The forecast took a turn for the worst, forcing organizers to put the event on hold. Photo: Shannon Marie
Just 24-hours after a green light for the first paddle in event ever at Jaws, the BWT’s Peahi Challenge has been postponed. The projected swell took a major downturn, and event organizers decided to hold off for now.
“The challenge with BWT events is that we’re dealing with some of the rawest energy on Earth which is required to create waves of significant size,” said Peter Mel, WSL Big Wave Commissioner in a press release. “These swells require a very specific intensity, direction and wind component to be successful. 24 hours ago, the elements were aligning for Thursday and our Green Alerts go out 72 hours in advance to get all the various event mechanisms into gear. The swell looked good and so we called it on. Today, it’s a different story unfortunately and we’re calling the event off for now.”
The BWT Tour is a little different from the WCT. When the waves are there, the contest isn’t either. “The BWT has a standard to uphold and this swell is unfortunately not going to do it for us,” Mel said. “That said, we still have five weeks left in this year’s season and a very active North Pacific swell cycle so we’ll be monitoring conditions for Pe’ahi, Todos Santos and Nelscott Reef.”
