A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

International paddle-in only big-wave surf competition series in which events run only if wave heights reach 30 feet at the contest site. The BWWT was founded in 2009 by big-wave surfer, shaper, and former ASP boss Gary Linden. Four events were scheduled for the inaugural season: Punta de Lobos, Chile; Pico Alto, Peru; Maverick's, California; and Todos Santos, Mexico, each to be held over a season stretching from April 2009 to March 2010. Events consist of a one-day competition amongst 12 invited competitors, held on the most promising day of surf within a weeks-long waiting period. 

42-year-old Brazilian Carlos Burle won the 2009/10 championship after making the finals of each contest; he won $5,000 and a trip to tour sponsor Jim Beam's Kentucky distillery for the win. Hawaii's Jamie Sterling, 29, won the title and $10,000 in a truncated three stop 2010/11 tour, after the final two contests were cancelled for lack of swell (Oregon's Nelscott Reef was added as a tour location following the 2009 season). 

Sponsorship dollars have not flowed easily to the BWWT. Events are held on remote beaches and at short notice, a combination that practically guarantees a miniscule audience. Linden and BWWT competitor Greg Long were forced to pay out of pocket to run the 2009 Todos Santos event, and were unable to offer winner Mark Healey any prize money. Nevertheless, the BWWT remains the only professional surf tour focused on big-wave paddle surfing, and has garnered plenty of respect within the surf community. At the 2009 Billabong XXL Awards the late world champion Andy Irons announced to the BWWT contingent, "your tour is way gnarlier than ours."

Big Wave World Tour (BWWT)

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

Encyclopedia of Surfing