Rip Curl Pro Search to Research in 2012, Then Come Back Bigger & Better in 2013

It’s been the most exciting event on the ASP World Tour Calendar for seven years running. It’s crowned three ASP World Champions in the past two years. It’s found new waves, explored new regions, stoked the world’s best surfers, broken broadcast audience records and served up more ultimate moments in its short history than some events ever will. The Rip Curl Pro Search scored big in Reunion Island, Mexico, Chile, Indonesia, Portugal, Puerto Rico and again this year in San Francisco, USA. The winners list reads 2005 Mick Fanning, 2006 Andy Irons, 2007 Andy Irons, 2008 Bruce Irons, 2009 Mick Fanning, 2010 Kelly Slater and 2011 Gabriel Medina. It’s been a trip…

ASP Season 2012 will be another unique year for the Rip Curl Pro Search, with the event being removed from the ASP Calendar to allow Rip Curl an 18-month ‘re-search’ period to find and prepare a new location for 2013. The event holds a unique ‘Floating ASP License’, which authorizes Rip Curl to continually relocate somewhere new and organizers want to keep searching for the next perfect destination.

“We are taking a year off from the front line of running the event and putting a solid 18 months into the planning of the 2013 Rip Curl Pro Search. To take the Search to the next level is always the goal. We do that every year, but following San Francisco and the twist it delivered to the surfing world we feel we need more time and care to really blow minds,” said Rip Curl’s Neil Ridgway.

“The event has witnessed seven epic years and we have had everything from ASP World Titles to underworld rip offs, terrorist alerts to perfect tubes, great personal and professional difficulty for surfers and staff around Andy Irons in PR and awesome celebration parties for the winners,” continued Ridgway. “This event more than any other combines the discipline of professional sport with the travelling lifestyle and freedom surfers love. It needs to be nurtured so it grows better than ever. A year tending to it in planning is the right way to develop it.”

The Rip Curl Pro Search will maintain its momentum through 2012 by involving surfing fans the world over in the location selection process. More details will be released next year, but Rip Curl will be looking to utilize new technologies and social mediums to engage fans, as well as putting Rip Curl team riders on traditional Search reconnaissance missions throughout the year.

The Search never ends, so watch this space…