No J Bay on the 2026 WSL calendar? Like, seriously?! Scratches head… Where do we even begin.
Okay, so for starters, there’s been more finger pointing than if a crowded lineup suddenly looked up and saw an meteorite heading towards them. (Of course that actually happened not too long ago, near St Francis Bay if you can recall.)
Politics, money and logistics.
And that’s just scraping the surface of what might’ve happened for J Bay to lose its signature event. If one objectively looks at the current South African political climate (or frankly, the South African political climate throughout history) you see two, or three, or four, or multitudes of sides screaming, cursing and pointing fingers (and sometimes firearms) at one another. Nothing new here, move along folks. Nevertheless, without going into details and probably getting it wrong anyway, there are two major political factions squabbling here.
One lot accuse the other lot of sitting on their hands while J Bay hosting the event became ever less likely. Then the other lot accuse the former lot of only caring about a sport for the privileged. Which of course is total codswallop. The success stories of the positive influence of surfing on J Bay’s underprivileged communities are myriad and proof surfing is for all. (Just don’t sit on my peak Gustav from Munich). Indeed, there’s certainly a few inspirational movies to be made on said topic. Small town kid from the South African ghetto makes it big in surfing. In perpetuity, Trident copyrights this pitch, Hollywood.
J Bay on the 2026 WSL calendar, no political will?
Anyway, back to politicians arguing like toddlers over broken toys. Bizarre. Like the usual state of SA politics in other words. Indeed, even the sudden controversy over the current plethora of town name changes suddenly somehow got dragged into the same debate. If you really think about it though, any town with Jeffrey in its name would be one of the first to be changed.
But not a moer are we wading into the town name change quagmire. Instead, Trident suggests politicians squabbling over the lost J Bay surf event are locking the barn door after the horse has bolted. Yes, perhaps South African politics and its typical lack of planning, foresight and vision played a large part on J Bay losing its premiere sports event. Although, whatever significance our politics played in the WSL dropping J Bay like Rassie dropping a dope accused Bok, we reckon that’s only a part of the tale.
Money talks, BS (that’s Backside Surfing) walks.
And Frontside Surfing for that matter. Ja kind of lame we know – we just thought that made a great heading. Anyway, the lack of money for the event is of no debate. The WSL claims J Bay is the most expensive competition to run. This is coupled with the least viewership figures for events in Jeffrey’s, because our time zone is out of sync with the biggest online audience (which for surfing is in the western hemisphere). Sure. This may be fact, but it does take us back to the politics of it all. Namely local and national government’s unwillingness (or more likely, utter ignorance of surfing) to contribute financially.
To be fair, this is the crux of J Bay losing the event. If the money was there, or there was money to be made, Trident wouldn’t be writing this article and would instead have to write a piece on the best way to prevent wetsuit rash or some such kak.
If funding were available, we’d already be picking Jordy for J Bay on the 2026 WSL calendar, over thinking the fantasy league. Instead, we have Raglan – a fresh new wave on tour. In Trident’s opinion, this classic New Zealand spot is a very worthy replacement. Nonetheless, Trident reckons it would’ve been sick to have had both events on the tour. Raglan should be an addition to J Bay, not a replacement. You’d still have the world’s best right hand point as well as a classic left hand point. After all, Raglan may be a great wave, but it’s a long point without the heavy, soil-yourself seriousness of terrifying lefts like Chopes, Pipe etc.
So what about the sponsors?
Hello? Any sponsors out there? Once again, the finances of the global surf industry rapidly shrinking won’t help matters, but remember how events back in the day used to have sponsors like cigarette and booze brands? So why not a few non-surfing brands? Why not South African favourites? I mean, Ouma Rusks sponsored surfing competitions may not have the same integral coolness as say, Corona, but the Big Three surf brands sponsoring much these days is unlikely. So back to booze, cigarettes and soft drinks. Sure, diabetes, addiction and gnarly disease suck. However, brands like those could balance out their unfortunate side effects by sponsoring surfing competitions. Surfing is one of the healthiest activities to do, so consider it a brand’s moral obligation. Energy drinks and their bulls and monster claws are featured in everything sport related these day, from motor sports to jumping out of spacecraft.
Why not the social medias? Couldn’t Facebook, TikTok and Instagram have sponsored J Bay? Why not YouTube? That’s how most of us watch the darn events anyway. Why not an OnlyFans sponsorship for surfing for crying out loud?! Come on surfers of earth. Think out the box. AI, figure it out, you annoying electricity and water draining entity you.
So ultimately as we can plainly see, the reasons for J Bay missing out on its signature event appear to be multilayered. All Trident can say is, what a bummer. Maybe next year. ‘Coz this isn’t the first year J Bay hasn’t had a WSL sanctioned comp. Nor will it be the last. Either way, long live Raglan.
