In a recent press release, the new ASP-sanctioned Big Wave World Tour has named those competitors to have officially made the cut for this year’s six big wave venues. The official field, based off the previous season’s rankings, is limited to 12. However, on top of this, the new format allows a whopping six international wildcard plus six local wildcards per event to come to a 24-man field.

What’ll strike you from glancing down the list is 11-time champ Kelly Slater features first on every international wildcard list. We’re assuming that means Kelly’s agreed to attend all these events. Shane Dorian, Ian Walsh, Mark Healey, Nathan Fletcher, Makua Rothman and Gabriel Villaran are another names to feature several times in this new wildcard mix.

Depending on which events end up running, most of these new international wildcards could potentially end up qualifying for next year’s tour which is set to be determined as follows:

Top 10 finishers on the 2014/2015 ASP BWWT season
Four ASP BWWT qualifiers from the Oregon Pro event
To be joined by six ASP BWWT wildcards and four local wildcards per event, making up the 24-man field.

Yes some folk are bound to be upset about how these new wildcard lists were drawn up (and no we’re really not convinced the tour needs that many local wildcards) but here’s what ASP Deputy Commissioner Peter Mel had to say:

“The ASP Commissioner’s Office worked long and hard to determine a BWWT roster that reflects the most current standouts in the sport of big wave surfing and also rewarding the performances of past champions of the BWWT. Our qualification process will further add to the sport next year.”

Let’s just hope it’s big and mean!

2014/2015 ASP BWWT Top 12:

1 – Grant Baker (ZAF)
2 – Ken Collins (USA)
3 – Nic Lamb (USA)
4 – Shawn Dollar (USA)
5 – Kohl Christensen (HAW)
6 – Alex Gray (USA)
7 – Greg Long (USA)
8 – Ryan Augenstein (USA)
9 – Anthony Tashnick (USA)
10 – Ramon Navarro (PER)
11 – Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
12 – Tyler Fox (USA)

Gabriel Villaran, of Peru, has received the ASP BWWT Injury Wildcard and will be seeded into the ASP BWWT wildcard selections for all events.

The Southern Hemisphere events consist of Dungeons in South Africa, Punta Lobos in Chile and Pico Alto in Peru with a window running between April 15, 2014 and August 31, 2014.

Billabong Pico Alto ASP BWWT Wildcards

1 – Kelly Slater (USA)
2 – Ben Wilkinson (AUS)
3 – Makua Rothman (HAW)
4 – Jamie Sterling (HAW)
5 – Carolos Burle (BRA)
6 – Gabriel Villaran (PER)

Billabong Pico Alto Local Wildcards:

1 – Miguel Tudela (PER)
2 – Rafael Velarde (PER)
3 – Kodiak Semsch (PER)
4 – Tamil Martino (PER)
5 – Alejo LDM (PER)
6 – Renzo Zazzali (PER)

Quiksilver Ceremonial Punta Lobos Chile ASP BWWT Wildcards

1 – Kelly Slater (USA)
2 – Damian Hobgood (USA)
3 – Mark Healey (HAW)
4 – Nathan Fletcher (USA)
5 – Marcos Monteiro (BRA)
6 – Gabriel Villaran (PER)

Quiksilver Ceremonial Punta Lobos Chile Local Wildcards

1 – Diego Medina (CHL)
2 – Christian Morello (CHL)
3 – Fernando Zegers (CHL)
4 – Reinaldo Ibarra (CHL)
5 – Rafael Tapia (CHL)
6 – Leon Vicuna (CHL)

Dungeons ASP BWWT Wildcards

1 – Kelly Slater (USA)
2 – Shane Dorian (HAW)
3 – Mark Healey (HAW)
4 – Ian Walsh (HAW)
5 – Gabriel Villaran (PER)
6 – Matthew Bromley (ZAF)

Dungeons Local Wildcards

1 – Mike Schlebach (ZAF)
2 – James Taylor (ZAF)
3 – Simon Lowe (ZAF)
4 – Josh Redman (ZAF)
5 – Chris Bertish (ZAF)
6 – Andrew Marr (ZAF)

The Northern Hemisphere events consist of Todos Santos in Mexico, Punta Galea in Spain and Pe’ahi in Maui with a window running between October 15, 2014 and February 28, 2015.

Pe’ahi ASP BWWT Wildcards

1 – Kelly Slater (USA)
2 – Mark Healey (HAW)
3 – Shane Dorian (HAW)
4 – Dave Wassel (HAW)
5 – Makua Rothman (HAW)
6 – Gabriel Villaran (PER)

Pe’ahi Local Wildcards

1 – Ian Walsh (HAW)
2 – Billy Kemper (HAW)
3 – Albee Layer (HAW)
4 – Shawn Walsh (HAW)
5 – Kai Lenny (HAW)
6 – Tyler Larronde (HAW)

Todos Santos ASP BWWT Wildcards

1 – Kelly Slater (USA)
2 – Josh Kerr (AUS)
3 – Mark Healey (HAW)
4 – Shane Dorian (HAW)
5 – Nathan Fletcher (USA)
6 – Gabriel Villaran (PER)

Todos Santos Local Wildcards

1 – Derek Dunfee (USA)
2 – Rusty Long (USA)
3 – Nick Vaughn (USA)
4 – Coco Nogales (MEX)
5 – Diego Petrusso (MEX)
6 – Vincent Yazbek (MEX)

Punta Galea ASP BWWT Wildcards

1 – Kelly Slater (USA)
2 – Billy Kemper (HAW)
3 – Makua Rothman (HAW)
4 – Ian Walsh (HAW)
5 – Nathan Fletcher (USA)
6 – Gabriel Villaran (PER)

Punta Galea Local Wildcards

1 – Adur Letamendia (ESP)
2 – David Bustamante (ESP)
3 – Aritz Aranburu (ESP)
4 – Naxto Gonzalez (ESP)
5 – Indar Unanue (ESP)
6 – Eric Rebiere (FRA)