Worst spot on Tour?

john john is doing his best to make it look good….

 

My vote is Rio. Brazil has better breaks than that though, it has a huge coastline with lots of natural structure.
Brazil is super sketchy, 3rd world style.

 

Truth. Not sure how it was years previous but last September it was 7ft day one and 2-4 the rest if that.

 

Id say tie for Lowers and Rio, and the becasue Rio is in Brazil tie is broken and worst wave is Rio

There might be better waves in WA than MR, but that doesn't make it worst on tour

 

I'd say ECSC.

 

I agree the waves are not very good for the contest but I think on scale of 1-10 it's probably like a 2 right now there. I just don't think they are having a good swell for the contest.
Brazil is hands down the worst wave on the WCT I think.

 

they need to bring it to south carolina man, we got the hardest waves. people die in folly beach pound. i bet no one could catch a wave here with out a least a broken arm its so heavy.

 

Margaret River with 2-4' rights is an average break. Margaret River at 10-12' with reeling lefts is a world class wave. It's just not the right swell currently for the place to really work. Also, Rio is far worse than any other break on tour. Lowers is better than Rio, France, and Portugal in my book, but it hasn't had a great swell coincide with the event for a while.

 

I've seen insane days at lowers. Lowers is one of the better waves on the entire continental US, and it USUALLY has a sweet swell window and will always provide some solid skate park days for the event. Its really the only spot on tour where you can put out your ENTIRE arsenal for show. Everything but your barrel riding, but 80% of the other spots are barrels only most of the time..

Lowers is always my favorite stop on tour. Been a spectator. Surfed there before a comp window with some pros and have witnessed INSTANITY in the water. Like Mick and Taj and how deep and insane they surf. It really lets guys showcase the progression over the past year.

Worst stop on tour, no offense was last year in New York. a couple of the days were soooo sad. Like, VB grom contest BAD, and the few days that were rid able were chest high mush.

So, THE NY event last year was one of the worst ever in 10 years... (Ocean Beach SF was PUMPING the whole time of the event last year and they were the second location choice. They probably won by votes, but there was more money to be made in the NYC metro area)

And 9 out of 10 of the Huntington Beach events are terrible too.... Crap waves... Last good event was when Kelly landed that insane backside 360 off a 6 foot beach break... It was 3-4 years ago and it even made sportscenter's top 10.

But yeah, HB sucks.

 

The tour wasn't at NYC last year.
The last time the WCT was in NY was in 2011, at the Quik contest in Long Beach at it was pumping

 

Thats what I meant. Time flies. But that event to me was aweful. And no offense, pumping? Day 1 and 2 were like ankle high. They had OKAY swell by the semis if i rememder correctly, but the heats that I watched live look like sh**

 

Okay, so they had some sh** days and some OKAY ones...











So, not every day was complete crap, but to have a couple of head high beach break days doesn't count as pumping to me...

The fact that these pros were gathered and forced to surf complete garbage for a week it not fair to them. It doesn't showcase their talent. I mean, can you imagine getting eliminated and losing tour money of position because of surfing knee high garbage? I would be pissed. thats all im saying.

They should have had it somwhere else. Mainland mexico. Where ever. Not saying it had to be OB SF, but send people to a proper place with a proper swell window. I mean, to be honest those Quik Pro guys were lucky to even get those couple head high days. If it was held in 2012 it would have probably been cancelled.

 

Wtf...belmar should be on the list!!!!!!

 

The NY contest was not held in complete garbage... If they went there every year it would be by far the worst stop on tour. But they got 1 bad day, one good day and one great day of surf. I was out that morning and it was pumping. The Katia swell was super fun and wind was straight offshore.
And it worked out that the great day with some barrels and some of the biggest airs ever done in a contest. That did not showcase their talent? They show that clip of Kelly's monster 3 constantly. That is exactly what showcasing talent is.
It's not fair to them??? That was the biggest pay day of their career's. They'd go back to surfing pool contests if there was $1,000,000 in prize money.
There has been FAR worse surf in contests.

 

I'm not saying it is a spot that can be compared with Pipe, Fiji, Tahiti etc.
But it was FAR from the worst WCT event in 10 years. It was way better than Margerat River for this current event event for the finals and many others in the past decade.

 

I understand that the money was good. That is why they held it at that location. Period. I also said that not EVERY day was bad, but it was more than one day of bad surf for sure. I apparently missed the best days of the live coverage, but I watched 3-4 days of it and the finals (I think) were the best day and it was no more than chest-head high and pretty inconsistent.

I am not saying that it was a completely bad event. I am just saying that I always watch a few days of all the events when time allows etc. and I don't remember a more boring event overall with mediocre conditions prevailing for the MOST part. Again, i missed the good stuff or so it seems.

I also don't know if I would say that those photos are the biggest airs ever on tour. Thats a tall order.

And as far as it not being fair for them. I stand by that. So you have a couple days of closeout beach break sections to boost off of. Great, but that is nothing to write home about... But for the opening few days of the event, while guys are trying to advance, they were surfing in absolute jokes of waves. See photos above... I mean, the fact that the window was closing and they forced those guys to compete in knee high conditions is a joke to me. Can you imagine getting eliminated and losing 10s of thousands of dollars in purse money because a guy in your heat did a little snap and rotated through his turn on knee high wave....

I am saying, we all have to surf in different conditions. But the world tour is like any world tour. Golf. Anything. Golfers travel the country and play on ONLY the toughest courses, with the best conditions and the best weather to allow for them to display their skills...

The ASP world tour is supposed to showcase the WORLD'S best waves with world's best surfers....

I am just saying, you could argue that HB and Lowers arent among the worlds best waves either.

But to say that the NYC event was held at a world class wave is simply not true.

I am not complaining that the tour doesn't come to Folly, SC either. They shouldn't be here. I don't care how good central Florida can be... They dont deserve the ASP either....

The only spots I would see fit in this region is OBX and that is even a stretch.... There are 500 other international spots that are better and about 100 better spots on the west coast...

Thats just my opinion. It is what it is.

 

I feel ya. I just think having 3 or more USA stops on the ASP world tour is stupid. There are hundreds of better spots in the world to go to. They just keep it here for the market value and money. Makes sense... But I already think that Huntington should get Axed from the tour... Keep it at Trestles. Good. But pick one more spot on the west coast... Steamers, Rincon, somewhere that has a nice setup. Why not have it at Rincon and watch guys get 45 second barrel rides and stuff. I am just saying that holding the event at that spot, that year was a bad choice. It was a big risk, and it ended up being considered by all "a success"... but they were very close to having it be the worst even ever. The swell window closed to the point that they had to force guys out to surf a lake.... They got lucky that the swell finally did show up at all...

IMHO

Take it somewhere better. ya know?

 

now that it's all live streaming online they can go for epic spots, before that they had to be in locations, you know, with lots of people interested in surfing to come watch it.

 

We agree for the most part.. If it was a regular spot it would be the worst spot on tour. But it was one of the worst events in 10 years is wrong. The year Bede won Pipe was worse. There's been worse events in Oz, Brazil, Cali and Europe.

It's not a stretch to say they were SOME of the biggest airs ever on tour. That's why they still show clips of Kelly, Kerr and Owen.
The waves were firing the final day.

The PGA doesn't only play the toughest courses out there. They also play courses based on $ and location. Look at the scores at some events. Guys will be 25 under.

If it were held in NYC annually it would certainly be the worst event.