Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang Invitational
Padang Padang, Bali
30 June – 1 September 2013
Not enough for the Rip Curl Cup, but Telkomsel Expression Session runs
August 6, 2013- History was made Tuesday at Padang Padang when the first live broadcast in Rip Curl Cup history went out to the world. A powerful new swell filled in to Bali throughout the day Tuesday and solid 4-5 foot barrels began cracking over the reef at Padang Padang on the dropping afternoon tide.
While the waves weren’t quite up to the high standards required to run the 10-year anniversary of the Rip Curl Cup, event directors took advantage of the swell to run the Telkomsel Expression Session.
The 32 invited surfers in this year’s Rip Curl Cup were divided into five expression session heats and each group had the dream scenario of surfing uncrowded 4 to 5 foot Padang for an hour. The result was a highlight reel of deep tube rides and big maneuvers off the end section, much to the delight of the massive crowd gathered on the golden sands of Padang Padang beach and watching live all over the world via live.ripcurl.com and the Rip Curl Live Events App for iPhone.
“I was really fired up for this expression session today,” said first-time invitee Mark Healey (Hawaii). “I’ve only had a chance to surf Padang once before on a crowded 4-5 foot day, so I’m just happy to surf it uncrowded. It’s an incredible wave. If I can get an hour uncrowded out here I’m a happy man.”
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With nine days remaining in the event waiting period, the attention of the surfing world now turns to this weekend’s upcoming swell, which looks to be bigger and more powerful than Tuesday’s expression session swell. According to official Rip Curl Cup swell forecaster Magic Seaweed, two new swells are set to arrive back-to-back from Saturday through Monday.
“The swells are stacking up over here,” said Healey, the Hawaiian big wave charger, “so Indo definitely seems like the place in the world to be right now.” The first pulse is predicted to arrive Friday night (Aug. 9th) and peak Saturday at 8.5ft/9ft @18 sec from the SW (215-225º). The second pulse should arrive Sunday with a similar size but more southerly direction and a lower period, less ideal for the wave at Padang.
“We can see two pulses of swell arriving over the weekend (Aug. 10th -11th), both from the same storm,” said event forecaster Ben Freeston. “With forecast numbers moving towards the size and power we’d look for for competition both could be good candidates to run the Rip Curl Cup on, although there’s still some potential for variation either way at this stage.”
Contest directors will continue to monitor conditions at Padang closely, and the 32 surfers in this year’s Rip Curl Cup will all be ready to roll if the call to run is given for this weekend. Stay tuned to live.ripcurl.com or the Rip Curl Live Events App for iPhone for the latest contest call and to watch live global webcast when the contest is given the green light.
2013 Rip Curl Cup opening-round heat draw
Heat 1: Christian Fletcher (USA), Dylan Longbottom (Australia), Pepen Hendrik (Bali), Lee Wilson.
Heat 2: Usman Trioko (Lombok), Alik Rudiarta (Bali), Luke Hynd (Australia), Kevin Bourez (Tahiti).
Heat 3: Mega Semadhi (Bali), Betet Merta (Bali), Kekoa Bacalso (Hawaii), *Mystery Wildcard.
Heat 4: Wayan Gobleg (Bali), Mustofa Jeksen (Bali), Anthony Walsh (Australia), Bruno Santos
Heat 5: Made Lana (Bali), Dede Suryana (Java), Jamie O’Brien (Hawaii), Ry Craike (Australia).
Heat 6: Rizal Tandjung (Bali), Bol Adi Putra (Bali), Chris Ward (USA), Jack Robinson (Australia).
Heat 7: Raditya Rondi (Bali), Rahtu Suargita (Bali), Laurie Towner (Australia), Mark Occhilupo (Australia).
Heat 8: Garut Widiarta (Bali), Marlon Gerber (Bali), Jacob Willcox (Australia), Sean Peggs (NZ).
This year, you don’t have to be in Bali to see the best barrel-riding show of the year! To celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the Ultimate Tuberiding Contest, the Rip Curl Cup will be webcast LIVE to the world for the first time in history. Watch all the action LIVE at live.ripcurl.com or on your smartphone with the Rip Curl Live Events App. The LIVE webcast will include an online Heat Analyzer, so if you miss the action on contest day you can got to the event website and replay all the highlights from the contest any time, as many times as you want.