Back to the Rip Curl Pro Index...

By Press Release:

Friday 7 March, 2006

Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia

RIP CURL PRO SURF AND MUSIC FESTIVAL
(11 April to 21 April)

EVENT #2 ON THE 2006 FOSTER'S ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) MEN'S WORLD TOUR

Live on www.aspworldtour.com and www.ripcurl.com

16 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE RIP CURL PRO

• The Rip Curl Pro is the second of 12 events on the 2006 Foster’s ASP Men's World Tour – a.k.a. “The Dream Tour”. The circuit determines professional surfing’s world champion every year.
• The waiting period for the Rip Curl Pro main event officially begins next Tuesday, 11 April and runs to Friday, 21 April, 2006.
• The contest requires 33 hours of competition (four full days) and will be staged in the best available conditions during the waiting period.
• The event is held at the famed right hand wave of Bells Beach but can go on the road to locations up to three hours away if conditions at Bells Beach are unfavourable.
• The event features the Top 45 surfers from the 2006 Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour plus three wildcards.
• The field includes reigning seven-time world champion and 1994 and 1997 event champion Kelly Slater (USA), three-time world champion and 2002 and 2003 event champion Andy Irons (HAW) and former winners Mick Fanning (2001), Joel Parkinson (2004) and Mark Occhilupo (1998), all from Australia.
• The Rip Curl Pro Trials will take place on Monday 10 April.
• The first round of the Rip Curl Pro main event is comprised of 16 non-elimination three-man heats. The winner advances directly to round three while second and third places go into round two. From round two onwards, each heat features two surfers (man-on-man) with the winner advancing to the next round and the loser being eliminated from the event, until two remain to contest the final.
• The prize purse totals US$270 000 with the winner earning $30,000.
• The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach is the longest-running professional surfing contest in existence. The event has been run at Easter time each year since 1973.
• Bells Beach is comprised of several breaks, The Bowl, Outside Bells, Rincon, Centreside, Southside and Winkipop among them. Outside Bells is the main break that produces a long, fast, even wall when it gets above six foot. The Bowl is the steep final section of the wave, and just east of The Bowl, Winki runs over a reef producing a quick, hollow wave that often surpasses conditions at Bells proper.
• The honour roll for the Rip Curl Pro reads like a who’s who of the sport.
2005: Trent Munro (AUS)
2004: Joel Parkinson (AUS)
2003: Andy Irons (HAW)
2002: Andy Irons (HAW)
2001: Mick Fanning (AUS)
2000: Sunny Garcia (HAW)
1999: Shane Dorian (HAW)
1998: Mark Occhilupo (AUS)
1997: Kelly Slater (USA)
1996: Sunny Garcia (HAW)
1995: Sunny Garcia (HAW)
1994: Kelly Slater (USA)
1993: Damien Hardman (AUS)
1992: Richie Collins (USA)
1991: Barton Lynch (AUS)
1990: Tom Curren (USA)
1989: Martin Potter (GBR)
1988: Damien Hardman (AUS)
1987: Nicky Wood (AUS)
1986: Tom Carroll (AUS)
1985: Tom Curren (USA)
1984: Cheyne Horan (AUS)
1983: Joe Engel (AUS)
1982: Mark Richards (AUS)
1981: Simon Anderson (AUS)
1980: Mark Richards (AUS)
1979: Mark Richards (AUS)
1978: Mark Richards (AUS)
1977: Simon Anderson (AUS)
1976: Jeff Hackman (HAW)
1975: Michael Peterson (AUS)
1974: Michael Peterson (AUS)
1973: Michael Peterson (AUS)
• The event will be broadcast live to the world via the web. The “webcast” includes live vision, live scores, expert commentary and event highlights. Visit www.aspworldtour.com or www.ripcurl.com
• Running from Friday April 14 to Monday April 17, the Rip Curl Music Festival will feature a host of Australia’s hottest musical acts and several international guests. A live stage will be constructed in the Bells Beach car park, overlooking the Southern Ocean. The opening acts will play from midday, with the headlining musicians playing until the early evening. Headlining the gig will be keen surfer DJ Greyboy, who is one of the USA’s most respected producers. Joining DJ Greyboy as headliners will be Sydney-based band Faker. The rockers have earned recent praise for their debut album ‘Addicted Romantic’, which was nominated for a 2005 J Award. Other artists on the gig list include TZU, True Live, Ash Grunwald, Tom Jordan, Nick Barker, Rob Sawyer, Beau Young, MJ Taylor, Dead Frenchmen, Spirit Store, Carus & The True Believers, Bad Boy Boogie, Husky and three-time surfing world champion Tom Curren.
• Bells Beach is the only Surfing Reserve in the world meaning that the area surrounding the break will never be developed.
• Bells Beach is located right near surf industry Mecca Torquay, the birthplace of Rip Curl Wetsuits in the 1960s.

APS WCT Tour 2010 Schedule

Pro Surfing Archives

Pro Surfing 2009 |Pro Surfing 2008 | Pro Surfing 2007 | Pro Surfing 2006