WSL Finals Surf Forecast: Possible Run Day Set For September 6
About 48 hours away from the start of the waiting period for the Lexus WSL Finals, and it's looking like we could be crowning world champions on the first day of the window on Friday, September 6.
With the WSL Finals press conference taking place at the San Clemente Pier today, most everyone in attendance was eyeing this Friday. Even in conversations with world title contenders Caroline Marks, Caity Simmers and Griffin Colapinto there was an air of certainty that Friday was the day.
"We could see head-high to overhead waves on the sets," Colapinto explained. "Lowers is good at pretty much any size, but there should be some pretty fun waves on Friday."
SURFER had the chance to sit with Colapinto, Marks and Simmers for interviews, so stay tuned for those conversations dropping shortly. Until then, a bit of WSL Finals history. When the WSL Finals at Lower Trestles was launched three years ago and the window that was selected to run the one-day, winner-take-all fight for the world title largely based on Surfline's historical records. The window during the second week of September has proven to be the most consistent week of the year at the famed Southern California A-frame.
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And for the last three years, the historical trend has bore out in epic fashion. The Pacific has delivered for every contest, especially the first year, when it was almost too big for the cobblestone point to handle. And in every instance, the event ran in the first day or two of the waiting period starting.
Save a round of tropical surf a couple weeks ago, the South Pacific has been pretty sleepy this summer and the Trestles zone has been fairly small scale all summer. The area's also been plagued by pesky south wind, which is the wrecker of small, gutless conditions.
There is time for things to turn around, but extended forecasting for Trestles is relatively accurate, compared to somewhere like Teahupo'o where the swells are generated much closer to the break.
Luckily, the bathymetry of Lowers sucks in any trace of south swell in the water, and while other spots up and down the coast will be flat, there's still a good, quality wave at Lowers. At the end of the day, these are the best surfers in the world and more than capable of putting on a good show. Like surf fans everywhere, we'll just have to wait and see what happens next.