WSL J-Bay Classic Invitees Include Kelly Slater, Alana Blanchard ...

Occy will be one of the competitors at the new specialty event in J-Bay. Photo: WSL

Unfortunately, when Cloudbreak elbowed its way onto the CT calendar, Jeffrey’s Bay ended up on the chopping block. However, there was a silver lining.

As a sort of olive branch, the World Surf league announced in February that a new specialty event would take place at the famed right-hand point break: The J-Bay Classic. Though details since the initial announcement have been scarce, the WSL has finally shed some more light on the format for the new event, as well as provided a list of who will be on the competition roster.

“The main event will consist of two rounds of competition,” reads the WSL press release. “Surfers will compete on twin fin and thruster surfboard setups, showcasing how Supertubes can be surfed on alternative and high-performance surfboards, to earn points on the leaderboard. The top four men and women will progress to Finals Day. The Team division will feature six mixed teams, each competing in a 45-minute session.”

Women’s Invitees:

Alana Blanchard Sage Erickson Sally Fitzgibbons Stephanie Gilmore Coco Ho Sierra Kerr

Men’s Invitees:

Adriano De Souza Michael February Jack Freestone Josh Kerr Mason Ho Sean Holmes Josh Kerr Travis Logie Mark Occhilupo James Ribbink Steven Sawyer Kelly Slater Owen Wright

The event also will have a local trials competition. Surfers representing the WSL Africa region will compete, with the winners of the men’s and women’s events each earning a place in the main event.