The idea was simple: a world-class barreling wave, a month-long window during prime surf season, and 32 of the world’s most fearless tube hunters. On August 15, 2009, a massive southwest swell rocked the island of Bali and the Rip Curl Cup Invitational at Padang Padang showed the world just how spectacular a surf contest can be.

There was no grovelling in small beachbreak slop, no hassling for the one decent wave of the heat, and no commentators stammering through long lulls between sets. Just the best tuberiders in the world trading spitting barrels from sun-up to sun-down, pushing each other to see how ridiculously shacked they could get in one day. Fittingly, on the best day of the year at Padang, the final came down to the event’s only two-time champion versus the youngest Pipe Master in history. After all the spray had cleared, Hawaii’s Jamie O’Brien beat out Kuta’s Made “Bol” Adi Putra to claim the Cup. O’Brien scored an unheard of four perfect 10s during the event, including two in Round 2 for a flawless heat score. All told, the ‘09 Padang Cup was one of the greatest collective displays of tube- riding in the history of competitive surfing.

This year’s Padang Cup promises to be even better. Rip Curl has ex- tended the waiting period to five weeks, beginning July 25th and running through August 29th, to ensure catching a contest-worthy swell. The stakes will be higher as well with a 65 million Indonesian rupiah prize purse and several performance incentives, including 5 million rupiah for the POWER BALANCE BEST BARREL AWARD and a brand new Kawasaki motorbike for the surfer with the highest heat score of the event.

For the first time in event history, fans will be treated to “Heats On-Demand” which can be viewed on the contest website minutes after they go down. You can also check the website for in-depth interviews with all the invited surfers and daily video features on all the hottest surfing and parties happening in Bali during the waiting period.