The Rip Curl Pro, formerly the Bells Beach Surf Classic, is a WSL (formerly ASP) World Tour

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

competition held in and around

Torquay, Victoria Torquay is a seaside resort in Victoria, Australia, which faces Bass Strait, 21 km south of Geelong and is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. It is bordered on the west by Spring Creek and its coastal features include Point Danger and ...

and sponsored by surf company

Rip Curl Rip Curl is a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of Surfing#Equipment, surfing sportswear (also known as ''boardwear'') and accompanying products, and a major athletic sponsor. Rip Curl has become one of the largest surfing companies in Aust ...

. The event is based at

Bells Beach, Victoria Bells Beach is a coastal locality of Victoria, Australia in Surf Coast Shire and a renowned surf beach, located 100 km south-west of Melbourne, on the Great Ocean Road near the towns of Torquay and Jan Juc. It is named after William Be ...

, Australia. The event winner is awarded the prestigious 'Bell' trophy. The song "Hells Bells" by

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

is played every morning before the first competition.

History

The competition has been held annually at

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

time at

continuously since 1962, becoming a professional competition and sponsored by

in 1973. The contest has had various sponsors over the years, including in 1984 Australian rock band, Australian Crawl. The first Bells Beach contest was supposed to be held in late 1961 but was delayed until the Australia day weekend of 1962. The first winner was NSW surfer Glynn Ritchie. Occasionally George "Ming" Smith is credited as winning the 1961 event but he actually won the "wave of the day" in the first contest (1962) and was awarded a prize of 1 pound, and a pennant saying "winner 1961". The event became mobile from 1993, and was held at various locations in Victoria, depending upon weather conditions. The entire 2005 event was held at Phillip Island due to poor conditions in Torquay. The event is now held only at Bells Beach and nearby Winkipop. The famous Bells trophy was designed and built by Bells Beach local Joe Sweeney. Winners of the Rip Curl Pro receive smaller replica Bells trophies to keep. Each year, Rip Curl founder

Doug 'Claw' Warbrick Doug Warbrick is an Australian businessman, founder of the Rip Curl brand. and notable figure in the sport of surfing. Warbrick is credited for bringing the longest running surf event in history, the Bells Beach Surf Classic, to the professiona ...

presents the trophies to the winning athletes. The 2020 and 2021 contests were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Naming

Since the birth of this competition it had different names.

Results

Men

Women

References

Bibliography

* ''Mark Richards: A Surfing Legend'', authorised biography by David Knox, 1992, * ''The Ol' Girl'', '' Tracks'' magazine, March 2006 (listing men's winners 1973 to 2005)
Kelly Slater Wins 2006 Rip Curl Pro
by Nick Carroll at '' Surfing Magazine''.

External links

ASP World Tour Rankings & Results
{{Surfing World Surf League Surfing competitions in Australia Sports competitions in Victoria (Australia) Recurring sporting events established in 1973 1973 establishments in Australia