The Association of Surfing Professionals Europe (ASP Europe) is the governing body for professional

surfers 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 ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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 The World Surf League (WSL) is the governing body for professional surfers and is dedicated to showcasing the world's best talent in a variety of progressive formats. The World Surf League was originally known as the International Professional ...

History

Creation of the WSL

Founded in 1989, the WSL Europe was formed to promote professional

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 ...

in Europe. Its objective is to equally benefit European

, 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 Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...

: The

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and the

Azores Islands ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

. 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 An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...

enter these events and guarantee to put on a great show.

WSL Membership

Membership to the WSL is only available to

individuals An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...

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

venue Venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a concer ...

s with a restricted field and offers 10,000 WSL

Rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

points.ASP Rule Book 2011
Retrieved 28 April 2011. WSL QS 1,000 - QS 6,000 events are a lower level of

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

, 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 Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to t ...

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 Degree of difficulty (DD, sometimes called tariff or grade) is a concept used in several sports and other competitions to indicate the technical difficulty of a skill, performance, or course, often as a factor in scoring. Sports which incorporate ...

*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

conditions and the surfing area. This criterion is also different then in

longboarding Longboarding is typically defined as a variation of skateboarding that involves a larger board and softer urethane wheels. Longboards vary in shape and size. Compared to skateboards, longboards are more stable at speed and have more traction, due ...

competition. All of this is focused on creating some type consistency that can be seen throughout the many different events. 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.ASP Rule Book 2012 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 Paddling with regard to watercraft is the act of manually propelling a boat using a paddle. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is also used to steer the vessel. The paddle is not connected to the boat (unlike in r ...

and maneuvering for a wave. 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. 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. A surfer who has already taken off or obtained possession of a

wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...

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.