After going on ‘high alert’ for possible take-off on Thursday, organizers for the Rip Curl Cup at Bali’s Padang Padang Beach have decided ‘it’s not on’ and are now eyeing this coming Saturday as a possible date for round one of the pro surf competition to get going.
Sixteen surfers are competing for glory in the invitational, that operates on a month-long waiting period. During the waiting period, which kicked off on July 10, the surfers must be on call, ready to be at Padang Padang within 24 hours notice, if and when event directors call say it’s “on”.
The surfers came ready to rip this morning at Padang Padang, but unfortunately the conditions were not ripe for the riding.
But competition officials are optimistic about the weekend.
“A large and promising swell is expected to reach Bali on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6th. At this point, official event forecaster Surfline has identified the Aug. 5-6th swell, predicted to arrive from an ideal westerly direction of 220-230 degrees, as ‘the best swell in the remaining waiting period,”’ Rip Curl Asia wrote in a blast email update.
“At this point it appears that the (weekend) swell will peak overnight, with holding swell Sunday morning and very gradually easing over the afternoon (but really should be strong surf through the day given the behavior of the storm). During the best tides we expect to see 8-12’ faces at Padang, with potential for a few larger sets. Wind looks favorable at this point with normal trades,” according to Surfline.
As with today, all 16 surfers will be ready to go at Padang Padang, this time on Saturday morning at 10am, in case the event gives the green light “for the most anticipated tube riding shootout of the year.”
The opening round of the surf competition is non-eliminatory. Of the 16 surfers competing, eight are Indonesian and the other eight are international.
Once it’s “on”, you can watch a live steam of the event on the World Surf League and Rip Curl Asia websites.
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