History

The idea for Wave Rally first took shape in early March 2024. Keen local Geraldton windsurfer Paul van Bellen took his drone, iPhone camera and a bottle of sparkling grape juice to Coronation Beach to bring the concept to life. At the beach he rounded up 6 sailors for 1.5 hours of filming, then went home to edit the footage. On 21 March 2024, Paul released the edited concept video on YouTube, introducing the Wave Rally World Championships to the windsurfing world! The concept video can be found here.

Wave Rally began with no sponsors, no support network and nothing more than an idea and a concept video. Paul used that video to rally support from businesses within the windsurfing industry and beyond. Through tireless effort and countless hours of work, he turned the concept into reality. The inaugural Wave Rally, held in January 2025, became Western Australia’s largest windsurfing event by participant numbers in its debut year, backed by a broad range of supporters — a level of support uncommon for windsurfing events.

The 1st running of the Wave Rally World Championships was a success! 81 windsurfers entered and for most of the event the wind was light so the inflatable WindSups came in very handy. Was an experimentt to see if the sailors would take to the format but we needn't have worried, everyone had a blast! It actually was so successful that it wouldn't have mattered if the wind stayed light for the 3 days, the racing was so much fun. In the end, the overall Wave Rally World Champion was Albert Pijoan from Spain, a worthy winner and world class windsurfer. The reaction from everybody was postive, so look out, Wave Rally 2 is coming for 2026 bigger and better than ever! The event video can be watched here.

A massive year for Wave Rally! We had 25+ knots and waves which made for very exciting conditions. The vibes were high and it was great to experience a Wave Rally in perfect conditions to see if the format would prove successful. And epic it was as we were able to get great footage and happy entrants! This year we saw some amazing social media engagement with the drama that happened in the 'Championship Final'. Local legend Anton Pain became the Wave Rally champ after taking down Jesper Orth from Denmark with a dramatic beach sprint finish. In 3rd place was last year's winner Albert Pijoan from Spain. Wave Rally also celebrated winning the WA Sport Promotion Award. The hype surrounding Wave Rally 2 will help propel the event even bigger and better for 2027 and is great for windsurfing and the Mid-West region. The winners of the 2026 event can be found here. You can watch the dramatic Championship Final video here.

The next chapter is on the horizon! Wave Rally 3 is gearing up for 6–10 January 2027 in Geraldton, building on two unforgettable editions of the Wave Rally World Championships. Expect more friendly rivalry, beachside camaraderie and the shared love of windsurfing that makes this event so special. Preparations are underway, with more details to come as the event approaches. For now, check out the 2027 poster and start dreaming of the next start line!