Red Bull Unleashed will be the world’s first Wavegarden contest
Alan Stokes working on his backside blasts at Surf Snowdonia’s Wavegarden. One of the 24 competitors in the upcoming Red Bull Unleashed event. Photo: Nick Pumphrey
Taking place next weekend on September 18-19, Red Bull Unleashed will see the most creative surfers from around the world descend on Dolgarrog, a small town nestled in the foothills of the Snowdonia National Park. At around 10 miles from the coast, Surf Snowdonia is home to a world-first Wavegarden® lagoon which promises a whole new format for competitive surfing.
Ground Zero for the Red Bull Unleashed Surf Competition at the Surf Snowdonia Wavegarden. Photo: Surf Snowdonia
Set to be held in the newly opened Wavegarden, Unleashed is the only major surf event to take place on an artificial wave. This means there’ll be no waiting around for the perfect wave, or straining to see what’s going on out at sea while you stand on the beach. Instead you’ll be able to catch all of the action from a pier that runs right through the centre of the wave garden as some of the world’s most talented surfers go head to head.
If you want to know more about how the event works, check out Red Bull’s ultimate guide to Unleashed.
Breaking away from convention, an exciting 24-man field will showcase top talents from freesurfing and competition alike. The lineup will include Albee Layer and Ezekil Lau (HAW), Jack Freestone and Mikey Wright (AUS), Dillon Perillo and Kainoa Igarashi (USA) and Brendon Gibbens (ZAF).
The judging panel is also a pretty eclectic mix. An esteemed crew of former pro legends including Pipemaster Jake Paterson, former XXL winner Brad Gerlach and European charger Alain Riou will determine who walks away with the first ever Red Bull Unleashed title.
Kalani Robb testing the Surf Snowdonia Wavegarden on a recent wave pool shopping trip with GoPro founder Nick Woodman. Photo: Surf Snowdonia
Red Bull Unleashed Event Schedule
Each heat will last a maximum of 30minutes with a wave passing every 3 minutes.
Thursday 17th (Qualification)
Each surfer to have 6 waves the best of which counts providing a seeding 1-24
Friday 18th September
16 SURFERS COMPETE IN A MATCH PLAY FORMAT COMPETING WAVE FOR WAVE IN A BEST OF 5 COMPETITION.
12:00 HEAT 1
12:30 HEAT 2
13:00 HEAT 3
13:30 HEAT 4
14:00 INTERIM
14:30 HEAT 5
15:00 HEAT 6
15:30 HEAT 7
16:00 HEAT 8
17:00 OPEN PRACTICE/SIGNING SESSION
Saturday 19th September
REMAINING 8 OF THE TOP 24 MOST CREATIVE SURFERS GLOBALLY COMPETE IN THE FINAL STAGES OF THE MATCH PLAY FORMAT COMPETING WAVE FOR WAVE IN A BEST OF 5 COMPETITION.
12:00 QUARTER FINAL 1
12:30 QUARTER FINAL 2
13:00 QUARTER FINAL 3
13:30 QUARTER FINAL 4
14:00 INTERIM
14:30 SEMI FINAL 1
15:00 SEMI FINAL 2
15:30 INTERIM
16:00 FINAL
16:30 PRIZE GIVING
16:45 SIGNING SESSION
Quarter finals
12:00 QF1 – Winner Heat 1 vs Winner Heat 5
12:30 QF2 – Winner Heat 2 vs Winner Heat 6
13:00 QF3 – Winner Heat 3 vs Winner Heat 7
13:30 QF4 – Winner Heat 4 vs Winner Heat 8
14:00 – Interim
Semi Finals
14:15 SF1 – Winner QF 1 vs Winner QF 4
14:45 SF2 – Winner QF 2 vs Winner QF 3
15:15 – Interim
Final
15:30 – Winner of SF1 vs Winner SF2
16:00 – Prize Giving.
Red Bull Unleashed Event Information
There will be an opportunity for 250 cars to park on site at Surf Snowdonia for a cost of 10 GBP.
Following this all other ticket holders will be required to park at Mochdre Commerce Park and travel to the event site via a Park and Ride implemented by Conwy County Council.
The reason for this decision is to minimize the impact of the event on the local villages of Dolgarrog and Llanrwst who have already experienced disruption through the popularity of Surf Snowdonia.
There will also be a traffic management plan in place to ensure that no event related parking can take place in the local area outside of Surf Snowdonia.
Red Bull Unleashed Athlete Roster
Jack Freestone (AUS)
Kanoa Igarashi (USA)
Kalani David (HAW)
Slade Prestwich (ZAF)
Yadin Nicol (AUS)
Dillion Perillo (USA)
Mitch Crews (AUS)
Billy Stairmand (NZL)
Marc Lacomare (FRA)
Ian Crane (USA)
Jayce Robinson (GBR)
Reubyn Ash (GBR)
Albee Layer (HAW)
Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
Kai Hing (AUS)
Brendon Gibbens (ZAF)
Mikey Wright (AUS)
Luke Davis (USA)
Hiroto Arai (JPN)
Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Evan Geiselman (USA)
Ian Gouveia (BRA)
Oli Adams (GBR)
Alan Stokes (GBR)
For further information please contact [email protected]
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