World Surf League Raglan: Competition goes on days-long hold in wait for waves

Some weeks in professional surfing are just like this.

After a strong start to the World Surf League’s return to New Zealand, the men’s and women’s Championship Tour events at Raglan’s Manu Bay have been on standby for the past two days – and are expected to be for the next two as well.

The competitions have been unable to pick up where they left off at the weekend due to a lack of swell on Monday and Tuesday, and with better waves set to arrive in time for the weekend, the World Surf League (WSL) are staying patient.

“As expected, we have arrived at Manu Bay this morning to find a flat ocean,” WSL vice-president of tours and competitions Renato Hickel said.

“Our forecast is showing that these conditions are likely to hang around for a few days, so we will call off for the next few days and come back on Thursday afternoon for another look.

“We are confident that if not Friday, we have great waves on the forecast for the weekend and the last day of the window to complete the event.”

It’s not unusual for WSL events to experience lay days in the middle of a competition. Having an event window, usually of around 10 days, allows event directors to be picky and wait for the best waves so the athletes have the chance to perform at their best.

WSL tried to run heats on Monday, with the Colapinto brothers, Griffin and Crosby, surfing against each other in the only heat. While conditions were great during the morning free surf, they slowed right down when the competition started, resulting in a challenging heat for the American brothers, with Griffin coming out on top.

The call was made to stop the event immediately afterwards, with the blockbuster third-round heat between former world champion Brazilians Gabriel Medina and Filipe Toledo the next heat on the schedule for the men’s draw.

There are still 14 heats to be surfed to find a winner in the men’s event, as they are one heat into round three, while the women’s competition, currently at the quarter-final stage, has seven more heats to get through.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.