Kelly Slater Ditches Championship Tour, Chases Surf To Australia's Gold Coast
When it comes to perfect surf, Kelly Slater just can't help himself. After spending the first two events of the 2024 WSL Championship Tour nursing a surgically repaired hip, there was a big question mark around his appearance at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal. And when he withdrew from the event it didn't come as a huge shock to anyone.
What did come as a shock was the 11-time world champ showing up on the Gold Coast in Australia for a brilliant run of swell at Kirra. With the surf going absolutely bonkers the last few days and an all-star cast on it, including world champs Joel Parkinson and Mick Fanning, Slater couldn't resist the temptation. To be fair, if one has the means, warm water and big blue barrels is a hard thing to pass up.
Slater, who turned 52 years old last month, has been competing on the Championship Tour this year via a wildcard from the WSL. The event in Portugal should wrap up any day now as soon as the conditions come together. After that, the tour heads Down Under to Bells Beach and Margaret River. Slater's been winning at Bells for 30 years now, and since he's already in Australia, the smart money is on him showing up in Torquey next month...unless Kirra keeps pumping, obviously.
It's also worth nothing that when Slater and his team of engineers and designers were developing the wave at the Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California, it was largely inspired by the waves at Kirra and Snapper Rocks. A fast, running, right-hand barrel with a few open sections to belt a turn or two, peep this week's footage from Kirra and you'll see exactly what I mean.
Kelly Slater, Andy Irons' "I Love You" Moment Turns 20 This Month
With more than 25 years of writing about surfing, the ocean and action sports, Jake Howard continues to share stories, profiles and issues that shape the surfing world. One of the premier subject-matter experts in the field today, he's savvy in the ways of print, digital and social media, his breadth of work is expansive. Getting his start writing Surfline surf reports and recording the phone reports for 976-SURF in the late '90s, Jake served as the managing editor for Surfer Magazine in the early 2000s before moving on to launch RedBullSurfing.com and cover surfing for ESPN and the X Games. Over the years, Jake has also enjoyed time behind the edit desk at The Surfer's Journal, as well as the World Surf League, where he worked as the Senior Editor for a number of years. Beyond producing editorial content, Jake has served as a digital marketer and copywriter for iconic surf brands such as Quiksilver, Roxy and Rip Curl. Writing thousands of pages of copy for Surfline, he has deep SEO experience as well. The surf columnist for the San Clemente Times, Jake continues to dedicate himself to the culture and history of the sport through his involvement with the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente.