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The Ross Taylor Benefit Surf Contest 2012

The Ross Taylor Benefit Surf Contest, held in honour of Ross Taylor who succumbed to cancer at 29, takes place at Buffalo Bay, Knysna, 10-12 August 2012. Now in its fourth year, the event raised R70 000 and attracted 215 contestants in 2011, making this the largest entered surf contest in South Africa. The Stand Up Paddle (SUP) contingent became a welcome added element to the contest in 2010, and the SUP SA committee, have since been looking at making this a SUP sanctioned event.  The Benefit Bash promises live bands, DJs, an auction, bar, food stalls and great prizes to be won! Beach activities for the whole family, including a fun run/walk and sandcastle building ensure everyone can be part of the fun, share the love, and support Hospice. See you there!

For online entries, queries, sponsorships or donations, go to www.hospiceknysna.org.za, rosstaylorsurf or contact Nicky on 083 412 4598, or rosstaylorsurf@gmail.com

measures to ban shark cage diving operations after four fatal shark attacks in the region since September.

This comes after heated debate, both in Australia and SA, about the link between attacks and chumming, which is used to attract sharks to the boats.

Reacting to the ban yesterday, some local shark cage diving operators blasted the move, while a marine biologist said various studies had not proved a link between chumming and shark attacks.

Australian newspapers reported this week that West Australian Fisheries Minister Norman Moore said he did not want tourist activities set up that would attract sharks and change their normal behaviour.

Research done by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) at shark cage diving sites in South Australia had found that chumming kept sharks in an area for longer, but did not prove a link between chumming and attacks on humans.

Norman acknowledged that the study did not determine the long-term effects on shark behaviour, but said he would prefer not to take risks until more was known.

Shark cage diving has never been done along Australia’s west coast.

Brian McFarlane, operator and owner of Great White Shark Tours in Gansbaai, said the West Australian authorities were “overreacting”.

“There is definitely no point in banning diving. It has been proved over and over again that shark cage diving is not to the detriment of divers or people using the beaches.”

He said that while they used chumming to attract sharks to the boat, it had never been proved that this changed sharks’ behaviour.

“We do not reward sharks with food. People always want to blame something or someone, but the industry has been operating in Gansbaai for 18 years and there has never been an incident. Thousands of people surf and swim along our shores and the sharks are there as they have always been,” McFarlane said.

Another operator in Gansbaai, Wilfred Chivell, said: “Their decision is not a well-informed one. There is no link between chumming and attacks. I am very proud of the way we are handling the issue locally because these are incredible animals and accidents do happen. Sharks are in their natural habitat as they always have been. I don’t believe there is any change in shark behaviour; chumming has nothing to do with attacks.”

Alison Towner, a marine biologist for the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, said: “Cage diving sites in South Australia and SA hold the similarity that they are focused on a seal colony – a natural aggregation area for great white sharks.

“It is understandable that the Australian authorities are concerned with the high attack rate, but West Australia has never had cage diving operations and they’ve still had attacks. I think a more proactive approach would be to understand the movement of sharks properly by doing more research before making policy decisions.”

Towner, who has been researching shark movements for five years, said: “There is still no scientific link between the attacks and chumming. Sharks move around extensively and we need to have a better understanding of their movements.”

Veteran Cape Town surfer Paul Botha said: “Chumming is not the issue when it comes to diving because the operators are in areas where there is a huge aggregation of sharks.

“However, the jury is still out on whether shark cage diving affects shark behaviour because they are attracted by the chum and they come in close proximity to humans and later, when they come in shore where people are surfing and swimming, they may become more inquisitive and it might well change their behaviour.

“However, I don’t think chumming has anything to do with it.”

Alison Kock, a local scientist and research manager for Shark Spotters who conducted a study around the False Bay area similar to the CSIRO one, said local research did not find an increased risk to water users.

In SA in April, a heated chumming row erupted after the death of bodyboarder David Lilienfeld, 20, who was attacked by a great white shark while surfing at a popular surf break at Kogel Bay. - Cape Times

Sourced from : IOL NEWS

GRANDE PLAGE, Biarritz/France (Saturday, July 14, 2012) – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, has claimed her 5th ASP Women’s World Title today, winning the Roxy Pro Biarritz over Tyler Wright (AUS), 18.

“I woke up this morning and thought it wouldn’t happen today,” Gilmore said. “But as the day progressed, and things fell into place, I began to believe it could happen. France is such a special place and having so many people on the beach watching us surf today is really emotional. I think I’m going to cry.”

Gilmore set an ASP record by being the first surfer ever to win four titles from four attempts (2007 – 2010), but fell back to ASP Women’s World No. 3 in 2011. Today’s emotional win is a reassertion of her dominance as one of the greatest icons in women’s sports.

“This year for me was all about improving my consistency and having fun with my surfing,” Gilmore said. “From when I started five years ago to where we are now, women’s surfing has improved so much. It’s an honor to be back up top as these girls push me everyday and are all incredible surfers.”

Today’s incredible achievement puts the young natural-footer in an elite class of surfers to win five or more ASP World Titles, overtaking women’s records set by Freida Zamba (USA), Wendy Botha (AUS) and Lisa Andersen (USA). The only other two surfers in history to claim five or more titles are Kelly Slater (USA) and Layne Beachley (AUS).

“I have an amazing support team between my family, friends, my shaper Darren Handley, my sponsors and all the people at Quiksilver,” Gilmore said. “To be able to do what we do and make a life out of surfing is a really blessed thing. Surfing is what motivates me to wake up each day and attempt to better myself.”

2012 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour Results:
Roxy Pro Gold Coast: WINNER
Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach: Runner-Up
TSB Bank New Zealand Surf Festival: WINNER
Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic: Equal 5th
Billabong Rio Pro: Equal 5th
Roxy Pro Biarritz: WINNER
Nike US Open of Surfing: TBD

Fellow finalist Wright put on an impressive display of surfing throughout the Roxy Pro Biarritz, besting Courtney Conlogue (USA), 19, and Coco Ho (HAW), 19, en route to today’s Finals. Unfortunately for Wright, her momentum didn’t transcend into the Final bout against Gilmore, but the tour sophomore was happy with her performance nonetheless.

“I feel pretty good,” Wright said. “I was so excited for Steph (Gilmore). She was ahead of me the whole time and with five minutes to go I was like, ‘you’ve done it!’ It’s incredible – she ripped the whole contest and didn’t lose one heat, she was shredding!”

Today’s Runner-Up finish at Grande Plage is a season best for Wright and vaults her from 5th to 3rd on the elite ASP Women’s World Championship Tour rankings.

“I’m happy with how that season went,” Wright said. “I’m just enjoying myself! I feel it’s funner when I just messing around rather than be too serious. You know I love surfing and that’s about it.”

Carissa Moore (HAW) 19, was stopped in her effort to send the ASP Women’s World Title race to the final event in California by eventual winner and newly-crowned Champion Stephanie Gilmore in a very exciting Semifinal that saw the lead change hands several times before the Australian managed to find two high-scoring rides, putting a nail in Moore’s coffin. The Hawaiian placing third in Biarritz has reduced the gap between her and the second place on the ASP Women’s World Championship Tour rankings and she looking forward to the last event of 2012.

“I’m pretty happy,” Moore said. “Obviously I would have loved to surf another final but it’s still pretty good. I think the women’s level has come a long way, but honestly today it was more a matter of being in the right spot and getting in a good rythmn and it’s tough if you don’t get to find the good opportunities and another person does. I’m always looking forward to competing so I’m really looking forward to going to the US Open and hopefully I’ll get a good performance there.”

Coco Ho (HAW) 21, was responsible for the biggest upset today when she defeated Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 21, in this morning’s Quarterfinals. Ho was later stopped by runner-up Tyler Wright in the semis, not able to find the highest scoring rides in a wind affected line-up. Finishing equal third in Biarritz, Ho confirms her newly found rythmn after a brilliant second place in the previous event in Brazil.

“I’m stoked it feels good to be able to get through those tough first rounds and be able to back up my last good result”, Ho said. “It was close but I’m stoked with the overall result. We’re really lucky the conditions came together for us today, ‘Grande Plage’ offered us some really good potential and it was just a matter of positioning so we’re stoked we’re really lucky.”

After a slow start to her fourth season at the elite level, Ho recently regrouped and started showing consistence placing fifth in Sydney, second in Rio and third today in France improving on her quarter-final result in the same event last year.

“Starting this year I had two 13th and I never even had that result before so it was pretty frustrating. I think it kind of just woke me up, made me put my head down and really fight for it!”

Highlights from the Roxy Pro Biarritz will be available via roxylive.com/roxyprobiarritz/2012/

The next stop on the ASP Women’s World Championship Tour will be the Nike US Open of Surfing from July 30 – August 5, 2012.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

ROXY PRO BIARRITZ FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 18.53
2 – Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.10

ROXY PRO BIARRITZ SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 14.66 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 9.37
SF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 17.10 def. Carissa Moore (HAW) 12.50

ROXY PRO BIARRITZ QUARTER-FINALS RESULTS:
QF 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 11.37 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 10.53
QF 2: Coco Ho (HAW) 12.60 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 8.76
QF 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.57 def. Malia Manuel (HAW) 10.00
QF 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) 16.33 def. Laura Enever (AUS) 12.07

ROXY PRO BIARRITZ ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 11.40 def. Lakey Peterson (USA) 9.50
Heat 2: Coco Ho (HAW) 11.67 def. Rebecca Woods (AUS) 8.77
Heat 3: Malia Manuel (HAW) 12.10 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 9.16
Heat 4: Laura Enever (AUS) 12.13 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 8.66

CURRENT ASP WOMEN’S WCT TOP 5 (After Roxy Pro Biarritz):
1. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 48,400 pts
2. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 42,100 pts
3. Carissa Moore (HAW) 36,700 pts
3. Tyler Wright (AUS) 36,700 pts
5. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 34,800 pts

Paul Hersey is a Christchurch/Dunedin writer, surfer and climber. His work has been published in The Surfer's Journal, Alpinist and New Zealand Geographic. His book Searching For Groundswell: A New Zealand Surfer's Road Trip was published by New Holland in 2010. Parts of this article have been taken from that book...

I've been chasing waves for over 30 years now. After trying competitions in my younger days – rather unsuccessfully – I settled into seeking out fun and uncrowded line ups, both around the country and overseas. I'm not a big wave charger or an aerial junkie. Just overhead is usually big enough for me, and hollow enough to get covered but not if it means risking serious injury. In other words, I'd consider myself middle of the road in terms of both surfing ability and desire.

And what I love about surfing, aside from the waves of course, is the vibe associated with it...the stoke. This is a great thing, a shared mindset, and something that should probably be appreciated more than it is these days.

 

To my aging eyes, stoke is sometimes being overtaken by an urge to get more waves, as if accumulation is more important than feeling. And this leads on to the one thing that really sticks in my craw about surfing: over the top localism and the surf rage that goes with it. I can't think of any other activity that has the same level of post pissing, chest thumping, macho posturing as surfing. This is a black mark on us as surfers.
After being seriously assaulted in 2000 at Angourie, an Australian surf break, former world surfing champion Nat Young edited a collection of writings for a book Surf Rage. One of the contributors, Derek Rielly, wrote this about the complex and fluid rules of surfing: ‘They change to suit the amount of time a surfer has spent at a surf spot, and how well he surfs, thus confusing the cockles out of a beginner and putting them in a position they have no idea how to get out of and causing flashes of tempers from surfers who expect order at their break.' Reilly believes there has been a paradigm shift in surfing culture, ‘from one fiercely anti-establishment and pro-drugs that regarded the line-up as an escape from the bullshit of the world to one that is increasingly aggressive, conservative and competition-driven yet, paradoxically, constantly working to attract more participants'.

 

As the number of surfers grows, along with the advent of lighter long boards and other surf craft, novice surfers can increasingly compete with those who have spent years learning the art of riding. None of this is an excuse for violence in the ocean. And it all contributes to taking the fun out of the sport.

Another writer in Young's book, American Glen Hening, describes aggressive surfers acting like ‘true believers fighting over who will take communion, pushing and shoving and cutting in line with an infantile "Me First! Me First!" attitude as we approach the altar where our religion is confirmed. And when we finally attain the holy moment and connect with the body and soul of our faith, what do we do? "Mine! Mine!" becomes our mantra'.

 

I want to reflect on an eperience I had a few years back at a remote break south of Dunedin. Friends Mat, Eric and I were scrambling along the coast through the dried seaweed, mud and sheep droppings, towards the distant break. Things were cranking, and so we were pretty amped to get amongst it.

There were two guys in the line-up and as we neared they started drifting towards the inside, apparently sated by their morning session, and probably perturbed by the sight of more boards. As another set powered through, Mat and Eric increased their pace while I stopped to take a quick photo of the set rolling through. Suddenly, the two in the water started yelling out, telling me to ‘fuck off'.
I yelled back ‘what's the problem', and they kept replying with various forms of colourful language while pumping their fists in the air. By this stage Mat and Eric had disappeared around the next headland. I figured it was better to go and front up to the guys in the water rather than run the risk of getting my vehicle trashed. Of course there was the possibility of me getting trashed also, and I felt no great sense of conviction as I picked a way down the rocks to where they were paddling in.

I consider myself pretty mellow in the surf, but tend not to back down if someone takes offense at some imagined indiscretion and acts aggressively towards me. Consequently I've ended up in a few waterborne verbal tussles and I should have turned away when really I should have kept my mouth shut and paddled in the other direction.

 

The pecking order, especially at crowded breaks but even at remote spots such as this, is a deeply ingrained and rather delicate hierarchal mix of experience, macho aggression and a misplaced notion of local ownership. In a growing sport with a sometimes fickle resource, jockeying for the best waves, or for any waves, can quickly escalate into physical confrontation.

By the time I reached the small cove on the inside, the two surfers were on shore. One was sitting on a rocky knoll with his board resting on his knees, and the other standing and stretching - or maybe limbering up - on the sand in front of him. I wandered up to the one standing, trying to project a non-violent air of confidence. Getting closer, I recognised them as Dunedin locals. They were both around my age, and the one sitting down had a reputation as a bit of a hothead.

I figured it prudent to stop a measured distance away.

‘What's the problem?' I asked the guy who had been stretching.

‘What's your problem? You shouldn't be taking photos of this place,' the hothead said.

I ignored him, and look at the guy standing, who had long hair and was solidly built. He stopped stretching. I didn't know whether to take that as a good sign, or whether he was ready to have a go. Perhaps I was a few seconds away from getting my arse kicked.

‘Look I don't want any problems,' I offered. ‘I've been surfing here for years and this is the first time I've brought a camera.'

‘This is one of the last secret spots round here,' the longhair said pointing at the line-up. ‘Don't want word getting out to the masses.'

‘Got no argument from me,' I replied.

‘We've had this all morning to ourselves, and were just talking about how great it is, and then you guys show up.'

‘Never seen you here before,' hothead stated.

‘Likewise. It's that kind of place though isn't it? People know about it, but usually no one can be bothered walking here.'

‘Guess so,' longhair admitted, shrugging his shoulders. ‘So everything's all right?'

‘Yeah...sure. Fine by me.'

‘Thank God,' he said, visibly relaxing. ‘I thought I was going to be in for a scrap. You didn't look so big from a distance.'

We both laughed, relieved that the tension had been broken, and hothead mentioned something about getting out there before the onshore picked up. I glanced at him and nodded, before turning around and walking back up the hill towards the point.

 

This whole cultural shift in and around the line-up is probably best presented in an Australian movie Bra Boys. It tells the story of a notorious surfing tribe, and the Aberton brothers, who live in Maroubra, a depressed community a few kilometres from Sydney. But what starts out as a probing documentary-type look at the culture surrounding localism ends up being little more than pro surf gang propaganda. I guess it's not surprising given that one of the Abertons co-directs, and spends a fair chunk of screen time justifying violence as a means of demonstrating loyalty. This glorifying of backyard fistfights, and protecting your local patch against outsiders at all costs, comes across as nothing more than macho posturing at its worst.

Macho aggression is archaic, ugly and unnecessary. Surf rage ruins the stoke of riding waves more quickly than a howling onshore, and the notion of localism in a place as remote as the one Mat, Eric and I had chosen to visit seems ridiculous. Wanting to keep a choice break quiet is fair enough, but surely no one has more of a right to what is essentially a free and public resource than anyone else.
Take a breath. Respect each other. Respect the waves.

Paul Hersey 

For more on Paul's work, check out his blog: www.paulherseywrites.com

also check out his book Searching for Groundswell