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The industrial machine which whirrs away in the in background of global surf culture is a funny old beast.
A mixed bag of frequent and calamitous acquisitions, bankruptcies and law suits against a backdrop of fantastic innovations and ideas. The leaps in board design, wave pools and wetsuit tech have transformed our sport and of course, who could forget Mick Fanning’s signature flip flop, which had a bottle opener in the sole!
This morning saw two big news stories from the busy world of surf pop-up on screens, with both serving as the culmination (almost) of two long and tumultuous tales.
The first isn’t really news; it’s been well known that Surfstich have been in serious bother for a long time now, with the announcement a few weeks ago they were trying to flog two of their most profitable assets. The latest news is that they’ve had to call in the administrators, with The Australian reporting that shareholders are now likely facing a ‘complete loss on their investment’. If this is the first you’ve heard of the SurfStick saga, you can catch up on the happenings here.
The second piece of major news regards the Titans Of Mavericks event, which has equally been beset by financial difficulties and law suits. The companies who previously held the permit to host the big wave event at Half Moon Bay went into liquidation earlier this year, allowing other companies to bid for it and the WSL reportedly just snapped it up for a cool $525,000. Although there’s still one legal hoop to jump through before the deal is done, it looks likely The WSL will be adding Mavericks to the WSL BWT before the coming season.
“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to work with the big wave community in bringing the Mavericks event to life on the international stage,” said new WSL chief executive Sophie Goldschmidt. “The league has always held a huge amount of respect for both the venue and its community as one of the pillars of big wave surfing.”
Cover photo: WSL / FRED POMPERMAYER