Caption: Original photo by John Gowings. Dreaming of a perfect lineup at Manu Bay by Gemini’s Nano Banana. We’ll see whether reality out-performs fantasy.
Whispers of a shakeup in the World Surf League Championship Tour lineup started churning out the rumour mill weeks ago, and the grapevine gossip was recently confirmed when the WSL announced that Jeffreys Bay in South Africa is out and Raglan in New Zealand is in.
The hot takes are everywhere! Having been caught up in a few emotionally charged debates about what the change means for surfing, we’re taking a swing at answering the most important question;
IS IT A WIN FOR SURFING?
A poll on Surfer has a slight majority calling this a bad decision, while 2025 Tour Champ Yago Dora voiced support for the move. The goofy footer is excited for the opportunity to put his forehand on show. A new wave on tour will add novelty. It keeps things fresh, so that’s a plus.
A common criticism claims the loss of J-Bay brings the overall quality of waves on the Championship Tour down. As arguably THE benchmark for right points, it’s a good, er, point. Manu is incredible, but it’s not J-Bay. Minus one.
A left break replacing a right adds balance, which is good. The contest to crown the best in the world should be fair as possible. Add that to the positive column.
New Zealand time zones are more accessible for Australian and American viewers, where the WSL’s largest audiences are tuning in. Sponsors will be happy with more eyeballs. J-Bay was allegedly one of the most expensive events to put on. Logistically, that’s another in the win column.
ADD SOME NEW COMMENTARY TOO!
Brief Side note - WSL, please spend those savings on adding Luke Cedarman to the commentary team. Based purely on how he revealed to 9-time NZ National Champion Billy Stairmand that he’d be competing (watch it here), this would be a win for everyone.
Caption: 9-time New Zealand National Champion Billy Stairmand (NZL) will pull on the CT jersey as a wildcard on home soil this May. Credit: WSL / Matt Dunbar
Back to the abacus; at a national level, it’s a loss for the South African surf and tourism industry (and caused something of a political scandal). Those benefits shift to New Zealand. So those two cancel each other out.
“It’s gonna be interesting, particularly for the young kids, to see how their idols surf their home break. And I’ll bet the day after the contest you’ll see locals look at the waves in their backyard in a whole new light, and I guess I’m excited by that,” comments Luke Hughes, owner of Raglan Surf Co, an iconic local shop. “I’ve grown up in Raglan. It’s a humble and small community, and we’re experiencing quite a significant boom. Since the news of the tour coming, it feels like we’re hearing a few more foreign accents around town. As a community, we have concerns… and we’ll do our best to ensure topics like sustainability and conservation stay top of mind and get the bandwidth they need.”
IT ALL ADDS UP
Do the math, and this is good for the tour, sponsors, and fans. That’s something we can all celebrate. A tour without J-Bay feels incomplete. Its iconic status and legacy is comparable to Bells and Pipe. The exclusion may hurt, but J-Bay remains an epicentre of incredible surfing and continues to wield enormous influence, even without a stop. We’ll doubtless see plenty of new clips like the one Adin Masencamp, star of Riding the Sardine Run, just dropped. And we expect a rise in great footage coming from New Zealand, like this clip from Rio Waida.
Contests are great! They inspire we mere mortals, push performance and technology, and provide real moments of greatness fans around the world get to experience live.
We’ll tune in to watch the best of the best rip into Manu Bay along with all the other stops, and dive headlong into plenty more arguments about conditions, organiser calls and scores. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
When more people see elite performances, that converts into more stoke. That’s undeniably good for surfing.
SURFING IS BIGGER THAN A PLACE
At the same time, it’s also important to bear in mind that contests exist within surf culture, rather than define it. A location change isn’t about what’s good or bad for surfing as a whole, because that decision is up to all of us, not tour directors. Contests are a part of surfing, not the other way around.
And when the topics get spicy and the conversations get heated, remember that so long as surfing benefits, surfers are the ultimate winners.
Caption : Insert the best of the best drawing new lines here. Credit: © WSL / Cory Scott
Oscar Langburne at Raglan –
https://youtu.be/ZFV1iYUvm5w?si=O4achsGbk6X3t4x4&t=133
Manu Bay Live Cam - https://www.youtube.com/live/7N_KlxHzrkg?si=XWC8dgpGHj7no8FL
Raglan Bar Live Cam - https://www.youtube.com/live/eOnZBBVqwb0?si=1WdxW5WBC_SnDKQ4