• World’s Best Big Wave Surfers on Standby for Jaws and Nazaré until March 31, 2023
• Competition Venues and Format Explained
• WSL Announces WSL Big Wave Record Chase, the Redesigned Big Wave World Records Program

LOS ANGELES, Calif., USA (Tuesday, November 15, 2022) – The World Surf League (WSL) 2022/2023 Big Wave season officially opened today and now holds a waiting period through March 31, 2023.

This year’s Big Wave season will feature two premiere events: The Quiksilver Jaws Big Wave Challenge pres. by TUDOR in Pe’ahi, Maui, Hawaii, and the TUDOR Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge pres. by Hurley in Nazaré, Portugal.

With the waiting period officially open, the best big wave surfers in the world are on standby to activate at a moment’s notice and travel to one of the two world-class venues.

Big Wave Surfers Now On Call for Major Swells

The WSL Tours and Competition Team are closely monitoring the swells and conditions needed to run the Quiksilver Jaws Big Wave Challenge pres. by TUDOR and the TUDOR Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge pres. by Hurley.

The WSL Tours and Competition team will look for consistent surf, with a minimum 25 feet on the face of the wave throughout the competition. Other conditions, such as wind and tide, will be assessed in the decision to run the competitions.

If a large swell tracks toward the contest location(s) with favorable weather conditions, the WSL Tours and Competition team will issue a “TUDOR Big Wave Yellow Alert” as far as 72 hours out from the potential event run date. If the conditions continue to track favorably, the “TUDOR Big Wave Green Alert” will be issued, meaning the competition will be ON, and fans can prepare to watch surfers push the limits of what is possible on one of the world’s craziest waves in the next 24 hours.

Jaws (also known as Pe’ahi), and Nazaré are two of the most renowned and respected waves in the big wave community. Each location is a significant proving ground for the paddle-in and tow-in disciplines, respectively, and the sites of historical World Records for the largest waves ever ridden.

The Quiksilver Jaws Big Wave Challenge pres. by TUDOR, will showcase paddle-in surfing at the famed break off of Maui, Hawaii. Due to its power, velocity, and ability to be one of the most perfect big waves on the planet, Jaws is the standard when it comes to paddle-in big wave surfing.

The TUDOR Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge Pres. by Hurley, on the other hand, will showcase the best of big wave surfing in the tow-in discipline. In this competition, competitors will work in teams, utilizing jet skis to surf the biggest waves possible at Praia de Norte in Nazaré, Portugal. Praia de Norte is home to some of the biggest waves in the world, including the current Big Wave World Records.

Only a handful of brave women and men have dedicated their lives to chasing swells and riding these waves of consequence. They train metally and physically year-round to be prepared for these monster swell events. This is their time to show the world what they are capable of and set the bar for big wave surfing even higher.

Pictured: Keala Kennelly (HAW) during the 2018 Jaws Challenge. Credit: ©  WSL /  Hallman

The Quiksilver Jaws Big Wave Challenge pres. by TUDOR will feature paddle-in surfing in an individual competition format.

In the men’s division, 24 competitors are divided into four heats of six surfers for the first round. The three highest-scoring surfers advance to the Semifinals, which run in the same format, and the top three surfers from the Semifinals advance to the Final.

The women’s division runs in a similar format with 12 competitors participating in two six-surfer Semifinals with the top three surfers in each heat advancing to the Final.

New this year, and for the first time ever at Jaws, we will see six-surfer priority come into play.

Priority is the system that is in line with all other tours, and controls who has the first option to ride a wave.

The priority system was highly requested by the surfers and is beneficial for Jaws because it creates organization and added safety in the lineup on massive swells.

Heats are generally 45 minutes and surfers may catch as many waves as they wish, respecting priority, with a panel of five judges scoring each ride on a scale of 1 to 10.

Each competitor’s two best waves are counted, with their best wave score doubled.

Quiksilver Jaws Big Wave Challenge pres. by TUDOR Invitees:

Male Invitees
1 – Billy Kemper (HAW)
2 – Ian Walsh (HAW)
3 – Nathan Florence (HAW)
4 – Kai Lenny (HAW)
5 – Makua Rothman (HAW)
6 – Lucas Chianca (BRA)
7 – Russell Bierke (AUS)
8 – Nic von Rupp (PRT)
9 – Eli Olson (HAW)
10 – Torrey Meister (HAW)
11 – Koa Rothman (HAW)
12 – Nic Lamb (USA)
13 – Grant Baker (RSA)
14 – Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
15 – Albee Layer (HAW)
16 – Tyler Larronde (HAW)
17 – Jojo Roper (USA)
18 – Ty Simpson-Kane (HAW)
19 – Matt Bromley (RSA)
20 – Francisco Porcella (ITA)
21 – Trevor Carlson (HAW)
22- Tom Lowe (GBR)
23 – Aaron Gold (HAW)
24 – Greg Long (USA)

Female Invitees
1 – Paige Alms (HAW)
2 – Felicity Palmateer (AUS)
3 – Annie Reickert (HAW)
4 – Keala Kennelly (HAW)
5 – Emily Erickson (HAW)
6 – Michaela Fregonese (BRA)
7 – Bianca Valenti (USA)
8 – Skylar Lickle (HAW)
9 – Justine Dupont (FRA)
10 – Raquel Heckert (BRA)
11 – Laura Enever (AUS)
12 – Izzy Gomez (COL)

Pictured: Lucas Chianca (BRA) during the 2022 TUDOR Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge pres. by Jogos Santa Casa. Credit: ©  WSL /  Laurent

The TUDOR Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge pres. by Hurley will be a one-day, specialty teams event with tow-in surfing. There will be nine teams made up of two competitors in each team. The teams will be divided into three groups with three teams in each group. The competition will have a total of six 40-minute heats, where each group will participate in two heats, with each team alternating between surfing and driving the team’s jet ski.

A surfer’s best two waves after surfing both heats will count to an individual total score, with the best wave counting as double points. In total, a surfer’s maximum individual score will be 30 points, as each wave is scored from 1-10 points. Surfers will be awarded across multiple categories at the end of the competition day.

TUDOR Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge pres. by Hurley Invitees:
Team 1: Lucas Chianca (BRA) & Kai Lenny (HAW)
Team 2: Nic von Rupp (PRT) & Pedro Scooby (BRA)
Team 3: Andrew Cotton (GBR) & Will Skudin (USA)
Team 4: Rodrigo Koxa (BRA) & Kealii Mamala (HAW)
Team 5: João De Macedo (PRT) & Antônio Silva (PRT)
Team 6: Sebastian Steudtner (DEU) & Daniel Goldberg (USA)
Team 7: Maya Gabeira (BRA) & Pierre Rollet (FRA)
Team 8: Michelle des Bouillons (BRA) & Ian Cosenza (PRT)
Team 9: Justine Dupont (FRA) & Éric Rebière (FRA)

Alternate Teams:
Rafael Tapia (CHL) and Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
António Laureano (PRT) & Pierrot Caley (FRA)
Axier Muniain (GBR) & Francisco Porcella (ITA)

The WSL has also announced Big Wave Record Chase, the new model for verifying and celebrating Big Wave World Records.

Through this new property, the WSL will continue its commitment to big wave surfing through a revamped strategy focusing on world records for the women’s and men’s divisions across the paddle-in and tow-in categories.

The WSL will host a total prize purse of $500,000, which will be allocated to athletes who achieve new world records for the Largest Wave Surfed – Unlimited (Female), Largest Wave Surfed – Unlimited (Male), Largest Wave Surfed – Paddle (Female), and Largest Wave Surfed – Paddle (Male).

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.

About the WSL
The World Surf League (WSL) is the global home of competitive surfing, crowning the undisputed World Champions since 1976 and showcasing the world’s best surfers on the world’s best waves. WSL is comprised of the Tours and Competition division, which oversees and operates more than 180 global competitions each year; WSL WaveCo, home of the world’s largest high-performance, human-made wave; and WSL Studios, an independent producer of unscripted and scripted projects.

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.