The 2014 World Tour explained to you by Spongercity
Ok, so here’s the recap of what’s happening for the 2014 Bodyboarding World Tour:
There is a World Tour in 2014 – That’s good news. The World Tour is organized by the APB – Association Of Professional Bodyboarders (https://www.facebook.com/apbodyboarders) and not the IBA.
The APB is basically a non-profit organization managed by professional bodyboarders. The APB is here to stay, they will organize and rule the 2014 world tour by themselves this year while waiting for the IBA to re-build a proper world tour with bigger/better sponsors and everything. The IBA is a private company (making – or supposed to – make profit). If the IBA has a well organized tour scheduled for 2015 the APB will agree to give the tour back to the IBA. If not, the tour will keep being ruled and run but just the APB.
We hope this all make sense for you guys as we tried to explain in a very simple way what’s happening for the tour in 2014. Basically the pro riders have decided to run the tour by themselves while waiting to see if the IBA comes up with a cool tour for 2015.
Note that there is only one ranking in 2014: no more super tour + qualification tour. Just one tour with all events and riders.
First event of the year: Pipeline from Feb 18-28
Next events to be confirmed.
More about the APB etc.
*APB: The governing body that represents the worlds Bodyboarding athletes, Event promoters and officials of the sport of Bodyboarding. Company Overview: This group is a collaboration of athletes, officials and event promoters to represent the athletes of the sport and to steer the sport into a positive direction and protect its credibility.
The APB Structure:
Alex Leon (GM & events Rep)
Mike Stewart (Hawaiian athlete Rep)
Guilherme Tamega (Latin athlete Rep)
Craig Hadden (Technical Operations)
Jeff Hubbard (USA & DK athlete Rep)
Mark McCarthy (Sth Africa athlete Rep)
Chico Garritano (Head Judge)
Ryan Hardy (Australian athlete Rep)
Karla Costa (Womens athlete Rep)
Diogo Marquez (European rep)
2014 Star Rating Event System for the Men’s World Tour
The minimum prize-money to be rated on the world tour will be US$25,000.
The final make up for the end of year rankings will be to include your best half plus one (rounded up) event points total. In the event that more than 1 rider has the same or equal points all ties will be broken by going to the next best result on the 2014 tour.
If ties cannot be broken by counting up wards then a tie will be broken by counting down events results. Finally and only if the tie is unbreakable, then a surf off heat will be contested at the earliest chance between the tied riders.
A maximum of 2000 points will be available to events that meet bonus requirements. Events will effectively start at 1000 points and work upwards.
Prize-money Bonus: Events can increase their star rating by adding prize-money. 200 extra points for every US$15,000 over the minimum $25,000 prize-money.
Infrastructure and Historical Standing Bonus: Events will be allocated 200 extra points based on the event set-up (i.e., web cast, contest structure and media) and the historical standing of the event.
Waiting Period Bonus: Events will be allocated 200 extra points if they include a 10 day waiting period.
Premier Wave Bonus: Events will be allocated 200 or 400 extra points based on the wave quality.
Star Events Points Comparisons
1 Star = 1000 points
2 Star = 1200 points
3 Star = 1400 points
4 Star = 1600 points
5 Star = 1800 points
6 Star = 2000 points
Killer Days is probably the best video we’ve seen in 2013. Edited by Todd Barnes, Killer Days showcases team FOUND Boards (and guest firends) and it does it well, very well. With Mitch Rawlins leading the charge with his perfect style and control, team Found is well documented in there: Thomas Robinson smooth rides and hacks from Oz to India, Damian King’s precision pocket riding and jokes, Andrew Lester’s powerful lines and barrels as well as Jones Russell and George Humphreys shredding. Among guests Jake Stone has heaps of amazing footage in the video and absolutely rips. What stroke us once again is Mitch Rawlins’s perfect style, his bottom turns and scooping, his positioning, his speed and lines and the way he links his bottom turns to the next section and hits the lip are just above the rest, seriously, Mitch is a freak, he rides a boogieboard the way you’re supposed to – to its full potential – and he does this with unmatched style. Watch him surf and learn.
