Three Rails, One Crane, And A Ring Of Fire 

Made in partnership with Swatch.

The point of surfing is to have fun. 

The Swatch Nines stretches that idea about as far as it’ll go — and sometimes even a bit further just to see what happens. 

It’s part jam session, part obstacle course, and part ‘Let’s just give a bunch of really good surfers a billion waves with zero expectations and see what they do.’ The Nines is decidedly a non-contest. The usual pressure points of heats, jerseys, and prize money are surgically removed.

The results, as you’d imagine, are fascinating. 

Last year, Kiara Goold landed a Superwoman, Mason Ho dove through a floating orb, a few people boardslid, and Victor Bernando greased the most pleasing air of the event. 

How do you try to top that? 

Well, Swatch held an ideas workshop. They let anyone enter for a shot at earning an invite. And they released a shiny new watch that you can get deep on/with. 

Now, the second-ever Swatch Nines surf event will go down in Waco from June 23 – 25. 

Here’s everything you need to know. 

Who’s coming? 

Male surfers: Mason Ho, Balaram Stack, Noah Beschen, Matt Meola, Jacob Szekely, Blair Conklin, Chippa Wilson, Dylan Graves, Lyon Farrell, Cruz Dinofa, Cam Richards, and Hughie Vaughan. Special guests: Josh Sleigh and Makoa Ho.

Female surfers: Zoë McDougall, Juliette Lacome, Sky Brown, Zoey Kaina, and Skai Suitt. Special guests: Victoria Vergara, Eden Edwards, Dimity Stoyle, Honolua Blomfield, and Rose Machado.

Skate: Andy Anderson, Gabriel Ribeiro, Gustavo Ribeiro, Greyson Fletcher, Ocean Brown, Clay Kreiner, Tristan Rennie, Alex Midler, Pedro Barros, and Val LaForge.

Bike: Sam Pilgrim, Kevin Peraza, Matthias Dandois, Erik Fedko, Dennis Enarson, and Chase Hawk.

How it works? 

Oh, this is where it gets fun. 

The Swatch Nines crew has booked 42 hours of surfing across three days. Waco Surf can churn out one air wave per minute. So, in theory, that’s 2520 ramps heading towards the list of names you read above. 

But reality will be much more interesting.

They have meetings with the surfers every morning to see what everyone is most excited about and then make it happen. Some sessions are a free-for-all — just choose a wave from Waco Surf’s menu. And others are dedicated to trying certain things, which brings us to the big fucking crane. 

The newest addition this year is indeed a crane, which will allow them to put this year’s central feature wherever they please. That feature includes a floating deck with a skate ramp, a platform for ninja drops, and a spot for three different rails. 

Yes, they are bringing three different rails this year. And a ring of fire. And it’ll all be against a backdrop of people who collect paychecks to ride skateboards and bicycles doing their thing around the pool.

As reminder: No heats, no prize money. But there are some awards. Namely: 

Waco…It’s a Trip (best vibes in surf)
Waco…It’s a Trip (best vibes in skate/bike)
Insta360 Best Shot 
Insta360 Best Group Shot 
Insta360 MVP
Stab Best Trick 
Best Air (male)
Best Air (female)
MVP (male) 
MVP (female) 

How can you watch? 

The Swatch Nines team is known for a speedy turnaround. Within hours of the last waves being surfed last year, at the closing party, they showed a 90% finalized edit of the highlights. Not bad, considering they rolled with a 20-deep media team. 

This year’s highlight edit will be live by the weekend, and we’ll share it with you when it’s baked. 

We’ll be on-site, posting everything you need to see on Stab’s IG and following it up with an in-depth report. 

Oh, and care for a live webcast? The Couch Surfing show will be there on June 23 and 24. They’ll start broadcasting at 3 PM PDT and run for about four hours. 

So, shall we?