The World Surf League is scheduled to host a new surfing world tour event, the Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic in April 2021.
Due to the pandemic, the annual Corona Open at Queensland’s Snapper Rocks is out of the picture for the unforeseeable future.
The World Surf League has opted to host a new world tour in its stead: the Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic, which is set to take place from April 16 to April 26 at Northern Narrabeen, New South Wales.
World-class surfers are expected to fly into the state in March before undergoing two weeks of mandatory quarantine until it’s time to begin preparations for the tournament. The last world tour event hosted at Sydney’s Northern Beaches was the Coca Cola Surf Classic in 1999, in which Australian surfer Taj Burrow emerged victorious.
The cancellation of the Corona Open in Queensland came about due to the risks that come with public health measures such as lockdowns, state border restrictions, and event cancellations. Without a pre-approved bubble from the state, the World Surf League has deemed it too dangerous to host the tour at Snapper Rocks.
The Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic will play a role in revitalising the local economy, especially after Northern Beaches suffered a lockdown brought about by the pandemic over Christmas in 2020.
Hosting a world tour brings Narrabeen back into the spotlight, allowing people to see it as a hotspot for surfers and tourists alike. Visitors from outside the suburb are expected to provide the local shops, eateries, and accommodations with the money necessary to recover and rebuild the economy after a tough year.
