The first-ever tour-sanctioned surf contest at Macaronis is now preparing for a potential start to competition on Thursday morning, the first day of the week-long event waiting period (May 24-30).
Perfect, glassy 3-to-4-foot waves greeted the surfers upon their arrival at Macaronis, generally regarded as the “funnest” surfing wave on Earth. Within 30 minutes of the surfers disembarking official event boat the Indies Explorer, the Macaronis lineup was packed with 40 pros, all warming up for the contest and putting on a spectacular free-surfing show for the hundreds of locals who gathered at Macaronis Resort for the event's opening ceremony. Rip Curl Pro Mentawai Contest Director James Hendy said the chances were looking good for a Thursday morning start to Round 1 of competition.
Macaronis Line up
“The waves at Macaronis were head high and perfect today,” Hendy said. “It's forecast to be the same tomorrow, so we're preparing for a possible start to Round 1 in the early morning. Today everyone was getting their warmups in at Maccas, enjoying the amazing hospitality of the local people and Macaronis Resort, and taking in the opening ceremony put on by the Mentawai Government. It's been a perfect start to the week.”
The Rip Curl Pro Mentawai opening ceremony was held Wednesday evening at Macaronis Resort, fronting Macaronis lagoon. The festivities included a traditional Mentawai dance performance and a welcome speech from the Bupati of the Mentawai Islands, Bapak Yudas Sabaggalet.
“We want to continue to grow this event every year,” Bapak Sabaggalet said. “The Mentawai Islands are home to so many good surf spots, some of the finest in the world. We want to ensure that the Rip Curl Pro Mentawai attracts more sure surfers to come here.”
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia donated several waste bins to the community of Silabu, located next door to Macaronis on North Pagai Island. The waste bins will be in use at Macaronis Resort throughout the week-long Rip Curl Pro Mentawai to ensure proper disposal of trash.
Coca-Cola Ambassador
“The local government have put in a huge effort to make this event successful,” said Tipi Jabrik, CEO of the ISC Tour. “It was also a great initiative by Rip Curl to pick up this event and help the Mentawai Government take the promotion of this great event to the next level. The Rip Curl Pro Mentawai has attracted a ton of surfers from different Asian countries to compete because everyone wants to surf Macaronis. It's a dream for all surfers, even professional surfers, and for a lot of the guys here it's their first time surfing Macas.”
Made Garut Widiarta
The 2012 Rip Curl Pro Mentawai presented by the Mentawai Government is a dual sanctioned 6-star ISC/ASC event. The contest will be held from May 23 – 30, 2012, and feature the best surfers from across Asia facing off at world-famous Macaronis, the most high-performance wave on the planet.
To experience all the action of the inaugural Rip Curl Pro Mentawai at Macaronis, including breaking news, live results and Heats On Demand videos, go to: www.asia.ripcurl.com.
Rip Curl Pro Mentawai is fully supported by the Government regency of Mentawai islands and sponsored by: Rip Curl, Macaronis Resort, Garuda Indonesia, Andalas Media, Indies Explorer and the Role Foundation.
Media partners: Waves magazine, Magicseaweed.com, Surfersvillage.com, BaliBelly.TV, Indosurflife.com, Alam TV, SurfTime , Maxim, JUICE and Lines magazine.
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