Time is near and the stage is set, as Victoria prepares to shine for the 2011 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. The event presented by Ford.
The second stop on the 2011 ASP World Title season, this April, will celebrate its 50-year anniversary.
The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach 2011, running from April 19 through 30, will host the ASP Top 34 which is presented by Ford Ranger. As well as the ASP Top 17 in the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Fiesta.
“It’s going to be a very exciting Easter at Bells Beach this April, with some special events planned to celebrate the amazing half-century anniversary of the Rip Curl Pro and the Bells Beach Easter Rally,” Brooke Farris, Rip Curl International Event Manager, said. “This year’s event will really be a ‘gathering of the tribe’, with each of the world’s best ASP surfers keen to etch their name in the history books by winning the anniversary Bell and most of our former competitors and past champions in Torquay to re-live many of the amazing moments and stories they created over the past 50 years.”
The golden anniversary of professional surfing at Bells Beach will be marked this 2011 and the world’s best surfers will be there to honor this auspicious occasion, as well as battle it out for the World Title.
Kelly Slater , reigning 10-time ASP World Champion, has bagged four Bells titles (’94, ’06, ’08, ’10) and with a win at the opening event of the season on the Gold Coast, will have his sights on defending his title this at Victoria
“The Bells trophy is probably one of – if not the – most sought after trophies in professional surfing,” Slater said. “Anyone who has ever gotten a Bell has talked proudly of it. It’s like winning a World Title trophy.”
Mick Fanning (AUS), 29, former two-time ASP World Champion (’07, ’09), posted his first elite tour victory as a wildcard at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in 2001.
“Fifty years at Bells is huge,” Fanning said. “It has so much history, from the first days with MP to MR to up until now. So many great surfers have won the Rip Curl Pro because it’s one of the hardest ones to win.”
The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by FORD will take place at Victoria’s pristine Bells Beach from April 19 – 30, 2011 and be webcast LIVE via www.live.ripcurl.com and broadcast live on Fuel TV in Australia and ESPN in Brazil.
