Margaret River firebrand Jacob Willcox claims Challenger Series win at Newcastle
Sunday's contest at Newcastle's Surfest followed Willcox's impressive run as a local qualifier all the way to the quarterfinals at last month's Margaret River Pro.
Willcox and women's competitor Francisca Veselko from Portugal overcame a massive crowd of contestants all eager to use the series as a launch pad back to the top-rated Championship Tour.
'This has been a long time coming,' Willcox said.
'I've had a lot of losses to get this win and it feels incredible to finally get it. It's taken a lot of hard work to get here, and that was the best moment of my life on the beach just then.
'Coming in and having my crew tell me that I probably had it and share that moment with them was so special.'
In the final, Willcox traded mid-range scores with Tahiti's Kauli Vaast, taking a small lead, before the ocean began to slow.
Both were left waiting for more than 10 minutes for a wave until a quick flurry in the dying seconds gave Vaast one more chance.
But he couldn't convert, leaving Willcox to take the win with a two-wave total of 12.30 to Vaast's 11.56.
'The final was pretty slow in the end, but I was just telling myself that sometimes the ocean just gets on your side and gives you some luck, and you find some rhythm, and I feel like this week I found some rhythm and some luck,' Willcox said.
'That's the thing with our sport, you just never know when you're going to get your moment. My moment was today, so I was stoked.'
Willcox was a championship tour rookie in 2024 after years of near-misses in qualification, but he lasted only a few months before missing the mid-season cut and failing to re-qualify for 2025.
The goofy-footer has been pegged as a title threat since his junior years, beating Kelly Slater as a teenage wildcard in Portugal, but has struggled to make a huge impact in the competitive arena.
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The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
'Dead flat': Newcastle surfers in tsunami alert area ahead of pro contest
Jackson Baker's thoughts quickly turned to the people of Hawaii when tsunami warnings were issued after the Russian earthquake, warnings which extended to America's west coast where he is waiting to compete in a professional surfing contest. Baker and fellow Novocastrians Ryan Callinan, Morgan Cibilic and Julian Wilson have spent this week waiting for some suitable surf to develop at Huntington Beach in California. The iconic break is hosting the third event of the Challenger Series, the World Surf League's second-tier series which surfers compete in to try and qualify for the following year's Championship Tour. The contest has had several lay days due to what Baker described as "pretty much dead flat" conditions, but took an interesting turn on Wednesday (AEST) when news of the earthquake prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific. "Day one when I got here, which was a Friday, it was super fun, pretty standard Huntington. Literally since then it's become un-surfable," Baker said, speaking to the Newcastle Herald from America on Thursday (AEST). "I heard the tsunami warning but was never really super worried about it, knowing that Hawaii was in front of us and that was an area they were worried about. "[The earthquake] being in Russia and so far away from where we are ... there wasn't really alarms going off here like there was on the North Shore of Oahu [in Hawaii]. "It was pretty chill. The comp wrote in our group chat about it and kind of warned us, a few protocols, but nothing was ever too serious. "We were down there at 6am looking at the conditions early and everything seemed all good. It was never too much of a worry." At the end of another lay day when he spoke to the Herald, Baker was hopeful for better surf come Friday (AEST). The US Open of Surfing begins with a men's round of 80, which Wilson will start in, but Baker, Callinan and Cibilic begin in the round of 64. The Challenger Series (CS) began with Newcastle Surfest in June, and had its second stop in South Africa last month. After a round-of-64 exit in Newcastle and only advancing to the round of 32 at the Ballito Pro, Baker is ranked 42nd ahead of the Huntington contest. Callinan is ninth, Cibilic is 24th and Wilson, who missed the South African event, is 71st. Given this week's event is the third of seven CS contests, there remains plenty of time for Baker and his countrymen to improve their rankings as they chase a return to surfing's top tier. Only the top-10 ranked CS surfers qualify for next year's Championship Tour. "It's definitely not the start to the year that I would have wanted," Baker said. "You'd think having your first event in Newy, I would have much rather got a result like Ryan [second]. "But I'm super happy for Ryan, he is in a great position to get back on tour. For me, I just want to join him, so that fuels the fire to get on the horse and start to get some points. "This event hasn't really been the best one for me in years past, but I've been putting in the work. Everything feels good; the boards, my body feels 100 per cent, which it hasn't been before, so I'm definitely happy about that ... the only thing I can control in these small conditions is my head space and take it heat-by-heat. "To make some heats and gain some confidence would be amazing heading into an event that I really love over in Portugal and then into Brazil where I did well last year." Baker fell off the Championship Tour in mid-2023. Callinan dropped out mid-season this year. Cibilic hasn't been in the top tier since 2022, while Wilson is making a professional comeback after retiring in 2021. Jackson Baker's thoughts quickly turned to the people of Hawaii when tsunami warnings were issued after the Russian earthquake, warnings which extended to America's west coast where he is waiting to compete in a professional surfing contest. Baker and fellow Novocastrians Ryan Callinan, Morgan Cibilic and Julian Wilson have spent this week waiting for some suitable surf to develop at Huntington Beach in California. The iconic break is hosting the third event of the Challenger Series, the World Surf League's second-tier series which surfers compete in to try and qualify for the following year's Championship Tour. The contest has had several lay days due to what Baker described as "pretty much dead flat" conditions, but took an interesting turn on Wednesday (AEST) when news of the earthquake prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific. "Day one when I got here, which was a Friday, it was super fun, pretty standard Huntington. Literally since then it's become un-surfable," Baker said, speaking to the Newcastle Herald from America on Thursday (AEST). "I heard the tsunami warning but was never really super worried about it, knowing that Hawaii was in front of us and that was an area they were worried about. "[The earthquake] being in Russia and so far away from where we are ... there wasn't really alarms going off here like there was on the North Shore of Oahu [in Hawaii]. "It was pretty chill. The comp wrote in our group chat about it and kind of warned us, a few protocols, but nothing was ever too serious. "We were down there at 6am looking at the conditions early and everything seemed all good. It was never too much of a worry." At the end of another lay day when he spoke to the Herald, Baker was hopeful for better surf come Friday (AEST). The US Open of Surfing begins with a men's round of 80, which Wilson will start in, but Baker, Callinan and Cibilic begin in the round of 64. The Challenger Series (CS) began with Newcastle Surfest in June, and had its second stop in South Africa last month. After a round-of-64 exit in Newcastle and only advancing to the round of 32 at the Ballito Pro, Baker is ranked 42nd ahead of the Huntington contest. Callinan is ninth, Cibilic is 24th and Wilson, who missed the South African event, is 71st. Given this week's event is the third of seven CS contests, there remains plenty of time for Baker and his countrymen to improve their rankings as they chase a return to surfing's top tier. Only the top-10 ranked CS surfers qualify for next year's Championship Tour. "It's definitely not the start to the year that I would have wanted," Baker said. "You'd think having your first event in Newy, I would have much rather got a result like Ryan [second]. "But I'm super happy for Ryan, he is in a great position to get back on tour. For me, I just want to join him, so that fuels the fire to get on the horse and start to get some points. "This event hasn't really been the best one for me in years past, but I've been putting in the work. Everything feels good; the boards, my body feels 100 per cent, which it hasn't been before, so I'm definitely happy about that ... the only thing I can control in these small conditions is my head space and take it heat-by-heat. "To make some heats and gain some confidence would be amazing heading into an event that I really love over in Portugal and then into Brazil where I did well last year." Baker fell off the Championship Tour in mid-2023. Callinan dropped out mid-season this year. Cibilic hasn't been in the top tier since 2022, while Wilson is making a professional comeback after retiring in 2021. Jackson Baker's thoughts quickly turned to the people of Hawaii when tsunami warnings were issued after the Russian earthquake, warnings which extended to America's west coast where he is waiting to compete in a professional surfing contest. Baker and fellow Novocastrians Ryan Callinan, Morgan Cibilic and Julian Wilson have spent this week waiting for some suitable surf to develop at Huntington Beach in California. The iconic break is hosting the third event of the Challenger Series, the World Surf League's second-tier series which surfers compete in to try and qualify for the following year's Championship Tour. The contest has had several lay days due to what Baker described as "pretty much dead flat" conditions, but took an interesting turn on Wednesday (AEST) when news of the earthquake prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific. "Day one when I got here, which was a Friday, it was super fun, pretty standard Huntington. Literally since then it's become un-surfable," Baker said, speaking to the Newcastle Herald from America on Thursday (AEST). "I heard the tsunami warning but was never really super worried about it, knowing that Hawaii was in front of us and that was an area they were worried about. "[The earthquake] being in Russia and so far away from where we are ... there wasn't really alarms going off here like there was on the North Shore of Oahu [in Hawaii]. "It was pretty chill. The comp wrote in our group chat about it and kind of warned us, a few protocols, but nothing was ever too serious. "We were down there at 6am looking at the conditions early and everything seemed all good. It was never too much of a worry." At the end of another lay day when he spoke to the Herald, Baker was hopeful for better surf come Friday (AEST). The US Open of Surfing begins with a men's round of 80, which Wilson will start in, but Baker, Callinan and Cibilic begin in the round of 64. The Challenger Series (CS) began with Newcastle Surfest in June, and had its second stop in South Africa last month. After a round-of-64 exit in Newcastle and only advancing to the round of 32 at the Ballito Pro, Baker is ranked 42nd ahead of the Huntington contest. Callinan is ninth, Cibilic is 24th and Wilson, who missed the South African event, is 71st. Given this week's event is the third of seven CS contests, there remains plenty of time for Baker and his countrymen to improve their rankings as they chase a return to surfing's top tier. Only the top-10 ranked CS surfers qualify for next year's Championship Tour. "It's definitely not the start to the year that I would have wanted," Baker said. "You'd think having your first event in Newy, I would have much rather got a result like Ryan [second]. "But I'm super happy for Ryan, he is in a great position to get back on tour. For me, I just want to join him, so that fuels the fire to get on the horse and start to get some points. "This event hasn't really been the best one for me in years past, but I've been putting in the work. Everything feels good; the boards, my body feels 100 per cent, which it hasn't been before, so I'm definitely happy about that ... the only thing I can control in these small conditions is my head space and take it heat-by-heat. "To make some heats and gain some confidence would be amazing heading into an event that I really love over in Portugal and then into Brazil where I did well last year." Baker fell off the Championship Tour in mid-2023. Callinan dropped out mid-season this year. Cibilic hasn't been in the top tier since 2022, while Wilson is making a professional comeback after retiring in 2021. Jackson Baker's thoughts quickly turned to the people of Hawaii when tsunami warnings were issued after the Russian earthquake, warnings which extended to America's west coast where he is waiting to compete in a professional surfing contest. Baker and fellow Novocastrians Ryan Callinan, Morgan Cibilic and Julian Wilson have spent this week waiting for some suitable surf to develop at Huntington Beach in California. The iconic break is hosting the third event of the Challenger Series, the World Surf League's second-tier series which surfers compete in to try and qualify for the following year's Championship Tour. The contest has had several lay days due to what Baker described as "pretty much dead flat" conditions, but took an interesting turn on Wednesday (AEST) when news of the earthquake prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific. "Day one when I got here, which was a Friday, it was super fun, pretty standard Huntington. Literally since then it's become un-surfable," Baker said, speaking to the Newcastle Herald from America on Thursday (AEST). "I heard the tsunami warning but was never really super worried about it, knowing that Hawaii was in front of us and that was an area they were worried about. "[The earthquake] being in Russia and so far away from where we are ... there wasn't really alarms going off here like there was on the North Shore of Oahu [in Hawaii]. "It was pretty chill. The comp wrote in our group chat about it and kind of warned us, a few protocols, but nothing was ever too serious. "We were down there at 6am looking at the conditions early and everything seemed all good. It was never too much of a worry." At the end of another lay day when he spoke to the Herald, Baker was hopeful for better surf come Friday (AEST). The US Open of Surfing begins with a men's round of 80, which Wilson will start in, but Baker, Callinan and Cibilic begin in the round of 64. The Challenger Series (CS) began with Newcastle Surfest in June, and had its second stop in South Africa last month. After a round-of-64 exit in Newcastle and only advancing to the round of 32 at the Ballito Pro, Baker is ranked 42nd ahead of the Huntington contest. Callinan is ninth, Cibilic is 24th and Wilson, who missed the South African event, is 71st. Given this week's event is the third of seven CS contests, there remains plenty of time for Baker and his countrymen to improve their rankings as they chase a return to surfing's top tier. Only the top-10 ranked CS surfers qualify for next year's Championship Tour. "It's definitely not the start to the year that I would have wanted," Baker said. "You'd think having your first event in Newy, I would have much rather got a result like Ryan [second]. "But I'm super happy for Ryan, he is in a great position to get back on tour. For me, I just want to join him, so that fuels the fire to get on the horse and start to get some points. "This event hasn't really been the best one for me in years past, but I've been putting in the work. Everything feels good; the boards, my body feels 100 per cent, which it hasn't been before, so I'm definitely happy about that ... the only thing I can control in these small conditions is my head space and take it heat-by-heat. "To make some heats and gain some confidence would be amazing heading into an event that I really love over in Portugal and then into Brazil where I did well last year." Baker fell off the Championship Tour in mid-2023. Callinan dropped out mid-season this year. Cibilic hasn't been in the top tier since 2022, while Wilson is making a professional comeback after retiring in 2021.
ABC News
4 days ago
- ABC News
World Surf League 2026 schedule announced with three Australian venues
The 50th year of professional surfing will launch with three events in Australia, beginning with Victoria's Bells Beach in a revamped World Surf League season. The format has been updated to increase the number of women riders, remove non-elimination rounds, and end with an enlarged finale at Pipeline in Hawaii. After Bells Beach, at the start of April, the 2026 season will move to Margaret River in Western Australia, then, in May, to Snapper Rocks in Queensland. The circuit then goes overseas, taking in El Salvador, Brazil, South Africa, Tahiti, Fiji, California, Abu Dhabi and Portugal before the 12th and final event in Hawaii in December. There, the full field will compete, with those eliminated after round nine returning. The season will feature 36 men and 24 women, the latter an increase on this season's 18, with the Tour narrowing to 24 men and 16 women for the post-season events in Abu Dhabi and Portugal. The format for the initial nine regular-season events will feature 32 qualified men, two men's season wildcards, and two men's event wildcards; and 21 qualified women, two women's season wildcards, and one women's event wildcard. "These changes reflect our commitment to honouring surfing's legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year," Ryan Crosby, chief executive of the WSL, said. "With the updated formats, we'll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women's field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we're building a Tour that better serves our athletes and fans, and leads the sport into its next chapter." The 2025 season has completed 10 of the 12 rounds in the championship. Gosford's Molly Picklum leads the women's series after one first and two seconds in the last three rounds. Queensland's Isabella Nichols is fourth and two-time world champion Tyler Wright is seventh. Brazil's Yago Dora leads the men's event, with Queenslander Ethan Ewing and Margaret River's Jack Robinson the best-placed Australians in fifth and eighth, respectively. The next round is in Tahiti from August 7 with the WSL Finals in Fiji from August 27. AAP
The Australian
4 days ago
- The Australian
Bells Beach to open expanded 2026 World Surf League season
An expanded 2026 World Surf League season will start at the iconic Bells Beach, with more spots on the women's tour part of drastic changes for its 50th year. The mid-season cut has been ditched and a new finals system is set to crown the world champions. Bells Beach will again host the first of three Australian events, with a rejigged order moving Snapper Rocks after Margaret River, which has been the event where the mid-season cut has been made since its inception. The three Australian events will kick off the 12-event season, with nine regular-season stops and two post-season events before a revitalised Pipe Masters that will close the season with a high-stakes, all-inclusive finale. 'These changes reflect our commitment to honouring surfing's legacy while continuing to shape its future as the sport enters its 50th year,' WSL chief executive Ryan Crosby said. Jack Robinson celebrates bafter winning the final at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Picture: Cait Miers/World Surf League) 'With the updated formats, we'll see higher stakes from day one, with every heat carrying real consequence throughout the season. Combined with iconic locations, the expanded women's field, and Pipeline as the pinnacle, we're building a tour that better serves our athletes and fans and leads the sport into its next chapter.' As well as the schedule changes, with the WSL covering nine countries across nine months, the majority of the season will feature 36 men and 24 women. Then the tour will narrow to 24 men and 16 women after the ninth event at Lower Trestles in the US for two post-season events in Abu Dhabi and Portugal. Each surfer's best seven of nine results from the regular season will count towards their qualification for the post-season, while the final season rankings, and ultimately the world titles, will be determined by a surfer's best nine of 12 results. The cumulative full-season rankings that will determine the world champions will be heightened by the season closer at Pipeline, where the full 2026 men's and women's Championship Tour fields from the start of the season will all compete. That's a major shift from the top five who will contest a single day, winner-take-all event this year at Teahupo'o for the world title. Australian star Molly Picklum is currently the women's world No.1, with Ethan Ewing the highest-ranked Aussie male, at number five. Australia's Molly Picklum is world No.1 Picture: Thiago Diz/World Surf League 2026 Championship Tour schedule Stop No. 1 - Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia: April 1 - 11 Stop No. 2 - Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia: April 17 - 27 Stop No. 3 - Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia: May 2 - 12 Stop No. 4 - Punta Roca, El Salvador: May 28 - June 7 Stop No. 5 - Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: June 12 - 20 Stop No. 6 - Jeffreys Bay, South Africa: July 10 - 20 Stop No. 7 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia: August 8 - 18 Stop No. 8 - Cloudbreak, Fiji: August 25 - September 4 Stop No. 9 - Lower Trestles, San Clemente, Calif., USA: September 11 - 20* Stop No. 10 - Surf Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE: October 14 - 18** Stop No. 11 - Peniche, Portugal: October 22 - November 1 Stop No. 12 - Banzai Pipeline, Hawaiʻi, USA: December 8 - 20*** *Last regular-season event **Start of postseason, reduced field **Full CT fields rejoin postseason surfers to compete for Pipe Masters Titles
