We will not see competition on these waves this year. Photo: WSL
The World Surf League continues to deal with every curve ball the pandemic throws at it. This time the League was forced to cancel the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, one of the tour’s most historic events, after an agreement on quarantine could not be reached with the local Victorian Government. The WSL had just announced earlier in the week that the Newcastle Pro had been officially added to the tour. Dropping Bells means there are still three events on the Australian schedule including Margaret River and the Gold Coast.
“The WSL made the extremely difficult decision to cancel the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach CT event for 2021,” reads a release on the website. “The decision was made after the WSL was unable to secure a pre-approved bubble in Victoria ahead of the event, leaving significant risk attached to sudden public health measures in reaction to COVID-19 such as lockdowns, state border restrictions, and event cancellations. The WSL respects and understands the decision of the Victorian Government in this challenging time.”
One silver lining however, is that the WSL will inked a new deal with local officials to keep Bells on the schedule in the future. “The Championship Tour (CT) will return to Bells Beach in 2022 and beyond thanks to a new three-year deal that was signed between the WSL and it’s longtime partners Rip Curl and the Victorian Government. The deal secures this iconic event into the future and ensures that any WSL World Title hopeful will need to navigate the notorious Bells bowl if they have any chance at becoming a World Champion.”
The pandemic has easily made this one of the most challenging times in professional surfing history. Last year’s entire remaining schedule was cancelled after the March COVID storm hit with events going dormant. The schedule and entire tour was then revamped with Pipeline becoming the opening event, which ran in December. But after members of the WSL staff came down with COVID and state’s like Hawaii and California tightened COVID protocols, the Sunset Open was cancelled and the Santa Cruz Pro was postponed. After all that, it goes without saying that surf fans everywhere are ready to watch the best surfers in the world do what they do. The season resumes in April at Newcastle.
