Alaïa Bay announced the launch of the inaugural Alaïa Open Winter Cup surf competition which will take place on the weekend of 4/5 December, with warm-up and training sessions on Friday 3 December.

This first mainland Europe surf contest is open to both international surfers and local Swiss surfers. There is US$75k in prizes including US$32k in prize money.

The event entry fee for the tournament is 199 Frs ($215), which is cheaper than two surf sessions. It includes a Friday warm-up session, a full 1-hour qualification’ best side’ heat and more goodies.

The divisions for the event are International Women, International Men, Swiss Women, Swiss Men, Junior Women, Junior Men and Kids. The prizes and prize money breakdown will be revealed soon.

The Alaïa Bay competition qualifications on Saturday will have a unique format, ideally suited to the workings of the wave pool. Surfers get to choose their best side, be it a left or a right-breaking wave. Then, each surfer gets a one-hour session with others in which to showcase their skills. After that hour, their top scores will be tallied.

At the end of the first day of competition, the top 25% of the riders, derived from their score tallies after day 1, will advance to the finals day. The format for the finals day will be the standard competition format as per ISA rules.

Contest Director is a Swiss-born surfer and Swiss Surfing Association’s Event & Competition leader, Dario Müller.

“We’re very excited about the upcoming Alaïa Open,” said Alaïa Bay founder Adam Bonvin. The 26-year-old Swiss surfer has been the driving force behind the realization of the Alaïa Bay facility. This competition will further cement Alaïa Bay as the coolest wave pool and the place to be.

“My wish is for everyone to come to this event and have fun. The surfing will be high performance, and the Surfers Evening will be a great place to network and to meet like-minded people,” added Bonvin. “It will be a gathering of surfers, surf industry members, sponsors, and the media will all be together. Still, let’s not forget that this event is all about the surfers. It will be great to have the best Swiss surfers here, and we look forward to watching them surf. We are also very excited to see the international athletes competing in our wavepool.”

The event will no doubt attract some top international surfers as well. Many high-profile surfers who have already visited the Alaïa Bay facility and have enjoyed the high-performance waves that the pool produces include Zeke Lau, Aritz Aranburu, Jeremy Flores, Rob Machado, Kauli Vaast, Yago Dominguez, Vahine Fierro, Justine Dupont and Maud LeCar.

Amongst many others, the event is supported by the Swiss watch brand Tudor, Quiksilver and Boardriders, Mastercraft and Wavegarden. There will be plenty of surprises in store for competitors and spectators at this event. There will be an Air Show, and there will be a special prize for the surfer with the most impressive wipe-outs. The Swiss Surfing Association is also onboard with top-level organisation and judging.

At the Surfers Evening on Saturday, Adam Bonvin also hints at welcoming specially chosen international guest DJs… But he’s keeping that under wraps for now.

The ultimate goal of the Alaïa Open is to become ‘The Place to Be’ each December. It will be the one event that people have to compete in or simply attend as part of the gathering.

The Alaïa Bay team wants to create a magical event for all, including competitors, spectators, family, sponsors and friends. Alaïa Open competitors might want some time for training or getting accustomed to the facility’s waves. With this in mind, Alaïa Bay has partnered with the Swiss Surfing Association to offer several exclusive packages:

· Athlete Registration for the Open, including 2 full sessions
· Athlete Registration + 5 Extra-Sessions valid all winter
· Athlete Registration + 10 Extra-Sessions valid all winter
· Athlete Registration + 20 Extra-Sessions valid all winter

Sign up and booking are available here.