Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang Ready for Possible Start

IndoSurfLife.com | August 8, 2012 | Padang Padang, Bali – The 2012 Rip Curl Cup Invitational at Padang Padang could be ON in the next 24 hours. A large Indian Ocean groundswell is currently tracking towards Bali, and contest directors are targeting a potential Thursday morning (Aug. 9) start to the Ultimate Tuberiding Contest.

Padang Padang Lineup. Picture by Laurence

The 32 invited surfers – 16 of Indonesia’s best and 16 of the world’s top tube riders – are all currently standing by on Bali’s Bukit Peninsula, waiting to catch this swell.

According to official event forecaster, Magic Seaweed, the swell is expected to make landfall in Bali late Wednesday night and build rapidly, peaking Thursday afternoon. The latest numbers on this southwest swell are reading 10 feet @ 17 seconds, coming from an angle of 205 degrees. Tides for Padang are looking good on Thursday, with low tides all morning and only a moderate high tide in the afternoon.

Contest directors are monitoring conditions at Padang closely, and the 32 surfers in this year’s Rip Curl Cup have all been put on standby for a possible Thursday morning start at 7 a.m.