Who’s Joining Mick And Mason On The Search This Year?

The new decade has flipped the surf industry on its head. 

Things that were once a foregone conclusion are now completely up in the air—for instance, the re-signing of World Champions by their primary sponsors. 

Thankfully, Rip Curl has restored some order to the Surf World by inking another three-year deal with 2x World Champ Tyler Wright, who has worn Torquay’s trusted apparel for 17 years.

Tyler will make her official return to the Tour at Snapper this March after some 18 months out of competition due to an African-borne illness. As we saw at her unofficial return at Honolua Bay this past December, Tyler is (somehow) surfing better than when she departed the Tour as a 2x defending World Champ. And with Carissa Moore taking a year off competition, Tyler becomes a legitimate threat to take number three in 2020. 

Rip Curl has also re-signed fellow-CTers Conner Coffin, Matt McGillivray, Amuro Tsuzuki, Brisa Hennessy, and Morgan Cibilic, along with legacy riders Rosy Hodge and Tom Curren, the latter of which will be joining Mick Fanning and Mason on The Search this year. Whether or not Tom plans to bring a traditional “surfboard” on these ventures, we can’t be sure. Also, where’s that South African guy—Frankie Overalls or something? 

Gabriel Medina, Mick Fanning, Owen Wright all have time remaining on their current contracts. 

We reported a few weeks back that Rip Curl had parted ways with Alana Blanchard, Matt Wilkinson, and Nikki Van Dijk, which is sad but, in the grand scheme of their robust roster (see above), hardly surprising.

At least in the post-Hurley era.