Pipeline added to 2025/26 Challenger Series

Newcastle Surfest added to end of schedule and will run twice this season.

News
• 02.06.2025
• BY Jake Stolte

Reading Time: 2 minutes

For the first time in five years Pipeline will contribute to a surfer’s potential CT qualification as it’s been added to the 2025/26 WSL Challenger Series schedule. The WSL has also announced that Newcastle Surfest, which has currently just kicked off the CS season, will feature again at the end of the campaign.

This year’s CS will now have seven stops, with Pipe and Newcastle being held in January 2026 and March 2026 respectively. It will be the first time since 2022 that a wave on the North Shore has counted for Challenger Series points, and the first time since 2020 that Pipeline has contributed to a surfer’s CT qualification.

“The WSL is super excited to announce that Pipeline and Newcastle will be the last two stops of the Challenger Series this season,” said WSL Senior Tour Manager, Travis Logie. “Pipeline is the ultimate proving ground and one of the most perfect yet challenging waves on the planet. For the next crop of CT surfers to get the opportunity to compete out there is a huge step forward for the Challenger Series, not to mention incredibly exciting for our fans to enjoy two major events at Pipe in just a couple of months. To then finish the season and decide our CT qualifiers at the iconic Newcastle Surfest is amazing. It’s an event with so much surf history, and the whole town gets behind it, so to see our CS surfers realize their dreams in front of thousands of fans at Merewether will be a huge moment.”

The announcement follows on from the extensive changes the WSL is making to next season’s CT which has included scrapping the final five, the mid-year cut and using Pipe, which will now count for 1.5x points, as the final event of the campaign, rather than the opener.

The updated 2025-26 WSL Challenger Series Schedule is as follows:

Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia: June 2 – 8, 2025
Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: June 30 – July 6, 2025
Huntington Beach, California, USA: July 29 – August 3, 2025
Ericeira, Portugal: September 29 – October 5, 2025
Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: October 11 – 19, 2025
Pipeline, Hawaii, USA: January 28 – February 8, 2026
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia: March 8 – 15, 2026

SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS

A bi-monthly eclectic tome of tangible surfing goodness that celebrates all things surfing, delivered to your door!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS

An eclectic tome of tangible surfing goodness that celebrates all things surfing, delivered to your door!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

LATEST

Catching up with Brazil’s World Champions – Dora, Medina, Toledo

News
• Alex Wine
• 09.04.2026

Yago, Gabriel and Filipe on Brazilian rivalry, motivations and the new format.

Watch: Mason Ho surfing a Ryan Burch asymmetric surfboard

Film
• Jake Stolte
• 09.04.2026

Something a little different for Mase.

Tracks Party sells out Torquay … Coolangatta up next

News
• Jake Stolte
• 08.04.2026

Highlights from our annual Bells pilgrimage as we prepare to hit the dance floor on the Gold Coast next.

What It’s Like Surfing the Andamans…and What It Takes to Run a Contest There

News
• Mitali Joshi
• 08.04.2026

Little Andaman is preparing to host its first-ever national surf comp as it hopes to make the island more accessible to everyone.

PREMIUM FEATURES

Dane Henry: Sky is the Limit – Issue 605

BY Jake Stolte

With his dizzying acrobatics, focused ambition and astute demeanor; Dane Henry is rapidly emerging as the ultimate modern surfer.

Miyazaki Immersion – an Australian in Japan – Issue 605

BY Adam Serra

West Australian photographer, Adam Serra, is hooked on shooting the waves and culture of this vibrant, Japanese city.

Tommy Myers: In the sweet spot – Issue 605

BY Luke Kennedy

How two waves at a city beach made Tommy Myers a cult hero and helped complete his full circle journey as a pro-surfer.

Access Denied – Issue 605

BY Luke Kennedy

Surfing’s ‘No Go’ zones have always been hotly debated.

TRACKS PREMIUM

Get full access to every feature from our print issues, read classic Tracks issues from the 70s, 80s and 90’s, watch all of our classic films & more …

TRACKS PREMIUM

Get full access to every feature from our print issues, read classic Tracks issues from the 70s, 80s and 90’s, watch all of our classic films & more …

CLASSIC ISSUES

August, 1981

July, 1975

June, 1975

February, 1972

PREMIUM FILM

Fitty Fitty

YEAR: 2008

STARRING: JOEL PARKINSON, MICK FANNING AND DEAN MORRISON

This is the last time the original cooly kids were captured together and features some of their best surfing.

Their rivalry helped push each of them onto the world stage but their friendship endured. This is the last time the original cooly kids were captured together and features some of their best surfing.

A film by Shaggadelic Productions

This is a Premium Feature only available to Tracks subscribers.

Existing Subscriber? Login here.

FOR PREMIUM CONTENT - CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS

GALACTIK TRACKS

YEAR: 2011

STARRING: DAVID RASTOVICH, OZZIE WRIGHT, CRAIG ANDERSON, RY CRAIKE, DEAN MORRISON & MORE

Seven free surfers embark on a voyage to boldly go where no man had gone before.

Seven free surfers embarked on a voyage to boldly go where no man had gone before.

Not that long ago, in an island chain far, far away, seven free surfers embarked on a voyage to boldly go where no man had gone before. Equipped with an array of surfboards, a packet of crayons and two ukuleles, their chances of success were slim. In pursuit of perfection, they were forced to navigate under the radar of a fleet of imperial boat charters. Despite numerous obstacles, the rebel alliance of wave-riding beatniks continued to make Galactik Tracks into a new surfing cosmos; their search for a Nirvana reaching its climax when they arrived at… The Island of Nowhere.

A film by Tom Jennings

This is a Premium Feature only available to Tracks subscribers.

Existing Subscriber? Login here.

FOR PREMIUM CONTENT - CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS

Gathering

YEAR: 2014

STARRING: DAVE RASTOVICH

The film features the enigmatic and free-thinking Dave Rastovich at home on the Far North Coast of NSW.

Gathering is a short film from independent filmmaker Nathan Oldfield, the creator of the award-winning left of centre surf films Lines From a Poem, Seaworthy and The Heart & The Sea. The film features the enigmatic and free-thinking Dave Rastovich at home in the sacred playgrounds of the Far North Coast of New South Wales. The film explores Rastovich’s ideas around how the tension between the industrial and the natural in the surfing world unfolds in that place. Ultimately, Gathering celebrates how diversity and difference in ecosystems, relationships and surfing contribute to the preciousness of life. Gathering is easy on the eyes and ears and Tracks Magazine is proud to present it to you. Nathan Oldfield is a maverick, a filmmaker who wants a surf movie to say something important, to move us and make us grateful for the sea around us and the life within us. His films are quiet, beautiful and brimming with sacred purpose. Tim Winton, Acclaimed Australian Novelist

This is a Premium Feature only available to Tracks subscribers.

Existing Subscriber? Login here.

FOR PREMIUM CONTENT - CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS

Wanderlust

YEAR: 2015

STARRING: MIKEY WRIGHT, LOUIE HYND, OWEN WRIGHT, CREED MCTAGGART & CAST OF THOUSANDS

In this quintessentially Australian film, the two friends ride waves with the nation’s best surfers.

From dreamy, north coast points to nights beneath starlit desert skies follow Luke Hynd and Mikey Wright as they embark on a surfing odyssey. In this quintessentially Australian film, the two friends ride waves with the nation’s best surfers, down beers with cantankerous locals and visit some of the more innocuous nooks of the continent’s rugged fringes. Wanderlust lets you rediscover the country and the coastline you love. Be careful, you might even be inspired to toss it all in and embark on your own journey around The Great Southern Land.

This is a Premium Feature only available to Tracks subscribers.

Existing Subscriber? Login here.

FOR PREMIUM CONTENT - CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO TRACKS

PRINT STORE

Unmistakable and iconic, the Tracks covers from the 70s & 80s are now ready for your walls.

Pipeline added to 2025/26 Challenger Series

LATEST

PREMIUM FEATURES

TRACKS PREMIUM

TRACKS PREMIUM

CLASSIC ISSUES

PREMIUM FILM

PRINT STORE

STAY IN THE LOOP