I Dream of Macaroni
When Indonesian surfer, Rizal Tanjung, first made a mark on the international surf scene he was asked in an interview how long it would be till his countrymen would also make an impact. Surprisingly, Tanjung was coy about their ability to crack the world stage. Not due to their talent - after all, many Indonesians are exceptional surfers - but because of their inability to travel. Tanjung recalled his early days in Australia under the tutelage of Peter McCabe longing for rice meals and other comforts of home.
More than ten years on there still aren't many Indonesian surfers known beyond their country, though they now have another reason to stay home. Two fledgling surfing tours, the Indonesian Surfing Circuit (ISC) and the Asian Surfing Circuit (ASC) provide a very good incentive to opt out of long-haul international travel, and the Indonesian Surfing Circuit in particular is going to the sort of waves the Dream Tour once did.
Last night Rip Curl announced a new competition sanctioned by both tours: The Rip Curl Pro Mentawai will be held at Macaronis from the 23rd - 30th May. Macaronis is one of the most consistent and best shaped lefthanders in the world and an ideal competition wave with an outside barrel and an inside section that horesehoes around the reef.
Upon hearing the news the first thing I thought was 'webcast'. Would Rip Curl film the competition and beam it live to the wider world the same way they do their World Tour competitions? If Macaronis was six feet and firing I wouldn't care who was surfing, I'd tune in to watch it live as I'm sure many others surfers would too.
Unfortunately that won't be the case, at least not this year. "We'll probably go with high impact highlights packages on this one," said Rip Curl Advertising & Group Chairman, Neil Ridgway. I then asked him if webcasting from the Mentawais was even possible considering their isolation and lack of infrastructure. "You can do it, and we know how," though he wouldn't elaborate on when it would happen except to say that the Rip Curl Pro Mentawai fits into their "long term planning."
Long term planning. Was that a hint that Rip Curl has bigger designs on the archipelago? A WT event perhaps? Ridgway neatly evaded my not-so-subtle questions pointing out that Rip Curl sponsor the final event in the ISC calender, the Rip Curl Surf and Music Festival at Kuta, and also the Padang Padang Cup, an invitational with a month long waiting period. They're putting a lot of energy into domestic events, showcasing the Top 32 in Indonesian waves doesn't appear to be a priority yet.
But back to the Rip Curl Pro Mentawai: As expected the local Mentawai government view it as an excellent way to promote surf tourism with the attendant economic effects helping the poverty-stricken region. For their part Rip Curl will, for the duration of the event, be working in nearby Silabu building toilets for each household. They'll also plant native trees to offset the carbon footprint of the comp and replace trees lost during the October 2010 tsunami.
The Rip Curl Pro Mentawai will be held from 23rd - 30th May, 2012.
Comments
October 2012 tsunami!?!?!?! Now that's forecast!
Ha ha...2010! October 2010 tsunami!
Whats the Bet they hold the Search here
Would be awesome to tune in and watch a Macaroni's webcast!
Lower's Pro is on now, but the waves look weak today.
"Whats the Bet they hold the Search here"
You might be joking Surfer Joe but I'd place good money on Rip Curl doing something like that. If not at Maccas then somewhere in the Ments. Rip Curl are known for combining (subsidising) competitions with govt tourist grants. Not a good thing, not a bad thing, just the way they do business. They get co-operation from local govts and now that Rip Curl have three events in Indo theyve got a lot of sway. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see The Search held out there.
I reckon it would be great to see the search head to the ments. Viva la dream tour!
top to bottom bells
No mate... not joking fully expect to see the search at Maccas.. yes Rip Curl Asia is fully into Asia and has $$$$$$$Ingratiated$$$$$$ Itself with the Indo Govt...
On another note all will be Happy to Hear Brewser Rottmouth's arm is healed and he is back Surfing and Enjoying Life...
The Search at Maccas? That's not much of a search. How about somewhere new? There's gotta be hundreds of potential Search locations between Nias and G'land.
Panaitan has all bases covered in terms of waves/wind direction. Not really stepping on anyones toes out there either.
Ben
The Search is a Search when your not having a Search... It might have started as a Search but now its about $$$$ for Claw & his mates, selling product & returns for the "Industry"
Maccas is a perfect wave but how about a new venue with more serious consequences? That's always been the attraction to Chopes, when it's over 6ft there is a very serious risk of life or limb. Ryder is on the money, Panaitan would be a great call but it needs a pretty big swell. How about Lance's Right and the Surgeon's Table? Bloodsport for all.
I reckon Rip Curl have invited, and will continue to invite, a lot of criticism by calling their mobile comp 'The Search'. The description contained in the title is that they search for new waves but here's the crunch. If they blow the location of new waves they'll get heavily criticised (Read: la Jolla) and if they got to existing places (San Francisco, Uluwatu) they'll get criticised for not 'searching' for new waves.
Their marketing department had to tie themselves in knots after it was announced they were going to San Fran. Dylan Slater (I think) said something about 'rediscovering' forgotten waves. Maybe they were forgotten for a reason?
Personally think that if they're gonna keep the Search moniker then they should strike for the middle ground - steer clear of the la Jolla's of the world, forget the Uluwatu's and Ocean Beaches, and hit up the known but hard-to-reach joints: P-Pass, Rapa Nui, Punta de Lobos, Lofoten, those islands of N Brazil, etc etc...
And Panaitan too. Wouldn't mind seeing the Top 32 take on the end section at Apocalypse...
Bad luck to those whose "dream surf trip " coincides with those dates.
Plenty of other "dreamy" waves around besides macaronis. The place is often jammed full anyway, a contest their would be great to watch.
Yeah , sure is plenty of other spots around , but if your hard earned dollars ( as mine nearly were ) have gone into a booking for that week then you would be totally pissed . Don't forget Maccas still advertise the 2 buoy system is back in place and there can be only 16 surfers staying at the resort. I was in the Ments last year when the comp was on at Telescopes and there was no way an average plodder was going to get a wave anywhere around there at the time. Sure reecen it would be great to watch , but 3 weeks notice is pretty cruel to those already booked.
If they shrunk the field further to , say 24 surfers and made the event one or two days long, and mobile, there's enough waves in the Ments to not impact Rec surfers too much. In fact it might help by concentrating boat traffic in one area, leaving other spots less crowded.
They did those OP boat trips without too much hassle.
Taking over a prime spot for a week though would be a serious pain in the arse for someone who booked a trip there.
yeah true if you were booked into the macaronis camp that would suck. I would have thought that the comp would eat up all of the accomodation for the duration?
It was painful while i was there, tons of average joes, pros, firey latinos all vying for position, there was heaps of snakes, drop ins and a bit of agro. this was all before the two bouy rule, even so two boats and the camp guests and that is 36 guests all trying to get a piece of it.
The Maccas camp is in on the whole deal - that's where the competitors are staying. They wouldn't have accepted bookings during this period. The only surfers inconvenienced would be those on boats hoping to surf it.
The fact there's a luxury camp - actually, resort would be a more apt term - and they've co-operated with Rip Curl leads me to think that Maccas is a strong contender for a Search event sometime soon. Real strong...
Lets hope the moorings were part of that deal as well , back to what "reecen" stated 8 hours ago then.......
" a contest there would be great to watch "