Green Light: Jaws Is Officially On

I just got off the phone with a very jet-lagged Greg Long. Y’see, The League had its stable of big-wavers fly alllll the way to Portugal to surf a Nazaré event that will not run. Now that same stable has to fly allllll the way to Maui for a Jaws event will very hopefully run. All of this is done on the surfers’ own dimes and if I am to believe Kayak.com, a trip from LAX-Lisbon, Lisbon-LAX, LAX-Maui, Maui-LAX including thousands of dollars of board-beating fees, comes out to somewhere between 7-10K.

When we juxtapose this with the winnings from BWT events, which start at a measly 2k, we realize that this tour is less of an occupation and more of a deeply indebting passion, like gambling or cocaine. But hey, the WSL has cornered a market with significantly more supply (chargers!) than demand (cash), so more power to them …until someone dies at one of these events, then they might be in some trouble.

Here we find two-time defending Pe’ahi Challenge champion, Billy Kemper, all wrapped up in a moment.

Sorry, I got weirdly emotional there. The point of this post is to inform you that the WSL has given a green light for the Jaws event this Friday and Saturday, and to be perfectly honest, we’re stoked about that. But let’s consider the norths and souths of this spectacle. 

Good news — there’s plenty of swell and light-ish winds forecasted. Also we might send Rory Parker to cover (hint hint, Ashton).

Bad news — the swell peaks overnight and most of the competitors are currently on the other side of the world. Also Albee Layer, the second most impressive Jaws surfer (all hail Dorian), is not guaranteed to be surfing in the event. 

Let there be tube, WSL!

Albee Update, fresh from our DMs:

“Stupid decision on their part. Swell looks very average size, average wind, but good direction at least. I believe they run every Jaws event during the time the tour moves to Hawaii so they can save money on shipping gear over there. But I could be wrong, it could be good.”

Not sure if this will help Albee’s chances of getting into the event but you’ve gotta love the heart.