• More Ways to Watch and Format Explained for the 2023 Rip Curl WSL Finals
• Walk of Champions Installation Now Open on the San Clemente Pier
• Predict Who Will Win With WSL Fantasy Pick’Em

LOWER TRESTLES, San Clemente, California (Tuesday, September 5, 2023) – The Rip Curl WSL Finals, the one-day competition to crown the 2023 World Champions, is quickly approaching. The event will be held at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, and holds a waiting period from September 8 through 16, 2023, with the event running on the one best day of waves determined by the WSL Tours and Competition team. The Rip Curl WSL Finals is open to the public and will offer front-row seats to the best surfing in the world and the crowning of the 2023 World Champions.

 Rip Curl WSL Finals: Ways to Watch and Attend 

The Rip Curl WSL Finals offers a unique opportunity for fans to watch and cheer for their favorite surfers up close and personal. On the day of the event, the venue will feature a stadium-like atmosphere where fans can immerse themselves in a variety of beachside activities hosted by the WSL’s partners, including Candy Crush Soda, Sambazon, YETI, Original Sprout, and Turtle Bay.

For those wanting to attend in person, there are several options for parking and shuttles. Please see the Rip Curl WSL Finals map for all locations and details.

Tune in to the WSL’s daily Dawn Patrol broadcasts starting at 7:30 a.m. PDT each day of the event window to stay current on forecasts and event updates.

For those watching at home, the event will be broadcast LIVE on WorldSurfLeague.com, WSL’s YouTube channel, and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL’s broadcast partners.

Walk of Champions Installation Now Open at the San Clemente Pier

The “Walk of Champions” installation on the San Clemente Pier is open through September 16 for fans to enjoy. The Walk of Champions celebrates the men and women who have elevated the sport of surfing over the past five decades, earning the prestigious title of surfing’s World Champions.

Rip Curl WSL Finals’ Format Explained

The World No. 1 ranked male and female surfer will both receive a bid directly into the Title Match, a best two-of-three-heat showdown to determine the World Champion. The remaining surfers will enter the Rip Curl WSL Finals bracket based on their year-end rankings:

Each Match will be a traditional heat format where two competitors will have 35 minutes to lock in their two highest-scoring waves, each wave out of a possible 10 points for a possible 20-point heat total.

Match 1 for the women will see two new faces to the Rip Curl WSL Finals in rookie Caitlin Simmers (USA) and Molly Picklum (AUS). For the men, Match 1 will see Jack Robinson (AUS) up against CT sophomore Joao Chianca (BRA). The No. 4 seed will have predetermined priority over the No. 5 seed to start Match 1. This was an update made before the start of the 2023 CT season in the off-season. Match 1 will be the only heats that will have the predetermined priority.

Whoever wins Match 1 will then advance to face World No. 3 in Match 2: Caroline Marks (USA) for the women and Ethan Ewing (AUS) for the men.

The winner of Match 2 will then face off against the No. 2 ranked surfer: Tyler Wright (AUS) for the women and Griffin Colapinto (USA) for the men. The winner of Match 3 will then move on to the best-of-three Title Match, where they will face World No. 1, Carissa Moore (HAW) and Filipe Toledo (BRA). The first surfer to win two out of three Title Matches becomes the 2023 World Champion.

The crowning of the 2023 World Champions will immediately follow the final Title Match of the day.

For more information, visit WorldSurfLeague.com.

Pick Who Will Win With WSL Fantasy Pick’Em

The WSL Fantasy Pick’Em game creates new points and leaderboards separate from the 10-event regular season points and leaderboards. Players will receive a new set of points and view a new leaderboard for WSL Finals Fantasy. The format will be a modified bracket challenge with scoring based on the correct number of heat picks.

To play, pick each women’s and men’s Match winner of the Rip Curl WSL Finals. Players can change their picks until the match starts. Points are earned for each correct pick. The points rise per correct pick. Women’s and men’s picks are scored separately and added together to get the total score.

For the complete rules and to make your picks, please visit ctfantasy.worldsurfleague.com.

Watch LIVE: Rip Curl WSL Finals
The event window for the Rip Curl WSL Finals opens on September 8 and holds a competition window through September 16, 2023. The event will be broadcast LIVE on  WorldSurfLeague.com, the WSL’s YouTube channel, and the free WSL app. Check out more ways to watch from the WSL’s broadcast partners.

The Rip Curl WSL Finals is proudly supported by Rip Curl, SHISEIDO, YETI, Red Bull, Surfline, True Surf, Pura Vida, 805 Beer, Pacifico, Sambazon, Original Sprout, Turtle Bay, Boxed Water, Tudor, Candy Crush Soda, and Cup Noodles. 

For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.com.

About the WSL
The World Surf League (WSL) is the global home of competitive surfing, crowning the World Champions since 1976 and showcasing the world’s best surfers on the world’s best waves. WSL is comprised of the Tours and Competition division, which oversees and operates more than 180 global competitions each year; Kelly Slater Wave Company (KSWC), home of the world’s largest high-performance, human-made wave; and WSL Studios, an independent producer of unscripted and scripted projects.