This year, Surf-Stats paddles out into the contest season without its former CEO Mike at the helm. His loss is not just significant because of the quality of his content and contributions, but also because of the restrictions that the WSL have imposed on us since his departure. When the WSL signed Mike, they enforced an agreement that stated he would no longer share his comprehensive database of stats with any competitors/rivals (i.e. Surf-Stats). That leaves us in a somewhat tricky position as we rely on our statistical edge as the basis of our analysis. Let’s look at what we CAN do:

• Any results/scores that have been published on public record (primarily since heats-on-demand were introduced) are open to analysis and dissection
• Any archived records of ASP/WSL competition history and scores that were compiled by ASP/WSL are no longer available to us (this was a big part of Mike’s data analysis)
• Any results that occur from this point onwards can be added to our database without infringement

So, in a nutshell, we can still provide data analyses, but only from the past 2 years (2014-15) combined with the ongoing results from 2016. Our hands are tied in that regard.

Our format will remain the same; we will analyse our (admittedly smaller) data in the lead-up to each event and provide the most comprehensive overview of each contest possible. We can also use our years of fantasy surfing experience to read between the lines and tell you what the stats mean within a broader context. We can keep you up-to-date with heat draws, injury news and forecasts AND we can incorporate any statistical analysis published by WSL (Mike) into our recommendations. We will also re-establish our analysis of Fantasy Surfer selections/recommendations in regards to our statistical projections as we understand that a number of readers play both games.

The Surf-Stats you know and love is still here, as are a majority of the excellent contributors that made this site worth reading in the first place. We also have some fresh new ideas and team members to bring to the analysis table.

Our sortable data for the Gold Coast will be live very shortly, and our contest analysis will follow soon after. Until then, all that’s left to do is sign up to the WSL Surf-Stats group (password – SS) or the Fantasy Surfer Surf-Stats clubhouse (password – SS) and start working on your teams.

Good Luck!