BELLS BEACH, Victoria/Australia (Saturday, March 31, 2012) – The world’s best surfers are descending upon the Australian state of Victoria for the second stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour season, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Ranger, to be held from April 3 – 14, 2012.
Event No. 2 of 10 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will reignite the explosive hunt for the 2012 ASP World title which kicked off in late February on Australia’s Gold Coast, and if the swell forecasts prove accurate, Bells Beach is poised to turn on some classic conditions for the world’s best surfers.
Last year marked the historic 50th anniversary of competition at Bells Beach and Joel Parkinson reigned supreme over Gold Coast stablemate Mick Fanning (AUS), 30, in a hard-fought Final.
“The history and the vibe of the place follows you out into the lineup,” Parkinson said. “I love it. It’s like no other contest. They can’t trump last year… not for me anyway. Footage from last year keeps popping up all the time and I find myself having to get away from it because I don’t know if it can be that good again. You can’t convince yourself that every heat is going to be six foot and offshore in the Bells Bowl.”
Standing in Parkinson’s way will be the finest assemblage of talent the ASP World Championship Tour has ever seen.”I’d say Mick (Fanning) and Taj (Burrow), going on form, are two of the most dangerous guys in the event,” Parkinson said. “I mean, Mick surfs the Bells Bowl better than anyone. Kelly (Slater) is always a threat everywhere we go. He doesn’t even know if he’s going to do Brazil, but he’s no slouch at Bells – he’s got four of them (Bells titles).”
Coastalwatch Plus, official forecasters for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, are calling for the start of the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, including the trials to be held on the Sunday 1st and Monday 2nd of April, is now looking nothing short of excellent. The forecast broadly hinges on an active storm track affecting the far southern Indian Ocean through to Western Australian longitudes over the next week to ten days.
The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Ranger will run from April 3 – 14, 2012 and will be webcast LIVE vialive.ripcurl.com
Running in conjunction with the men’s event will be the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Fiesta, the second stop on the 2012 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour season.
Watch the 2012 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach live on live.ripcurl.com or download the Rip Curl Event’s ap from the iTunes store to watch the action on the go from your mobile device.
