World Surf League Championship Tour Takes To The Waves

The world serve championship tour which will make a stop in San Diego is just getting underway in Australia. Is lack of this competition will be covered extensively by surfer magazine which has its new headquarters in Carlsbad. Competitive aspect of surfing is not new but it is also not a well-known sport in the US. Some up-and-coming California surfing proles may change that. During the is Todd Prodanovich editor of surfing magazine. Thanks for having me Tell us some of the stop this competition makes. Travels around the world -- some of the best-known spots are pipeline on the North Shore of -- which is obviously actually famous. One of the older competitions -- and then there is competition in Tahiti. All over Australia -- it goes to Europe and France. I think there is 11 stops total. It goes nine months out of the year. It comes here in September Yes Is there a country that dominates competitive surfing? So right now it is an interesting time in competitive surfing. In that Brazil has shown up on the team and really stolen the spotlight from the Australians and Americans who previously dominated competitive surfing. In the last two years we have had to Brazilian world champs which is Gabriel Medina and Adriana -- and that has made his huge difference in surfing. Especially and Brazil where before it was a smaller niche sport. Now it gets -- a lot of mainstream media coverage and it is an sports shows right next to soccer which is obviously Brazil's biggest sport. Is there a women's competition? Yes there is a women's world tour. There is a lot of Brazilian women who have been doing well there. How is surfing as a sport different from just surfing? Is really different in the way that professional surfers they need to have finely tuned equipment. They all right similar surfboards made for high-performance surfing. Just the way they serve -- it is very different. They will wait for the right way and have a search strategy. There is a lot more that goes into it. Were asked if you do it for fun you are not really worried about that stuff. You can write whatever bored you want. It is more about having fun in getting in the ocean. It is a little bit more serious -- there is a lot a strategy that goes into it which is kind of difficult for a lot of surfers to relate to. The world serve leak as it is known today is only about two years old. Do you expect the competitive side of this board is going to grow? Everyone has different opinions on that. I actually think that in certain areas like Brazil, it has a lot of potential to grow. In America the thing that is holding it back the most -- most people see it as a lifestyle or a hobby which it is. And there are so many variables in the computer -- competitive aspect of it. Scoring system is subjective. A lot of the rules are confusing to someone who is not a longtime fan. I think that makes it difficult for a mainstream audience to jump on board with it. So to speak Can professional surfers earn big paydays? Is there a large reward? It varies -- depending on the event. Some have been as high as $100,000 for the winner. And then lesser amounts for people who make it to different levels of the contest. And then plus, all the pro surfers in the world tour have big endorsement deals. So they make a lot of money with that as well. There are two Southern Californians new to the tour this year. A -- how are they expected to perform? The two Californians are Conner Coffin, and --. They have to do really well to even qualify for the world to in the first place. Is kind of -- it varies for rookies. Some of them just kind of come out the gates and do well their first year. Others struggle to stay on tour. We are in the first event and we are in the fourth round. Both of them are still going -- there still winning. They are done incredibly good job in their first heat. Differs contest. So that bodes well for the rest of the season for them and -- for sure. What about surfing in the Olympics? Her husband discussions of -- there has been discussions of including serving as a sport in the Olympics? Maybe not in the short term but eventually. Especially the artificial wave -- the wave pool company developed. Not sure if you are familiar. Basically a team of engineers created a perfect shoulder highway in a pool. In Lemoore California. It is uniform -- exactly the same waves. If they had a contest there, every surfer would have the same opportunity on every wave. Which has been the thing that has been keeping surfing from being in the Olympics. Is not even playing field. If surfing was going to become an Olympic sport I would think that would be the only way it would work out. Finally, surfer magazine relocated to Carlsbad. Is there something about the local surf culture that makes this a good case for your headquarters? Is a great place to be located. A lot of the industry is in San Diego. Historically a lot of amazing surfers have come from here. Taylor Knox -- Brian Burch, and they all live and serve nearby. International surfers come to California every year and they always pass through San Diego. Is good for us to be based in a location where we can maintain those relationships with the surfers Woody's work with for the magazine. Not to mention the office is close to really fun waves. The world tour -- the world serve leak championship comes to San Diego in September. I'm sure we will be speaking with you again. Todd Prodanovich -- editor a surfer magazine. Inc. you so much. Thank you