Organisers look north for Margaret River Pro solution
Following the interruption of this year's Margaret River Pro, Surfing WA is looking north for an alternative location for its event.
This year's contest was postoned due to consecutive shark attacks in the south-west while the competiton was running. Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferriera made their fears public on social media which forced the WSL to cut short the contest. It was ultimately finished at Uluwatu.
Surfing WA, however, are contracted to run the contest for another year. They also hold hopes of running a top-tier contest for many years to come.
Last week they approached Shire of Northampton chief executive Garry Keefe and representatives from the Kalbarri Boardriders club to discuss moving the competition north. Both Jake’s Point at Kalbarri and Gnaraloo were floated as possible locations.
To no-one's surprise the local tourism bureau and the local mayor are backing the move.
"An event like this coming to our Midwest Batavia Coast region would be certainly beneficial, I think it will showcase our region," Shire of Northampton president Craig Simkin told the ABC.
While Kit Rayner, President of Kalbarri Boardriders Association, said, "we at the Kalbarri Boardriders and surfers were all opposed to it."
"They want a world-class left-hander on their schedule and Gnaraloo and Kalbarri were put in the equation and the Bluff I think."
"Most travelling surfers would like to keep Kalbarri how it is and same goes with Gnaraloo."
"We hope it just goes back to WSL and they say 'no, the boys don't want it, we'll leave it at that'."
In 2007, Gnaraloo was proposed as a site for the Rip Curl Search contest but it was met with heavy opposition. The contest was eventually held at Arica, Chile.
Surfing WA will have a similar fight if they're to get any of the north-west locations over the line.
Comments
Now this could be good to say the least, bring it on WSL........
You’ve obviously never been there with a statement like that. Stick to living behind your keyboard .
Worst call I’ve ever heard. If Surfing WA are truly backing this call they need to be dipped in tuna oil and thrown to the sharks.
Surfers of Australia- and the world - let’s unite and tell these fuckwits what we think of their idea to make money at the expense of something that belongs to all surfers . The joint will be irreparably fucked if this ridiculous plan goes ahead.
Na never been mate, maybe you can tell me how good it is, maybe the boys could sell bangers in white bread to the tour homie........
Totally agree, it could be amazing for Kalbarri if it comes off!! The local businesses could really do with the boost to their economy and the town in general. Fingers crossed!!
I'm with the Kalbarri locals on this one. Those guys do it tough and sacrifice plenty to surf those waves. There's no upside for the regular surfers in bringing attention to the place. Can you imagine car loads of brazos arriving on mass thinking they are the next Toledo.
I'm undecided about a comp up there,although it would be good to see the"pros" at Gnarloo. What shits me VL is your comment "Those guys do it tough and sacrifice plenty to surf those waves." I'll tell you whats tough mate,driving 700kms on your one holiday a year away from the wife and kids,camping in a mouse plague and getting hassled out by some fukwit "local"[blow in] who can barely link two turns together and they tell you its tough living there and they have done the hard yards. Poor barstards, living at the pumping waves. I'm not complaining,just giving you a reality check.
Yeah not sure how tough most have it living up there. Plenty of cash up that way. The swarms of city dwellers escaping the winter certainly know how good it is.
I think they can sacrifice 2 weeks of their surfing life to let a contest like this go ahead, they all should be encouraging it!! Most of the kalbarri locals want it to happen for your information. It’s only the small group of surfers that are against it for apparently environmental reasons.
Is it really less sharky?
Always thought both south and north WA was pretty active with marine life including sharks.
Bulldoze the dunes allready!
Last time I checked up north was just as popular as down south.....it’s not the 90’s
I really hope it goes ahead especially at jakes ,on current tour time frame they will be plagued with howling north easterlies and waiting for a rogue swell that will last one day. Another grab for glory, time wsl went east ,fark east.
Any surfer who lives in WA or has visited WA and thinks this is a good idea should be ashamed of themselves.
I don’t think it will ever get off the ground. Just interesting to hear the negativity. Not like it’s a hidden secret.
Ashamed why? That’s ridiculous
They had the pros turn up for an even at toomies once or twice before. I don't think that will ever happen again, as for Kalbarri, I reckon it just won't happen. There will be a lot more opposition than support for either venue in WA.
I think ID should post his comment on Medina's insta page, then it certainly won't happen.
Gnarloo contest was Blocked for 2008. I should know i had a large part of blocking a "search event" the year previous at a specific location in another country.
Some local W.A. surfers contacted me about how i went about Blocking the search event from running.
Gnarloo won't work for a few simple reasons
No Infrastructure Available
No Accommodation available.
No Hospitals in close proximity to the contest site.
No Food Available.
No Electricity Available.
Damage to natural environment.
Holding the contest at gnarloo would put the WSL in a position of huge liability and put the competitors at an even greater risk then they would be in at any other event on tour.
Further more it has a small probability of running a full day as the wave is tide dependent.
therefore they would have to wait for two swells for the contest to run it's course.
Well said Kit Rayner. Fuck off WSL!
Well said Kit Rayner. Time to move the WSL away from WA .
If sharks are the problem what about building a WSL licenced pool in Perth and have margarets there, Facebook could sponsor the build get some epic signage around the pool. And also move snapper to the new wave pool in Yeppoon. And Bells to the Melbourne pool. The sooner Brazo’s forget waves are in the ocean the better.
Fuck I really wish Professional surfing would just implode and fuck right off into oblivion.
Just surf margs like you were contracted to do you f'ing queers. Professionals my arse
Sack KP and give this man the Commissioners role....
I can see that the circumstances of what took place last April were unprecedented. Factors that need to be taken into account were the presence of a whale carcass at umby's just Sth of Lefthanders break. Fisheries did nothing about this and with the contest running within cooe WTF. Also there was a shark activity warning and sighting before the first attack at the same break of attack 1 yet those surfers chose to go out. Also there was beach closures and signs at Lefties before the 2nd attack happened, that muppet again chose to disregard warnings and paddle out. So the stupidity and ignorance of a few lead to the tragic happenings that day.
In reality there is no way they can relocate to Gnaraloo, just to isolated. its obvious that Jake's is a no-go and probably would lead to an onshore clash with locals. Lets see a concerted effort to keep it where it is and run it...look at the interactions with noah's at JBay this last contest yet it kept running, I know that an attack is a different scenario completely but we have ways and means of keeping the contest areas safe. At the time I felt extremely nervous entering the water for the next few weeks but mostly the surf was puss after they canned Margs event so time numbed the reality of the twin attacks. Lets see some forward plans and FFS Surfing Wa and the Shire of AMR get your act together with checking the coast and removing dead f**kin whales from around the surf breaks .ok.
Leave the contest in Margaret River. It is the commercial hub of surfing in WA. Kalbarri and Gnaraloo are outposts. Let them be.
Yes remove the dead whales. Not rocket science.
There were sharks in J bay and that was managed. Marg's can do it too.
Leave it in Marg's.
It’s definitetly no less snarky up there. One of the couple of places I’ve been chased out of the water spearing. Tigers, whalers and reefies everywhere.
And it would be nice to not expose the place anymore to the world...
"We hope the wsl see the boys don't want it an give up on the idea" good luck with that ! The wsl , surfing wa and tourism wa don't give a fuck about anyone or anywhere a long as they get what they want. Time to kick the greedy fuckers out of WA all together before they turn us into another Bali. Get serious mid west surfers, the environmental angle is the way to argue these guys down, nobody takes the disguntled local surfer angle seriously ,don't give them a foot in the door. It's not even the chaos of the event taking over your spot for a month it's the exposure bringing every kook in the world's eyes on your spot and to trample over you and your town for the following year/years.
Oh boohoo Campbell, grow up!
Send ‘em up to The Bluff and leave them to fend for themselves, a Lord of the Flies style comp. that would be interesting.
Another clueless thoughtbubble from Surfing WA sellouts. Sad desperation to justify their own existence. Enough already.
Pro surfing is gayer than slam-poetry.
Perfect idea wsl! When culminated we can throw the rubbish and scaffold straight into the ocean because nobody even cares hey
Add damper making to the competition
That's a good idea.
Every cloud has a silver lining
It could be a ‘pay’ to ‘play’ for entry into the comp in the form of a goat slaughter on the shores of the world heritage listed Ningaloo Reef, protect the reef but farm and destroy the land with feral species.
100 goats gets you into round one, 200 into round 3. If you want to advance into a semi final without getting your hair wet you’ll have to present with 500 goats, 2 illegal Indonesian fishing boats, 6 cars driving slow in the right hand lane and that bloke that keeps pulling your cray pots/mud crab traps.
Everyone is a winner
Coral Coast Goat Aware Pro
Do the 'local surfers' pay rates or give back to the community in the Shire of Northampton?
WSL could show the 'local surfers' how to dig a pit toilet .... it takes 2 -3 guys, 3hrs with a shovel, bita driftwood, tarp, wire & paper.
FUCK OF WSL YOU DISRESPECTFULL CUNTS THESE PLACES ARE SACRED.
Well said.
haha, sacred... seriously? It just a surf break mate, what a bunch of whingers, ocean is there for all, WSL or not, big deal if there's one competition there for a week. This country is just becoming a big bunch of sooks who love to complain about any CHANGE!!
Ummm, actually no . It’s not just a surf break. It’s a refuge from the shit the modern world throws at you . The fact of how little it has changed is reflected in the attitudes of those that have been lucky enough to spend a bit of time there.
You ever been Muzza ?
Yep totally agree with you Muzza. The way these guys carry on about a surf spot, you’ve think they owned it!! The comp happens for 2 weeks, get over it!!
Don't see any problem with holding it at jakes- joint full of locals who won't share a wave with anyone anyway and definitely no secret.
Sam it might not be a secret anymore to aussie surfers, but to the hundreds of thousands of surfers world wide, i bet a large portion of these don't know about some of these places. Imagine how many numbers of seppo'ss, brazzo's and japenese are going through Bali each year. Even a small % of these travelling surfers going to the NW will add to the crowds. Yeah they might not get a wave but it only adds to the stress and danger of an already wild place. I had no idea about that heaving righthander that they finished the brazil comp on, but i definately do now thanks to WSL.
you gonna travel all that way to surf it now?
Man the WSL kinda reminds me of that show Britain's Got Talent . At first everyone thought it was about finding the next big thing, now it's become obvious it's just about making "good TV" . A self serving money machine for those involved, selling the skills and dreams of the contestants to as many people as they can. When they gave those heats to John John and Medina at Pipe , for me, any shred of legitimacy left in WSL just floated off into the Pacific. They became mildly interesting TV ( unless of course it was at pumping Cloud break or Pipe, then it's prime telly..oh hang on they also disappeared into the Pacific...not to worry, Kelly sold us a pool). Sure the NW is no secret but the WSL can get f@&$#d if they think they can sell it to the masses just to boost the ratings. Let the pros do their forehand wrap to tweaked spinny spin some where else. Legitimize the "sport" all the way to the Olympics and sell articles telling every man bun where to avoid crowds, whatever. Just do it somewhere else, we don't want your Guy Sebastian tour we've got our own groove going on and it's a bit country and its very western.
I'm pretty certain W.A. can match WSL Shark Quota of 3 interference calls...
But that's not why the event was packed up and shipped out to a more exotic location.
WSL are banishing WA for a more obvious reason...Money! Rather sponsorship altercation.
The one main thing WSL wants from all it's venues is Tour Sponsor compliance.
Corona dominates the Entry Points {INTERMISSION} Winners circle everywhere but here.
Margaret River Pro main sponsor "Drug Aware" is anti Alcohol or Anti Corona.(Pissed Off!)
Massive 2018 Drug Aware Branding with hometown Surfing W.A. Stickers sent WSL packing.
Ok! So It sounds a bit goody two shoes and yes I thought that also until...
Uluwatu CT kept Margaret River Pro Branding & Local W.A. Trophies...(Well that's nice!)
But gladly dropped all dorky "Drug Aware" and "Surfing W.A." sponsorship from event.
Uluwatu CT event was now proudly sponsored by "Corona" + usual WSL Hanger ons...
The event was surfed in a sea of Corona overflowing temples into a sea of Corona.
The Winners bathed in Corona with Corona wall paper backdrop.(Anything but Drug Aware)
Exactly what Margaret River Drug Aware Pro has fought long and hard over.
All I'm saying is WSL WA Drug Aware Wavepool Pro was cancelled due to a cracked tile....
WSL WA." Corona" Shark City Pro 1st round has just started.... Cheers ~ Hic # Your Shout!
Nailed it again.
Love it TB, thats gold and quite a shade golder that all that Corona fairy wee. Take a bow.
Fine clarity in that thinking.
Not really sure what all the fuss and negative comments are about?? All the WSL wants to do is to put the surfers in the best waves they can. What's actually wrong with that? They aren't in charge of what will happen and what will not - they are just putting forward a proposition FFS. Everyone bitches and wines about places like Brazil so they are looking elsewhere and yet everyone is still bitching and whining. Fuck they can't win can they lol. The media tells us they might be interested in Kalbarri and Gnaraloo yet as we all know its the local community who will decide whether it will go ahead or not. At least they are getting an opportunity to make a call. If it is of benefit to the community then great. If not then it won't happen. Don't understand why all the hate towards the WSL who are just trying to make the tour more enjoyable to watch.
Totally agree with you Maddog, I don’t understand all this apathy either. I thought the kalbarri surfers would be behind it myself but they whinged about the fragile ecosystem not handling it..Come on boys, thats sad. The town could really benefit from it and its up to the whole town and not just the surfers. Where’s the positive thinking. I’m sure the young groms would love watching their heroes on the beach!
Sounds like glittergirl wouldn't mind a bit of "hero" watching herself or is she just a surfing wa minion trying infiltrate a forum perhaps. "i though kalbarri surfers would be behind it" ha ha ha ha
Just googled,
Jakes point Kalbarri surfing- 13300 results
Gnaraloo surfing-67000 results (there is actually 116000 on second search without including surfing.)
The enemy is within ...................
would have thought that the remotness plus gnar factor would be enough of a preventative measure to most, and surely if your a 'local' (side question: how do you determine local status: do you need to live at the one site 24/7, what kind of proximity are we talking, and can you only surf that place specifically and never travel to any other spot ever?), you would get/take anything you wanted ala padang padang?
Local status ? No idea....
Just seems a lot of people including the surf media have had a hand in exposing these waves.
From all account they are fickle, tide dependent, remote and sharky as all.....
Gnarloo is probably suffering from not having locals in some ways.
If people keep posting photos on social media and hash tagging them . Well it pretty simple they get more exposed. What comes next ? ..........
WSL in town would be only marginally worse than the hoards of grey nomads and Perth family’s. Coastal Highway more congested than peak hour traffic in Perth 6 months of the year!
Noticed that from about peak mining boom onward. Oh for the Brand when there was nary a car on the road heading north in winter...
kookfactor that is an enlightening point. Jbay: competitor gets physically attacked by a great white during competition. Also been a few instances (eg Taj Burrow) where competition is halted because sharks have spooked competitors out of the water. Jbay contest held by: WSL
Margaret River: had some attacks occur nearby but no competitor has been hastled anything like what has happened at J-bay, Margs contest held by: the very same WSL
It is hard to rule out the existence of an underlying agenda for the WSL here.
I saw sharks most days up in the Northwest on the one trip I did. Shark risk explanation doesn't compute.
One would have thought Surfing WA and the WSL have inflicted enough negative publicity on themselves recently. Can’t see this ending well.
Up north has way more sharks .... 140K to hospital too when someone gets nailed (it will happen at Gnaraloo guaranteed)
The WSL are using the shark issue as an excuse to try and get back in up there... FUCK OFF WSL YOU GREEDY SELF SERVING WANKERS.... it will ruin up north for sure
Bluff / Gnaraloo -Jon Hines 2012 attacked helped by Camel
Spot on yocal. Move the contest from an SW WA that has good waves, big sharks and suitable infrastructure to a place with good waves, big sharks and no infrastructure. Makes perfect sense.
Hate to see the circus tent set up at Jakes or further up.
Really should leave these places alone WSL.
Not cool.
More sharks in the WSL boardroom?
did Medina and IF look at getting j bay canned or moved as well, this seems to have started from the tail wagging the dog to some extent. don't live in WA but its a great comp visually , particularly with the box and north point thrown in. if WSL can have the same contingency planning in the water as j bay leave it there and let the Medinas of the world make a personal choice if they're concerned.
as for further exposing a desert gem, its not cool, it will change it, in some ways for worse , potentially in some ways for better, but its the old call some place paradise , kiss it good bye thing
How could it possibly improve the place ?
A few years back WSL decided it wanted to run a Woman's event in Taranaki NZ. The locals said that if they tried to run down "The Coast" (Where the best waves are) that they wouldn't clear the lineup - i.e. just surf their local breaks even while the comp was running. In the end they held the comp at a local beachbreak. I'm not sure where I stand on this as I can see both sides of the argument.
Maybe the scarb’s artificial reef should be fast tracked and turned into a left hander of dream tour quality! Boom problem solved!
No different to the show coming to town anywhere else. The bluff isn't a secret as the broken glass, beer top, shit strewn landscape can attest. Waves are all time, skies immense, fireside craic quality, its a decent spot but the WSL would just be the latest interloper. There's the obvious whiff of hypocrisy when people complain about it being spoilt, for some that horse bolted long ago. Same as it did in Indo, Fiji, Tahiti …
You are talking straight out of your arse. Shit strewn landscape .....WTF ?
Maybe over egged a bit but unless your walking around with the rose tinted turned to max you can't fail to notice not everyone makes the trip to the block or bury/bags it, dog or otherwise. Likewise disposing of rubbish. The place gets a lot of use, lot of people pitching up, has done for years so its to be expected. Point is this isn't some hidden paradise unless you don't read surf mags, watch clips or use the internet and like relaxing to the hum of a genny and the waft of bowel. I can think of plenty of spots where a WSL arrival would be a travesty, the bluff aint one.
Walked a lot of miles last I visited beachcombing and bush walking and whatnot. The kids and I didnt see any rubbish. Not a single scrap.
The goats are out of control though.
Good to hear mate, some nice walking around there. Yeah goats are nuts.
What would Lumo think?
upnorth is pretty spot on. The NW and Ningaloo Coast is already under pressure and is getting trashed. Definitely not a hidden paradise. The WSL coming to town is hardly going to make things worse. A big picture rethink of the area is needed so we can use it sustainably into the future.
You think its crowded now, wait till they run a contest somewhere/anywhere up there.
@ kellya the wsl coming to town will totally fuck the place (if its not already been fucked enough already).
The problem is it’s already fucked enough. People whinging about the WSL coming to the southern tip of the Ningaloo Coast should look at the bigger picture.
Unfortunately the way it goes these days is - too many people= pollution. It's just the way it is. Until the human race can live without trashing the environment, without exploiting natural resources, without dumping plastic and waste everywhere and consuming far less and living 100% sustainably, nowhere is safe. Small changes have started but there is a very long way to go.. and the problem is the population keeps growing too fast- people who probably shouldn't be having kids are popping them out like there is no tomorrow (literally) ..and the fragile earth can't sustain it.
Everywhere humans go on this land they leave marks.. and with something like the WSL well you only need to see the tv footage to see how many people are there= how much of a mark. Australia is precious for its areas of natural beauty and huge expanses of land without buildings without infrastructures without human intervention- apart from some dirt roads... and there are a lot of people who like it this way. They go to these areas and camp under the stars to reconnect with nature, to get away from the rat race.
These areas need protection more than anything now as gas and mining companies keep pushing more and more and are taking more control. As some have pointed out .. these areas of national park, or reserves where it is just nature.. are sacred, and precious. They are pristine environments , wilderness, where many non human species can live and thrive without interference. Their main threat is people. Because people bring pollution and destruction. There will always be the greedy ones in this world who want more, who want to control the land and nature, who are more concerned with money than with looking after this land. It is a very sad fact. However, to give up would be the end. Have people forgotten? Are they too busy nurturing their narcissism and dreams of fame on instragram and the like? Things are slipping under the radar more than ever now.. as we are inundated with a continual overload of information through the internet.
Bottom line is- we can't just ignore it or overlook it just because we want a bit of entertainment . The pro surfing organisation WSL seem to have gotten to big for their boots I think. What happened to being proud of being a small organisation? They need to reflect on this and be a bit wiser , downscale , and have some humility. Money is not everything. .
The rumour that they are even canvassing it as an option results in a stack more interest anyway. Anywhere these events/strike missions go they invariably expose places to greater interest, doesn;t matter if they try and be low-key. It's all about making money and exploiting what the location has to offer, and they are able to do this without any regard for the negative impacts on people or environment (whether it's immediate impact or longer term). It's about time more people, like perhaps the local mayor up north, got their heads around the concept of not killing the goose which lays the golden eggs.
I don;t support the apparent power of WSL or anyone holding a comp in a particular location and then seeing that they can relocate the comp anywhere within reach to suit themselves. It's enough of an impact to have a day or two allocated to it. Perhaps they should have to compensate local surfers or communities in some way, especially when they take the place over for such a long time.
Sounds like it may all just be a smokescreen for surfing wa and the wsl to increase their bargaining power of the Augusta/Margaret River Shire. The contract negotiations are coming up and being able to threaten them with taking away their precious contest dramatically improves wsl bargaining power over the local Shire crowd. No surprise with the recent history of wsl dealings in other parts of the world and last year's attempted expansion of use of breaks in the region. Watch this space.
Reckon you’re onto something with this theory Campbell - it’s the only way the proposal could possibly make any sense given how fraught a contest would be up north. But do the wsl really want to renew the contract for Margs or are they just gearing up to strong-arm the Shire again for North Point access? I’d have thought the WSL are done with Margs. All the noise aside, the wave itself isn’t CT standard. It’s just a backup venue to much more impressive but exceptionally fickle and logistically difficult waves elsewhere.
I'm against the contest going there, but the likes of Craike/The Browns speaking out against it with their history of social media self promotion smacks of hypocrisy.