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Surfing Pipe on a full Moon, Surfboard Swaps and The Parallel Universe. |
| 28/01/2013 |
Who Blew Up?
Sam Edwards. Sam initiated the inaugural Summer Surfboard Swap in Durban last week and it was a blast. Motivated simply by the fact he wanted to attend one of these types of gatherings he decided to organise one himself. He opened his home, put the beers on ice and put it out there not really knowing what to expect. Such a cool crew of people pulled in to share the stoke and check out all manner of wave riding vehicles and other surfing paraphernalia. It was amazing to see a bunch of people with no other motive than a love of surfing getting together to expand each others wave riding experiences by sharing their craft. These types of gatherings are a good idea for so many reasons. We hope the success of this event will inspire others to do likewise around the country.
Nicky Trickett. Nicky is one of those mellow cats in the lineup that somehow manage to chill the vibe out by their presence. Last week a very small group of New Pier locals (4 to be exact), stumbled through the trapdoor into the parallel universe and it was Nicky who led the charge. On Tuesday morning a mysto 3 ft east swell filled in as the tide dropped and the wind swung light offshore. Most surfers checking the surf couldn’t see how good the waves were because a combination of the glare over the sea and the the gaps between the sets conspired to make it appear unappetising from the car park. Three and a half hours into a marathon session and Nicky was still picking off the gems, happily swapping boards and spreading good vibes.
Spex and Josh Redman. Surfing Pipeline is arguably one of the more challenging things any surfer can do in their life time, but to do it in the middle of the night on a full moon takes the act to a whole new level, and that is exactly what Sacher Specker and Josh Redman did a couple of nights ago. Saffa’s have a long standing reputation for charging in Hawaii and it is good to see these two representing. Spex reckons it was one of the more surreal experiences he’s ever had. Imagine looking up through the roof of the tube at the full moon, before being spat out into the channel at Pipe? We’d agree – pretty mind-blowing!
Who Blew It?
Mike Parsons. The hard charging Californian had a gnarly week last week when he cracked his C7 vertebra after suffering serious whiplash in a wipe-out. Snips was at the end of a marathon 4 hr session in pumping 10-12 ft waves when he got pitched and slammed by a big set. Lucky for him he was wearing a flotation vest which pulled him back to the surface – he was unable to swim himself. Then fortunately Charlie Vaughn was nearby and assisted him to the beach. He is going to be in a neck brace for 6-8 weeks, but is expected to make a full recovery.
The ASP. In a sinister indication of the control the new look ASP is looking to exert over it’s domain they have enforced ridiculously high “sanction” fees for ASP surfers to surf in events outside of the ASP schedule. This came to a head recently with the Aussie World Champ, Joel Parkinson (along with all the other World Tour Surfers) being conspicuously absent in the Jim Beam Surf Tag Series held at Duranbah. The event boasts a first prize purse of $ 1500, so having to pay the ASP $ 5000 just to enter is insanity for a professional surfer. The sad thing is that Parkinson along with his top tier compatriots recognises that the club surfing scene in Australia is fundamental in the building blocks of a professional career. By competing in these events they give something back by raising the bar. It seems short sighted of the ASP not to recognise this and waiver the sanction fees. When asked what he though about the whole thing Parko replied, "It's a bummer I think. When you're a kid you start in your club and they feed you everything," he said. "They make the steps along the way a lot easier. They pay entry fees for the kids but then you can't give back. That's the one thing I get a bit bummed about... I'd love nothing more than to be able to surf for my club but in saying that, there is a lot of politics in it and it's not worth getting involved."
The ZAR. Hovering in the R9/1USD mark South African travellers are becoming economic prisoners. Travelling on the good old ZAR has always been a challenge, but recent events that have conspired to devalue our currency in the eyes of the international community means that it makes that trip to Indo, Hawaii or god forbid somewhere like Fiji or Hawaii just that much further out of reach for the average South African. |
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| Posted by Gozz on the 28/01/2013 14:20 |
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| Posted by BD on the 28/01/2013 17:40 |
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| Posted by Wawa on the 28/01/2013 20:59 |
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| Posted by Sam on the 29/01/2013 07:45 |
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| Posted by mark on the 04/02/2013 11:12 |
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| Posted by Christinemsq on the 09/02/2013 10:40 |
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| Posted by Evangelinesvm on the 12/02/2013 10:59 |
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| Posted by Breendansg on the 19/02/2013 14:35 |
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Peter Mel and the Big Wave Brotherhood, technical gremlins and some really dirty water. |
| 21/01/2013 |
Who Blew Up?
Peter Mel. After years of being at the top rung of the sport of big wave surfing it was really cool to see the humble and personable Peter Mel take out The Maverick’s title.
All the finalists of the Mavericks invitational. There is something so incredibly cool about the brotherhood of big wave surfing. Perhaps when you face death together it changes your perspective? Not that the waves in this years event were death defying by any means, but because of and not in spite of that the guys got together in the final and decided to split the prize money. This is a cool tradition that seems to be creeping into the big wave competitive scene when the waves are either very inconsistent or not big enough to make it a real Big Wave Event and really is a lesson to the rest of the sport of surfing about humility and sharing which is only made more poignant by how hard these guys charge when the waves are pumping.
Go Pro. These guys took a big chance in assuming the title sponsorship role of the Maverick’s event. Last week we made a comment on the site about how Go Pro was one of the biggest revolutions of modern surfing. Apart from pumping cash into the sport of big wave surfing, the creative angles that were delivered for our viewing pleasure and interest were amazing. We definitely want to see more of this!
Who Blew it?
The Wave Forecasters for the Mavericks event. Ouch! There will always be the risk of being skunked when you run a surfing event, especially one that requires really big waves to run. Led on by the wave forecasters we all thought and believed it would be so much bigger than it was, hence the disappointment when Sunday dawned to a Mavericks lineup yawning as it woke from a distant slumber, rather than roaring to life. That said credit must go to the organisers for running the event and getting a result. At the end of the day we’ve all been skunked by believing in the charts and that my friends is the nature of surfing.
The Mavericks Invitational Webcast. No doubt all these things will be improved as time moves on, but it was really frustrating logging onto the site and not being able to access the live feed. Credit must go to Red Bull TV for their coverage of the event.
The City of Durban. On Saturday morning Durban surfers at North Beach were horrified by the smell coming out of the storm drain at North Beach and being pumped directly into the bowl. The smell was so bad that Neville the car guard above Durban Surf Lifesaving club had to move from his normal spot under the tree. Come on guys, stop running and hiding. Take responsibility for this and sort this out! |
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| Posted by Zot on the 21/01/2013 09:32 |
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| Posted by jamii on the 21/01/2013 09:33 |
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| Posted by shopia on the 26/04/2013 09:11 |
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| Posted by Green on the 29/04/2013 13:29 |
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| Posted by Compaq on the 03/05/2013 14:29 |
