Association of Surfing Professionals Europe

The Association of Surfing Professionals Europe (ASP Europe) is the governing body for professional surfers in Europe and is dedicated to showcasing the continent's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. It is one of seven regions of the ASP World Tour.[1]

World Surf League Europe
AbbreviationWSL Europe
MottoBest Surfers in the Best Waves
Formation1 January 1989 (1989-01-01)
TypeSports organisation, Professional Surfing
HeadquartersCapbreton, France
Region served
Europe
Official language
English
Main organ
WSL Europe
Parent organization
World Surf League
Websitewww.worldsurfleague.com

History

Creation of the WSL

Founded in 1989, the WSL Europe was formed to promote professional surfing in Europe. Its objective is to equally benefit European surfers, sponsors and event promoters alike.

Each year this pro-am circuit include contests between January and November with QS 1,000 - QS 10,000 events, Junior, Longboard and specialty events. Most of the events are run at famous beaches for their quality waves: The Canary Islands, France, Portugal, Spain, England, Ireland, and the Azores Islands. All organized contests are at the best surfing beaches and at the best time of the year.

More than 200 of the best European professional surfers and traveling International athletes enter these events and guarantee to put on a great show.

WSL Membership

Membership to the WSL is only available to individuals.[2]

WSL Europe Sanctioned Tours

  • WSL Europe Men's Qualifying Series
  • WSL Europe Women's Qualifying Series
  • WSL Europe Men and Women's Junior Qualifying Series
  • WSL Europe Men and Women's Longboard Qualifying Series and
  • WSL Europe Specialty Events.

WSL Qualifying Series events

A WSL QS 10,000 event is held at premium venues with a restricted field and offers 10,000 WSL Rankings points.[3]

WSL QS 1,000 - QS 6,000 events are a lower level of competition, compared to an WSL QS 10,000 event, with their importance indicated by how many points they are assigned: more points means generally better competition and prize money.[3]

WSL Junior events

In 2013, 6 Men and 2 Women will represent Europe at the WSL Junior Championships. Junior events in Europe decide those qualifiers every year. Surfers must be under-18 years old to enter those events.

WSL Longboard events

Same as for the Junior Tour, those events offer the possibility for the Best European longboarders to qualify for the coveted WSL Longboard Championship events.

Rules

Judging

In contests surfers will be scored on a scale of 0.1 to 10.0, these scores will be broken up into increments of one-tenth. The following scale can be use in order to relate descriptions with the score:

  • 0–1.9 = Poor
  • 2.0–3.9 = Fair
  • 4.0–5.9 = Average;
  • 6.0–7.9 = Good
  • 8.0–10.0 = Excellent

Judging criteria

Judges will base the previous score on how successfully surfers display these following elements in each wave:

  • Commitment and degree of difficulty
  • Innovative and progressive maneuvers
  • Combination of major maneuvers
  • Variety of maneuvers
  • Speed, power and flow

Some of these elements may be more or less important base on the surfing conditions and the surfing area. This criterion is also different then in longboarding competition. All of this is focused on creating some type consistency that can be seen throughout the many different events.[4]

The events themselves are previously declared QS 1,000 - QS 10,000 events; among other things this ranking shows what numbers of judges which are required at the event. QS 1,000 - QS 3,000 Qualifying Series events are required to have a six judge panel with four judges on each heat. A QS 4,000 - QS 6,000 Qualifying Series event requires seven judges with five of those judges on each heat. At QS 5,000 - QS 10,000 Qualifying Series events there are only allowed to be 3 judges from any one region. This is then limited to two at any world championship events. All events also require an WSL approved head judge who has the ability to make corrections to errors or any other events that may have affected the results.

Rules

There are many rules out in the water which all revolve around the idea of right of way. A surfer has right of way if he or she is closer to the area where the wave is breaking, this is more commonly referred to as having the inside position. If another surfer takes off in front of the surfer which has the inside position then interference will be called and penalties will be enacted. In most circumstances it does not matter who stood up first but who has the inside position.[5]

A surfer can also be found guilty of inference if they catch more than their maximum number of waves in a heat and that this takes away from the other competitors ability to catch waves. A competitor is also not allowed to interfere with another competitor's paddling and maneuvering for a wave.[5]

The rules of right-a-way vary slightly with the type of break. Point Breaks will always have a consistent direct of what is inside, that is the person further up the line will have right-away. In a single peak situation where there is both a left and a right two people are able to be on the wave at the same time provided that one goes left and one goes right and that neither crosses the path of the other to go one direction. If this does happen then the surfer who stood up first will get the right-a-way. On a multi peaked wave where the wave eventually comes together both peaks can be surfed until the surfers come together, when they do the surfer who stood up first has right-a-way and the other must maneuver to get off the wave without interrupting the other surfer.[5]

In a one-on-one competition priority can be declared by the Head Judge. Once the person with priority has paddled for a wave priority is then turned over to the next person until that person does the same. The person with second priority can paddles for waves as long as it does not interfere with the other person and will only lose their priority if they catch a wave.[5]

A surfer who has already taken off or obtained possession of a wave maintains this position until the end of their ride. If another surfer takes off on the inside of this surfer then this person does not obtain priority and is considered to be snaking. If this surfer does not hurt the other surfers ride then both people can be scored based. If the judges determine that the snaking did interfere then the person will be penalized. Interference penalties are called by the judges and must have a majority to be declared an actual penalty. Interferences are shown as triangles on the score cards in various different ways depending on when or where in the heat they were made. If three or more waves are being scored then one wave will be dropped off the score card. If only the top two waves are being scored then 50% of the second best scored wave will be taken off. If a surfer has more than one then 50% of the best waves score will be taken off also. The surfer who has been interfered with will be allowed an additional wave to their maximum as long as it is within the time limit. If a surfer interferes more than twice in a heat then they must leave the competition area.[5]

WSL Europe Champions

Jeremy Flores of France, 2013 WSL Europe Men's Champion
Johanne Defay of France, 2013 WSL Europe Women's Champion (and Junior)
Leonardo Fioravanti of Italy, 2013 WSL Europe Men's Junior Champion
YearWSL Europe Senior Men's SeriesWSL Europe Senior Women's Series
2017 Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) Carol Henrique (POR)
2016 Jonathan Gonzalez (ESP) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2015 Pedro Henrique (POR) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2014 Joan Duru (FRA) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2013 Jeremy Flores (FRA) Johanne Defay (FRA)
2012 Marlon Lipke (DEU) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2011 Romain Cloitre (FRA) Justine Dupont (FRA)
2010 Marc Lacomare (FRA) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2009 Joan Duru (FRA) Lee-Ann Curren (FRA)
2008 Tim Boal (FRA) Justine Dupont (FRA)
2007 Aritz Aranburu (EUK) Lee-Ann Curren (FRA)
2006 Patrick Beven (FRA) Caroline Sarran (FRA)
2005 Patrick Beven (FRA) Caroline Sarran (FRA)
2004 Justin Mujica (PRT) Caroline Sarran (FRA)
2003 Patrick Beven (FRA)
2002 Eric Rebiere (FRA)
2001 Eneko Acero (EUK)
2000 Eric Rebiere (FRA) Patricia Rossi (PYF)
YearWSL Europe Junior Men's SeriesWSL Europe Junior Women's Series
2017 Kauli Vaast (PYF) Teresa Bonvalot (POR)
2016 Titouan Boyer (FRA) Teresa Bonvalot (POR)
2015 Nelson Cloarec (FRA) Juliette Brice (FRA)
2014 Vasco Ribeiro (POR) Tessa Thyssen (FRA)
2013 Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) Johanne Defay (FRA)
2012 Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) Cannelle Bulard (FRA)
2011 Medi Veminardi (REU) Johanne Defay (FRA)
2010 Charly Martin (GLP) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2009 Marc Lacomare (FRA) Johanne Defay (FRA)
2008 Maxime Huscenot (FRA) Alizé Arnaud (FRA)
2007 Romain Cloitre (FRA) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2006 Joan Duru (FRA)
2005 Jeremy Flores (FRA) Pauline Ado (FRA)
2004 Marlon Lipke (DEU)
2000 Patrick Beven (FRA)
YearWSL Europe Longboard Men'sWSL Europe Longboard Women's
2018 Edouard Delpero (FRA) Justine Dupont (FRA)
2017 Antoine Delpero (FRA) Alice Lemoigne (FRA)
2016 Antoine Delpero (FRA) Alice Lemoigne (FRA)
2015 Antoine Delpero (FRA) Alice Lemoigne (FRA)
2014 Edouard Delpero (FRA) Justine Dupont (FRA)
2013No EventNo Event
2012 Antoine Delpero (FRA) Alice Lemoigne (FRA)
2011 Ben Skinner (GBR) Emilie Libier (FRA)
2010 Antoine Delpero (FRA) Estitxu Estremo (EUK)
2009 Ben Skinner (GBR) Candice O'Donnell (GBR)
2008 Michel Demont (PYF) Claire Karabatsos (FRA)
2007 Michel Demont (PYF) Claire Karabatsos (FRA)
2006 Christos Roupas (GRE) Claire Karabatsos (FRA)
2005 Michel Demont (PYF) Claire Karabatsos (FRA)
2004 Michel Demont (PYF) Claire Karabatsos (FRA)
2003 Michel Demont (PYF) Claire Karabatsos (FRA)

See also

References

  1. Association of Surfing Professionals, Frequently Asked Questions, What is the ASP?. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (accessed 28 April 2011)
  3. ASP Rule Book 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  4. "Judging Criteria". ASP World Tour. Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  5. ASP Rule Book 2012

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