Jaws fails to deliver the juice

Pe‘ahi – The World Surf League (WSL) Big Wave Tour’s (BWT) Pe’ahi Challenge in Maui, Hawai‘i has been postponed, just 24 hours after being greenlighted to get underway on Thursday morning.

A significant downgrade in swell projection has forced event organisers to put the brakes on the event for now.

Pe‘ahi, or “Jaws” as it’s known, is considered by most big wave surfers to be the pinnacle of big wave surfing because of the challenging conditions. The wave can reach heights of 60 feet or more.

“The challenge with BWT events is that we’re dealing with some of the rawest energy on Earth which is required to create waves of significant size,” said Peter Mel, WSL Big Wave Commissioner.

“These swells require a very specific intensity, direction and wind component to be successful. 24 hours ago, the elements were aligning for Thursday and our Green Alerts go out 72 hours in advance to get all the various event mechanisms into gear.

“The swell looked good and so we called it on. Today, it’s a different story unfortunately and we’re calling the event off for now.”

“It’s disappointing and no one is more passionate about running these events than I am, but the BWT has a standard to uphold and this swell is unfortunately not going to do it for us,” Mel continued.

“That said, we still have five weeks left in this year’s season and a very active North Pacific swell cycle so we’ll be monitoring conditions for Pe ‘ahi, Todos Santos and Nelscott Reef.”

The 2014–2015 BWT season is divided into Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere components, each hosting three possible events.

The Pe‘ahi Challenge in Maui together with the Todos Santos Challenge in Mexico and the Punta Galea Challenge in the Basque Country (won by Nic Lamb (USA) comprise the Northern Hemisphere half of the Big Wave Tour season.

The Southern Hemisphere season ran from April 15 to August 31, 2014 with event options in Chile, Peru and South Africa.

The Billabong Pico Alto was the only event to run, and on Thursday, July 3, 2014,where Hawai‘is Makuakai Rothman claimed his maiden WSL Big Wave Tour victory.

With two events complete, the Hawaiian sits atop the BWT rankings heading into the Pe‘ahi Challenge, the third BWT event of the season.

A team of experts track swell systems all over the world waiting for those that will produce waves in the 30-foot-and-larger range necessary for a Big Wave Tour event to run.

The potential swell for Pe‘ahi also had event organizers looking at a possible run of the Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau.

As of Monday, however, they ended the alert status associated with this swell for that event, which would have run at Waimea Bay, on Oahu.