Most professional surfing contests hold their final at a charity beach on a Sunday afternoon regardless of wave quality. The Billabong Challenge, a bold new direction in competition surfing, enticed 8 hot surfers from around the globe to battle a dangerous shark infested reef, at a secret location on the remote desert coast of Outback Australia. Held over a 14 day period, enduring harsh elements, till time and tide set perfect conditions for the ultimate challenge.
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Small, elite, mobile professional surf event, held from 1995 to 1998, designed as an alternative to the often-bloated world championship tour contests. The Billabong Challenge was conceived and planned by Billabong founder Gordon Merchant, filmmaker Jack McCoy, and former world tour champion Wayne Bartholomew. "Gordon," McCoy explained to Surfing Life magazine, "is tired of seeing great surfers competing in funky surf [on the ASP tour], and it was his vision to put on a contest allowing the best surfers to perform in perfect waves." McCoy later added that the Challenge was also a way to get Billabong team rider Mark Occhilupo, who'd just emerged from a long period of depression and weight-gain, back in the public eye.
The debut Billabong Challenge was held at a "mystery left" (later revealed as Gnaraloo) in Western Australia. Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Johnny-Boy Gomes, Brenden Margieson, Sunny Garcia, Luke Egan, Shane Powell and Mark Occhilupo made up the eight-man starting field. (Tom Curren, Martin Potter and Tom Carroll were invited, but declined; Luke Egan hurt his knee during a warmup surf and was replaced by Paul Paterson.) Although a two-week waiting period was set up, the entire contest event was formatted to last just five hours: two 90-minute prelim heats, a half-hour break, and a 90-minute final. Surfers, judges and a small film crew all camped out in tents overlooking the break.
Wind and rain plagued the first 10 days of the event. Day 11 was clear and beautiful, with slightly overhead surf peeling down the reef, but contest director Barthlomew played a waiting game right up until Day 14—the final opportunity—and was rewarded with stunning double-overhead tubes. In the final, Rob Machado edged past reigning world champion Kelly Slater, earning $20,000 for the win.
The Billabong Challenge, McCoy's documentary on the debut event, won Video of the Year, as well as Best Editing, in the 1996 SURFER Magazine Video Awards. Each of the subsequent Challenge events was followed a few months later by its own video.
Results of the Billabong Challenge.
Gnaraloo, 1995
1. Rob Machado
2. Kelly Slater
3. Johnny-Boy Gomes
4. Mark Occhilupo
