Carissa v Owen v Mikey… And that’s just the first three!
The iconic Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy is back, with an all-star lineup heading to Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa to battle it out in paradise for USD 25,000. The twelfth edition of the world’s most luxurious event hits the waves at Kuda Huraa from 29 August to 5 September 2024
The event is not only the world’s most luxurious but its most unique, with heat times staggered dependant on age, and surfers bringing a varied quiver of surfboards for the three different divisions. Held at the picture-perfect righthand reef break of Sultans, competitors will face-off on single fin, twin fin and (thruster) tri-fin surfboards as they chase the Surfing Champions Trophy.
After 2012 World Champion Joel Parkinson created history by clean-sweeping last year’s event, the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy is ecstatic to announce that five-time World Champion and surfing’s first-ever female Olympic gold medallist, Hawaii’s Carissa Moore, will be joining the field in 2024.
“It’s such an awesome event, and a perfect opportunity to relax between some idyllic waves in the Maldives,” says Carissa, who was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame in 2014, and who flies to the Maldives looking to add the Surfing Champions Trophy to an incredible resumé that includes three Triple Crown Of Surfing titles, a staggering 28 Championship Tour victories, and her five world crowns from 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2021.
Joining Carissa in the waters off Kuda Huraa will be fellow Olympic medallist Owen Wright, who claimed bronze at the Tokyo Games for Australia, and who boasts four Championship Tour victories of his own, including pocketing the biggest prize purse in history when he took out the Quiksilver Pro New York in 2011.
“I can’t wait to get back to the Maldives!” says Owen. “The waves are so fun, Four Seasons Kuda Huraa looks incredible, and spending a week in paradise with my family will be a dream. I think they’re even more excited than I am!”
The Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy is also delighted to announce that peerless free surf talent Mikey February will be joining the roster this year. The South African is idolised around the world for his incredible style, and his electric repertoire in the water will pair perfectly with the varied equipment to be ridden in competition.
“The Surfing Champions Trophy looks like the dreamiest competition you could ever be a part of,” says Mikey. “My first ever international surf trip was to the Maldives, and I loved it, so to finally go back and do it this way, staying at the Four Seasons with my family, will be epic. Surfing a bunch of different boards and seeing everyone else do the same in great waves just looks so fun. I’m really excited.”
The second half of the draw will be announced closer to the running of the Surfing Champions Trophy, with two more international competitors and a Maldivian wildcard to round out the roster. While the field will fight for prize money and prestige in the water, the rest of their week will be spent enjoying all that Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa has to offer.
“The SCT is one of the most hotly anticipated events in the Kuda Huraa calendar,” comments Didier Jardin, General Manager at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa. “With the iconic talent of Carissa Moore, Owen Wright and Mikey February already secured for 2024, we know it’s going to be special. We’re looking forward to sharing the final line-up and seeing surfing legends battle it out for the trophy.”
Stay tuned for updates, as the twelfth edition of the Four Seasons Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy gets ready to launch this August. To enjoy front row seats to the surfing action, take advantage of a sun-kissed 20% off stays this summer at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa click here.
