Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach canceled for 2021
February 12, 2021 |
Surfing
The World Surf League (WSL) announced the cancellation of the 2021 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Australia.
The professional surfing circuit revealed that it was unable to secure a pre-approved bubble in Victoria ahead of the event.
WSL doesn t go into detail, but it s clear that Covid-19-related restrictions forced the cancellation of the legendary competition.
The event has been held since 1961, when George Ming Smith won the first edition of the Bells Beach Surf Classic.
In 2020, the threat of a global pandemic had already prevented it from getting underway. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the competition because keeping Surf Coast Shire and Victoria Covid-19-free is a top priority, explained Neil Ridgway, brand and marketing manager at Rip Curl.
The league also deciding to postpone the CT Santa Cruz Pro, which had been scheduled for February 2 - 12. The WSL issued a statement saying the decision to postpone the last planned event of the US leg of the tour was based primarily on the surge of COVID-19 cases in California. The postponement is also heavily influenced by the length of time our athletes have been away from home, the WSL said. And by the complexities of global travel during this pandemic, which would have caused significant logistic challenges for athletes and staff to travel home and return to California for the event.
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Photo: WSL/Matt Dunbar
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So no more Sunset Beach. No more Santa Cruz, yeah. But no more Sunset Beach.
We could rake over the still-smouldering embers from this crazy bonfire of pro surfing dreams for some time. The catty tone of the Hawaiian authorities’ announcement, the way they didn’t even reference the WSL as being consulted in the shutdown decision; hard to read that without hearing a subtextual whisper of, “Take that, you film-permitting Covid-contracting bastards!”