Fiji, South Pacific — Gary Linden’s Big Wave World Tour has professionals and amateurs alike grabbing board shorts and wetsuits and heading to Fiji, the site of this year’s competition. The number of entries may dramatically increase this year due to the announcement by the Association of Surfing Professionals of its support of this major event.

Not only with this move have more professional surfers taking the natural-environment competition seriously, it will also allow more entries due to removal of contractual problems for big-name surfers.

Big-wave surfing has long held an inherent man vs. nature competition appeal. In fact, most surfers consider big wave competition to be more exciting and realistic and to appeal more to the mainstream public than controlled competitions. However, up until now there has been little sponsorship support from major surfing players.

The lack of corporate sponsorship has not stopped purist Gary Linden from running the event. Describing his budget as a "shoestring," Linden says that having strong financial support will simply make his job easier. He is also excited that, after so many years of effort, his dream of bringing the ASP on board has finally come true.

The ASP has agreed to sponsor the 2013 event, which takes place June 1 and 2 in Fiji, and formally sanction it in 2014.

The ASP CEO, Paul Speaker, also expressed pleasure with the arrangement. He called the competitors at the BWWT "some of the fiercest and most-respected" surfers in the world. The arrangement is also likely to solve a past problem for pro surfers: contractual obligations.

In the past, professional contracted surfers were often barred from big-wave events because they were not sanctioned by the ASP. Now, due to the ASP’s sponsorship and sanction, big-name surfers such as Kelly, John John, and Parko can participate without violating their contracts. Followers are anxious to see how the contracted surfers stack up against the amateurs in real big-wave events.

The BWWT has six scheduled events this year:

• The Quicksilver Ceremonial Chile Big Wave Invitations, Pichilemu, Chile, April 15-June 15
• Billabong Pico Alto, Punta Hermosa, Peru, July 1 to August 31
• Nelscott Reef Big Wave Classic, Lincoln City, Oregon, October 1 to March 31
• Mavericks Invitational, Half Moon Bay, California, October 1 to March 31
• Punta Galea Challenge, Basque Country, Spain, October 1 to March 31
• Todos Santos Big Wave Event, Baja, California and Mexico, January 1 to February 28

All competitions are subject to weather conditions and wave heights. The dates represent waiting periods during which the competitions may take place given current seas and weather forecasts.inden awarding the Big Wave World Champion trophy to Long in San Clemente. "It is Klein

Source: Surfline News, “ASP acquires Big Wave World Tour,” June 1, 2013.

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