WSL Events At Jaws, Honolua, And Sunset Might All Run On The Same Day

After proving Stab wrong with its exhilarating Praia do Norte event, the WSL has been faced with the possibility of running another Big Wave World Tour event as early as next week.

This time, Jaws.

Current models are calling for an XL northwest swell to envelop the island of Maui between Monday the 26th and Wednesday the 28th. At its peak (Tuesday), the storm is predicted to send Maui swells of 16 feet at 18 seconds, which historically speaking, is plenty big enough to hold a Jaws event. Also promising, local winds look reasonably light on the would-be day of competition.

While the WSL hasn’t officially declared a “Yellow Alert” on the Jaws event, it would be hard to imagine a reason for them not to run on Tuesday the 26th. That is…

Check out the nipple on this bursting teat!

…Except that the WSL has two other Hawaii events that can, and probably will, run on that very same day of waves: the Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset and the Beachwaver Maui Pro at Honolua Bay.

According to a source close to the WSL, this situation has put the League into a minor frenzy, as they take stock of their resources – both human and mechanical – to see if it would even be possible to run all three events on one day.

Because think about it: each event requires a significant amount of, well, stuff— scaffolding, chairs, computers, zip-ties—as well as event staff and trained WSL employees tasked with any number of crucial, specific responsibilities, to run a full-scale event. Jaws in particular needs a bunch of jet-skis, boats, and safety equipment. And with a swell of this magnitude extra precautions will need to be taken at each of the three venues.

You know, like a bright yellow chopper. Photo: guess!

Stab reached out to the WSL about the potential of a triple-header and received the following response:

We’re seeing increased confidence in a pattern shift in the North Pacific ushering in some very active systems over the coming days and weeks. The QS10000 Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, the Beachwaver Pro Maui women’s Championship Tour event at Honolua Bay and the Big Wave Tour events of the Pe’ahi Challenge in Maui and the Mavericks Challenge in Northern California are all looking at solid swell systems for their locations. We love seeing that and we’ve been monitoring them closely.

With these events having the potential to run in similar windows, we are faced with operational exercises in terms of getting staff, resources and equipment to multiple locations at the same time. That said, it’s something we’ve navigated in the past and we like to think we’re getting better at it. As with all our events, the goal is to see the best surfers in the best waves and we work very hard to be nimble around that.

We’ll continue to monitor closely and look forward to some great surfing going down at Sunset Beach, Honolua Bay, Pe’ahi and/or Mavericks in the near future.

Just around the bend from Jaws lives this beauty of a wave. The women wear Honolua well. Photo: WSL

So let’s just assume that with the help of their 350 employees, plus local workers and safety crews, the WSL could pull off the triple-header.

For the viewer, this would be the best day ever.

Imagine running three separate browsers on your lappy, each of which broadcasting a pumping day of surf at one of three Hawaiian mainstays. QS incumbents hack away at massive Sunset, CT women gloss the supple lips of Honolua, and Kai, Albee and crew corn-dog in the Jaws bowl. Glorious!

And statistically speaking, this triumvirate event would feature little-to-no downtime between waves. If anything, the viewer’s biggest concern would be choosing which tab to follow when sets hit simultaneously at all three venues.

Personally, my priority goes: Jaws, Honolua, then Sunset, with discretion given to the octave of each commentator’s voice.

And what about you, reader? Which wave most attracts your stare?