Like so many pro surfing tragics, I am glued to my inbox every morning, awaiting the WSL’s daily updates.

Especially I have been glued to it hoping for news of a change to Championship Tour event formats. Again like a lot of tragics, it’s seemed to me for some time that the way these contests run, grinding along for whole rounds without real result and possibly wasting good surf in the process, needs a kick along.

Imagine my excitement then when such a missive fell into my inbox only this morning!

The email unveiled the WSL’s revamped CT format for 2019. Here’s how it works in the men’s. Round one is 12 three-person heats, just like the old format — except this time first and second place goes straight into a one-on-one round three.

Read More: WSL Releases 2019 WCT Schedule

Third placers from the round one heats go into round two, where they surf in another set of three-person heats. Again, first and second go into round three while third is finally booted from the event.

The format is pretty much matched across to the women’s: three people in round one, three in round two, one is booted from each round two heat, then it goes one-on-one.

My first thought was: why?

Why even do it?

It’s created an event where for an absolute minimum of a day, and very likely longer, there is no reason to win a heat.

You can come last in round one, and second in round two, and still be in the contest. And there is no discernible benefit in winning in either round. It’s a double loser’s round. All that time will be burned, to eliminate just four people. It’s an awful way to start an event.

Read More: Welcome the WCT Class of 2019

I’m completely sure the coaches are all gonna be revving up their employers in both cases to go for the win. Playing for second in any heat is a mug’s game, after all. But everyone involved will know you can get away with a third place in round one and a second place in round two, and thus, all the competitive emphasis in both rounds, all the stress, will be on the loss.

The actual contest, the blood and guts of it, only begins with round three: 16 one-on-one heats, in which winning is winning and losing is see ya later.

On top of that, the actual number of heats in an event remains unchanged. All up, it’s gonna take just as long as it ever has. This means the contests are still exposed to their greatest and most everlasting curse — running out of surf.

And this brings us to the pointy end of the format. The fact is that the number of surfers in a CT, 36 (and the women’s 18 for that matter), is a shit number. It doesn’t work. It’s never worked. It was a patchwork thing devised in the heat of the Rebel Tour resistance back in 2009. It doesn’t split evenly and it never ever will.

The natural starting point for an elite tour event is 32: a 16-heat first round and a 50/50 progression to a final, which can run off in two days. A day and a half if you do the overlapping heat thing. Coincidentally, good longer interval groundswells at most CT locations tend to last about that long. You could have EVERY HEAT of EVERY CONTEST in GOOD WAVES!

There are hints in the email of further changes to come down the line. Well here’s one worth trying. Bite the bullet, gang. Cut the numbers. 20 CT qualifiers, 10 QS, two wildcards, or some variation thereof, boom. Match that to the women’s tour. Ditch every loser’s round, make every heat count. Re-set the balance between success and failure that is critical to all professional sport. And save the best surf for the winners.