Cancelled: Boardmasters, Caraïbos Lacanau Pro and Deeply Pro Anglet

World Surf League has announced the cancellation of the 2020 Caraïbos Lacanau Pro and the Deeply Pro Anglet, including the Surf de Nuit Anglet. As well as these events, Boardmasters Cornwall 2020 is also cancelled.

Professional surfers won’t be able to compete in the epic Anglet waves in 2020. Photo by Masurel

Boardmasters, Caraïbos Lacanau Pro and Deeply Pro Anglet Cancelled in 2020

The World Surf League (WSL) today announced that (1) the city council of Lacanau, the Lacanau Surf Club and Girondins Sport Events have decided to cancel the 2020 Caraïbos Lacanau Pro and (2) the city of Anglet cancelled the Deeply Pro Anglet 2020’, as well as the Speciality Event ‘Surf de Nuit Anglet’ due to the continuing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The iconic Fistral Beach should keep a little quieter than usual in the absence of Boardmasters. Photo- Masurel

“We are absolutely gutted to announce that due to the on-going pandemic, Boardmasters can no longer take place this summer,” organisers said. “This is particularly heart-breaking given the events of 2019, but the safety of everyone involved in the festival as well as the local community in Cornwall comes first.”

The French government also recently extended its health state of emergency, travel restrictions and public events restrictions, creating conditions incompatible with hosting traditional events in Lacanau and Anglet.

“Under these circumstances, there’s too much uncertainty on whether or not the Lacanau Pro could run later this summer,” Laurent Peyrondet, Mayor of Lacanau stated. “The city council of Lacanau, the Lacanau Surf Club and Girondins Sport Events have therefore unfortunately decided to cancel the 2020 Caraïbos Lacanau Pro.”

“In this unprecedented crisis, everyone’s health and safety should remain the only priority,” they added. “The Lacanau council would like to thank all the organisers, partners, sponsors, professionals and athletes who were already invested in preparing this extremely popular event”

Lacanau boasts one of the liveliest crowds on tour. Photo- Masurel

“We are completely supportive of this responsible decision made for the safety of everyone,” Olivier Lagache, Director of Caraïbos said. “We will be there alongside Girondins Sport Events when it is time to get to work again on a future edition.”

“It is with deep regrets that the city of Anglet has to announce the cancellation of the Deeply Pro Anglet 2020,” Pascal Bourricaud, Director of Entertainment for the city of Anglet stated. “The continuing COVID-19 situation makes it impossible to host athletes and spectators in optimum safety conditions unfortunately. We have been heavily invested since 2015 to have a great international WSL event come back to one of the best spots in the region. Our project of growing it to a QS 3,000 will now be pushed to 2021. We hope to find everyone involved excited about bringing an epic event next year.”

“2019 was our first partnership with WSL and we believe that last year’s event was a success from the organisation, structure, athletes, judges and the waves were firing,” Ricardo Aragao, Marketing Director for Deeply said. “This year we had big expectations for the event but due to the pandemic we are living right now it was a unanimous decision between all the partners that unfortunately we are forced to cancel this year’s event. We are thrilled to start working on the 2021 Deeply PRO Anglet.”

“Anglet is one of my favourite events of the year, we always get fun waves for this event,” Maxime Huscenot, Deeply team rider said. “The town, the crowd, the vibe there is awesome. It’s sad not to go there this year especially during summer but this is the best decision for the safety of all. I can’t wait to be back there in 2021.”

“I have been going there for so many years now that it’s really strange to not go this year,” Vasco Ribeiro added. “I usually take all my family for the event and they all love to go there also. It’s a pity that we will not be able to go this year but I think it is the best decision for the moment.”

The Night Surf specialty will be a huge miss among locals and tourists this summer. Photo- Lodin

“We recognise that the decision to cancel these events was very difficult for all involved and we look forward to working with everyone to bring these events back next year” Francisco Spinola, General Manager, WSL EMEA said. “In the meantime, the Deeply Pro Anglet and Surf de Nuit will still live through the WSL platforms from August 25-30, via a mini-series documenting the short but extremely rich five year history of the event”.

The World Surf League has currently canceled or postponed all events through June, and will make another call on June 1st.

CEO Erik Logan recently announced in a video posted on all WSL channels, that the health and safety of all athletes, employees and fans is paramount and events will be back when those conditions are guaranteed