Superstars Dane Reynolds, Shane Dorian and Bruce Irons plus surfing legends Mark “Occy” Occhilupo, Luke Egan and Rob Machado have all accepted their invitations to the inaugural 2012 Billabong Mundaka Challenge, presented by Sony Ericsson.
These international stars will compete against a class field of European and local Basque surfers for the right to win the first ever Billabong Mundaka Challenge and €25,000 worth of prizemoney. The invitational only, one-day event has until the end of March to ensure flawless conditions and a minimum wave size of 6 to 8 feet.
Californian Dane Reynolds, who recently announced that he will not be competing on the 2012 ASP World Tour, jumped at the chance to be a part of the inaugural event. “I’m really stoked to be invited to the Billabong Mundaka Challenge and am mainly looking forward to getting tubed,” said Reynolds. Pressed for a favourite from the elite 18-man field, Reynolds nominated Occy as the biggest threat.
Occy won the Mundaka Billabong Pro in 1999 on the way to his world title and first surfed the
famous rivermouth more than 30 years ago. “Mundaka holds a special part in my heart, both the wave and the people of the town. It’s truly an honour just to surf there, let alone with these other amazing surfers. You’d need wild horses to keep me away from this,” said Occhillupo.
Like Occy, Luke Egan is another former Mundaka Pro winner that will be making the journey from Australia’s Gold Coast. “It’s an amazing town and an amazing wave and it deserves a speciality event like this to showcase how magical it is,” said Egan. “To rock up and surf when it’s pumping with some of your heroes and the best guys that have ever been out there is going to be unreal.”
Joining the six invited international surfers will be Europeans Benjamin Sanchis, Eric Rebiere, Miky Picon, Marc Lacomare, Reubyn Ash and Fergal Smith, all known for their ability in heavy conditions and tubing waves.
Rounding out the 18 man field will be six of the best local Basque surfers, Hodei Collazo, Aritz Aramburu, Iker Fuentes, Eneko Acero, Inaki Urkidi, plus the winner of the Mundaka tubes online contest at www.mundakatubes.biz. With their combined local knowledge and talent it’s entirely possible that one of these surfers could make history at their legendary homebreak.
The inaugural Billabong Mundaka Challenge is set to bring back the world’s best tuberiders to Mundaka, one of the world’s best waves. A three-month waiting period starting from 15th January 2012 has been put in place to ensure the one-day event will score flawless conditions and a minimum wave size of 6 to 8 feet. Video highlights of what should be an historic day of surfing will be available on www.themundakachallenge.com
The innovative event brings a welcome return of world-class surfing back to the town of Mundaka, a venue that holds a special place in European surfing folklore. Known as one of the most perfect and picturesque waves in the world, the Basque town hosted the Billabong Pro, an elite pro surfing competition for a decade up until 2009.
“Billabong in collaboration with the Mundaka Surf Club wanted to run an event that would show the true potential of what the Mundaka wave has to offer,” said Sam Carrier, the Billabong Europe Mens Marketing Manager. “The town is a magical place and the wave is one of the best lefts in the world. We can wait for that perfect day and show the world some of the crazy tuberides that Mundaka is famous for.”
The invitee only event will see six international and six European tuberiding specialists competing against six Basque surfers, two of which will be chosen by the Mundaka Surf Club. An innovative format is in place with surfers initially competing in hour-long six man heats. Depending on conditions, a six man final will then either be held on the primary event day or the following day with the winner pocketing €15,000 in prize money.
With competitors judged solely on their best two tube rides, the invite list is made up of a who’s who of barrel riders, Mundaka specialists and previous Billabong Pro winners. One surfer who falls into all those categories is Mark “Occy” Occhilupo. Occy won the Mundaka Billabong Pro in 1999 on his way to the world title and has a special affinity with the wave.
“When you are standing in the barrel at Mundaka looking out at the mountains it’s like time stands still. It definitely has to be one of the best barrels in the world,” said Occy. “To have it back with the Mundaka Challenge is absolutely epic.”
