WSL thank athletes and partners at special function

THE World Surf League thanked local, national and global event partners and athletes at a special function on Tuesday night while officially launching the 2023 Bioglan Bells Beach Longboard Classic presented by Rip Curl.

More than 80 surfers and event partners attended the Australian National Surfing Museum in Torquay for the WSL event.

The event included a welcome from Surf Coast Shire mayor Cr Liz Pattison and speeches from WSL general manager of Australia and Oceania, Andrew Stark and WSL senior manager of global development tours Will Hayden-Smith.

Canapes and refreshments were served by supporting partners Feed Me Surf Coast and Coopers Brewery.

Mayor Pattison said it was incredibly exciting to launch another world class surfing event at Bells Beach/Djarrak.

“At Easter, there is such a buzz around town with the Rip Curl Pro, so to have another one, the only WSL World Longboard Tour stop in Australia is truly exciting.

“We are so glad to everybody here on the Surf Coast.”

Mr Stark said a WSL longboarding event at Bells Beach had been a long time in the making.

“We’ve done a lot of work to restructure the World Longboard Tour, and put a lot of thinking into where we were going to put our events.

“In Australia, many didn’t realise how good Bells Beach was from a longboarding perspective, particularly Rincon on a high tide and the right conditions. It’s absolutely world class and we are certainly going to be in for a treat over the coming days.”

The Bioglan Bells Beach Longboard Classic presented by Rip Curl is held from August 30 till September 2.

For more, head to worldsurfleague.com