings lead. With a Pipeline win already under her belt, she will be among the favorites at the final stop of the season. For Moore, Cloud 9 is a spot where she wants to at least hold her ground among a slew of young female aerialists whose surfing is, on paper, better suited to the wave.
In round one, Moore will face aerial savant and Philippines Pro wildcard Sierra Kerr. She also has Caity Simmers on her side of the draw. While we know that Moore has an air or two in her arsenal, if the conditions are calling for ramps, some of the younger competitors could cause problems for her. However, the long range forecast looks to provide healthy doses of swell, and Moore’s prowess in the tube could give her an edge.
If Moore can earn a sixth title in 2026 after a two-year break, it would be the story of the season. She just needs to remain within striking distance for Pipe.
Sierra Kerr’s warmup lap
It’s been years since a rookie’s arrival on the Championship Tour has been as anticipated as Sierra Kerr. The 19-year-old daughter of former tour surfer Josh Kerr has long been grabbing attention with her innovative surfing. She’s already qualified for the 2027 tour, and her Cloud 9 wildcard will be a little peek into the type of women’s surfing that we are eagerly expecting next season.
It won’t be Kerr’s first time in a CT event. She also earned a wildcard for the 2024 Fiji Pro, but Kerr battled through the effects of Lyme disease last year and took time away from competition. Cloud 9 will be her first CT event as an adult.
Kerr will join the fellow stars of Red Bull’s Now Days film on the tour. The future for women’s surfing is looking brighter than ever.
Is it too late for Erin Brooks?
Looking at the history of professional surfing, a surfer who wins three events in a row usually goes on to win the world title that year. Kelly Slater, Tom Curren, Sofia Mulanovich, and Steph Gilmore are among the legends in that exclusive club. Erin Brooks impressively won three consecutive events of her own this season, but she’s still got ground to make up to earn a world title.
Brooks has turned a disappointing season into an intriguing title run. She’s in fourth place overall after her fifth-place finish in Portugal, about 6,000 points off the lead. It’s not impossible to overcome, but it will require excellence from Brooks and some poor showings from Moore, Picklum, and Gabriela Bryan, the surfers ahead of her — and three surfers who are hard to bet against.
Brooks drew Tyler Wright in round one. Even after three wins this season, most of the surfing world feels we have yet to see the best of Brooks. She has some aerials that she hasn’t unleashed this season. If she’s going to complete her turnaround and make a run at the 2026 title, she’ll have to utilize her full arsenal on the ramps in the Philippines.
