A sneaky Hawaiian victory for Spex, a torn ACL, Daylight Robbery and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
19/02/2012
Who Blew Up
1. Sasha “Spex” Specker.
pex is this month’s Daily Image photographic stoke provider and a long time contributor to theBOMBsurf. Last week in a tightly contested final against 3 Hawaiians, he took out the 2012 DK Pipe Challenge at Pipeline. The multiskilled waverider blew the other boogers away in a cleverly strategised final which saw him scoop the the title and the cash from under the noses of the three Hawaiian’s who entering the water thought they had it on lock down. It’s great to see a saffa win at Pipe, well done Spex!
2. Matt Banting and Sally Fitzgibbons
he pair of Aussies dominated on home soil to ultimately emerge victorious after the week long extravaganza held at Manly beach which was the inaugural Australian Open of Surfing. Manly Beach is home to previous World Champions, Barton Lynch and Layne Beachley. It has also got to be one of the worst surf spots on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Best known for serving up classic ‘straight hander’s’ it does however facilitate Olympic sized crowds. Don’t believe the still images you see or how the top surfers are able to pull multiple manoeuvres on this wave, for most normal surfers this is impossible.
It is a testament to Matt and Sally’s professional acumen that saw them perform under pressure in what can only be described as a mediocre wave at best. That said interestingly this event was co-sponsored by amongst others Billabong and Hurley. Is this just a sign of the times where single brand sponsorship is simply too expensive and could this herald a new chapter in Pro Surfing where we see ‘competitive’ brands teaming up to put on events?
3. Frank Solomon.
Credit: Men’s Health
Frank has been charging hard on the North Shore recently, apparently hard enough to even impress Kelly Slater with one of his tube rides at Pipe. We all know that Frank Charges, but he does it in such a humble and simple way that he often gets overlooked. Apart from being complimented by the King himself for his Pipe performance, Frank’s been a busy boy in lineups from Pipe and Waimea to Mavericks recently. Perhaps all that overlooking is a thing of the past. Check out his 6 page feature in Men’s Health which breaks next week.
And Who Blew It?
1. Clyde Martin.
Clyde slipped into SA quietly last week to visit family in Durban en route to Australia for the start of the World Tour on the Gold Coast. He arrived in the dark and woke early on the Bluff to find the waves cooking. He dug out an old board he had stashed at his folks place and hit one of the the quieter locations on that coastline to find to his surprise and pleasure he had it all to himself. The only drawback to his incredible windfall was that the board he was riding hadn’t been waxed for quite some time and he wasn’t traveling with any wax... Need we spell out how that session unfolded?
2. Robbie Fleck.
Apart from being a demon on the Rugby field Robbie is also a passionate surfer. He tore his ACL in the first few minutes of a Ten’s Tournament and now finds himself out of the surf and off the Rugby pitch for 6 months. Eish! We wish him a speedy recovery.
3. Eskom.
The morons in charge of our national power supply announced recently that consumers should brace themselves for a 25% increase in rates... This from the idiots who paid themselves millions in bonuses last year, can barely keep the lights on in SA and to top it off want to build a nuclear reactor overshadowing J-Bay at Thyspunt. If it wasn’t so serious we’d call this ‘Daylight Robbery’. TheBOMBsurf reckons the whole executive board should be publicly flogged and then fed to the sharks!
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Posted by Jason on the 20/02/2012 09:07
GO Franky our son !!!!
Good on you brother.
ZAR wishes you luck.
Posted by warren on the 22/02/2012 12:54
Agree with you on the electricity thing. So tired of just paying, paying, paying.........
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A flesh eating virus, clueless DBN SUPers in CT, an unnamed longboarder who nearly killed his friend
12/02/2012
Who Blew Up
1. DVG.
Following in the proud tradition of South African shapers being valued for the skills in the international market, the humble yet highly capable Kommetjie Board Builder has been invited by the team at Pukas to go and do a stint in Europe later this year. The team at Pukas are frothing to learn some of Dave’s thoughts when it comes to board design. Good one Dave, but don’t give them all the secrets!
2. Kelly Slater.
Last week in London he equalled Roger Federer’s record of 4 Laureus awards, when he was presented with the the award for action sports once again. Not bad for a dude who just turned 40!
3. Twiggy.
Twiggy has been charging in the Northern hemisphere winter. Last week he hit Mavericks really hard. Maverick’s hit back a couple of times but my word is he going for it! If you don’t believe us watch the Surfline feature. It’s amazing he can do this and still find time to write for theBOMBsurf. Check out the next issue to read Twiggy’s take on the most gnarly paddle session ever.
And Who Blew It?
1. Durban SUP in CT.
Spotted somewhere on the road between Noordhoek and Kommetjie these Durban dudes clearly have no idea when it comes to tying boards on the roof. It makes you wonder how skilled they’ll be when they get in the water... What can we say but it takes all sorts.
2. The unnamed longboarder, who nearly killed his friend.
In a KZN longboard trial over the weekend in Durban two non competitors drifted into the contest area. The one guy had just had a wave and was paddling back out when his mate took off, wobbled to his feet, feinted left, then feinted right before riding straight over his mate. The board crashed into his mates head and and smashed him underwater. If the surf hadn’t been so small that the two guys could stand at backline the victim could have quite possibly drowned he was in such a daze.
3. The flesh eating virus.
Lineups in Durban have been curiously vacant following last weekend’s newspaper report of a deadly flesh eating virus which was contacted by a Durban man along the Durban beachfront recently. Apparently the man contracted it after paddling on his surf ski between Ushaka and the Bluff. Eish we’ve heard of gnarly locals but that is ridiculous!
Got something to say? Then leave a comment!
Posted by Harry on the 13/02/2012 10:00
Hey guys this vehicle was a rental and poor Durban gets trashed ha! ha !
Posted by Dave on the 13/02/2012 10:27
it is clearly a rental...
Posted by John on the 13/02/2012 11:09
Flesh Eating Virus - According to my GP, you do not use high powered antibiotics to cure this desease but basic antitoxins similar to those used in treating puffadder bites etc. -
Posted by Andrew on the 13/02/2012 12:23
Seems like the Capetonians are bored again,cant find any waves so have to diss Durban.At least we can go to the beach barefoot and in boardshorts,you dudes have to pack an overnight bag.
Posted by Kelly on the 13/02/2012 15:00
clearly blow-in's...u know what they say...assumption is the mother of all *&^%-ups....that colour
skorra-skorra...looks like they got lost heading outta "Egoli"??
Posted by Byron on the 17/02/2012 14:54
Clearly the Durban guys have tied the boards on properly if he driven all the way down from Durban to Cape town and the boards are still on the roof. You Assholes are now getting very boring with your SUP chirps, my guess is none of you have the skill to SUP or
can't afford one. Stop worrying about what craft a person rides in the ocean and work on having some fun rather than jumping on the anti SUP bandwagon. You might be surprised to know that most of us SUP guys have surfed our whole lives.
Posted by XZgfwusdV on the 19/02/2012 03:09
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Smackdowns, Charging and a good old fashioned Skunking.
05/02/2012
Who Blew Up
1. John-John.
John-John’s reputation at Pipe is becoming fearsome to say the least. His win last week at The Volcom Pipe Pro is just the latest in a string of achievements in surfing’s most hallowed ground. In the last 2 months he’s won 2 out of the last 3 events there in the form of The Volcom Pipe Pro, Da Hui Backdoor Shootout and his sublime performance in The Billabong Pipe Masters.
IF the World Title was only decided at Pipe, John-John would be hard to beat. What makes him exciting to watch at Pipe is his commitment (he has serious balls) as well as some of the unique lines he draws which seem to be unique to him. He manages to do all this and yet maintains a humble and stoked demeanour, all we can to is watch in amazement and applaud.
2. Matt Bromley and Shaun Joubert.
Recently Matt and Shaun have been charging hard on The North Shore. These two rippers have been flying the SA Flag proudly at Pipe, Backdoor and Waimea. Apparently Matt got one of the biggest waves of the swell at Pipe (ja the one they cancelled The Volcom event on because it got too big!). He didn’t make the wave but he took off and pulled into a monster! Shaun has also been clocking some serious tube time at Backdoor navigating the crowds, the gnarly locals and the wave itself to spend plenty of time in the shade. Nice work boys, keep it up!
3. Jamie O’ Brien.
Jamie O’Brien is nothing if not creative. His performances at Pipe range from ridiculous to astonishing. Stretching his ability and our imaginations at Backdoor recently he executed a step off mid tube to redefine what is and isn’t possible in surfing, especially in such waves of consequence.
And Who Blew It?
1. Jamie O’ Brien.
While his antics doing step-off’s mid tube will keep us and the youtube generation entertained for hours, his narrow loss to John-John in the finals of The Volcom Pipe Pro will surely chafe him sorely. There was a time when Jamie was undisputedly the man at Pipe. Is that time over? There is no question he still rips, but has John-John taken things to another level and has Jamie’s reign been superseded? We think perhaps it has.
2. Julius Malema.
Eish it is back to the drawing board for Juju as last week the ANC decided to uphold it’s decision to ban him from the party for 5 years. The Breitling wearing, expensive whisky quaffing ‘economic freedom fighter’ will be pondering a protracted spell in the political wilderness. While we all heave a sigh of relief news editors all over SA will be gnashing their teeth wondering where they are going to find a substitute for all his comedic headlines. As the Holmes Bros said on one of their T shirts “Malema don’t surf!”. All we can say with all that free time on his hands now is thank goodness.
3. John McCarthy.
Thinking he would capitalise on the tail end of Funso’s cyclonic gifts in Southern Mozambique John drove for 10 hrs only to find that the sand on the point had been completely washed away in the preceding days of cyclone swell activity. To ad insult to injury the onshore came up as he arrived and he got stung by gnarly bluebottles for good measure. At least he found a cool smoothie place (check Mango blog), but that is a hell of a long way to drive for a smoothie. A good skunking if ever there was one!
Got something to say? Then leave a comment!
Posted by Albeiro on the 20/02/2012 18:32
It's pblsiose but only if you took a hit directly with in seconds of some one with a cold sore taking one. Herpes doesn't last long on objects or in open air. It likes direct skin contact with an open sore or blister to be passed on like kissing some one that has a cold sore.
Posted by Justin on the 22/02/2012 12:15
jaime - WOW Joy and Ryel You guys are awomese! I am sooo happy with how they all turned out! can't wait till I have the book in my hands! Thanks a million!
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Jordy jets in, beatings and barrels galore.
29/01/2012
Who Blew Up
1. Jordy Smith.
MillerR-SA
Jordy jetted into Durban last week to clock a bit of cyclonic water time courtesy of Funso. It was awesome to see Jordy at his old home beach significantly raising the bar. He doesn’t travel light does Jordy, two filmers and a stills photographer complete his entourage and capture his every move. When he takes to the water you see why. Almost every moment in Jordy’s surfing is golden. He IS that good.
Humble and friendly in the water he absolutely ripped the New Pier to pieces both above and below the lip. Also as the Durban surfers will tell you the cyclone swells come with serious rips, which didn’t seem to present any problem to Jordy who is in phenomenal shape right now. He had marathon sessions and probably caught more waves than anyone else.
2. Noel Rame.
Old School, committed and stylish Noel was without doubt one of the standouts of this swell. Sitting way out the back and waiting patiently for the bombs he showed all the youngsters that 20 years of surfing the New Pier counts for something.
3. Phil Nel.
Hailing from the Boland Phil decided to jump on a plane and fly up to Durban for the swell to see for himself what all the fuss was about. He must have clocked more water time than anyone else and had a mind bending 4 sessions on Saturday in what can only be described as challenging physical conditions. With his friendly approach and committed take offs Phil got his fair share. In the process he got to experience a some of the fabled New Pier tube time for himself.
And Who Blew It?
1. Everyone who did other things than surf in Durban this weekend.
From Vetches Reef to Bay of Plenty there were so many options that there was something for everyone. If you didn’t get your share you blew it plain and simple!
2. Graeme Bird.
Graeme charges the New Pier and holds his position in the lineup with a committed approach to his wave riding. When Graeme paddles for a wave everyone knows he’s going to go. On Saturday morning just as things were getting hectic on the bank, Graeme committed himself to an absolute no hoper. The rest of the lineup watched with glee as Graeme went headfirst into purgatory as the lip pitched him into the sucking trough. 10mins later he paddled into another mutant. This time he nearly got to his feet and enjoyed the trip from the lip to the trough feet first but the result was the same – complete annihilation. The two wipe-outs of the swell both within 10 minutes.
3. John McCarthy.
After ‘celebrating’ at the Bean Green 3rd birthday party a little too enthusiastically on Thursday night, John arrived at the first day of the swell with his fast twitch muscle fibres not firing on all cylinders. The result? A spectacular over the falls hat trick on his first three waves. With his bell clearly rung he a subdued and chastened John retreated further down the lineup to enjoy his headache by himself.
Got something to say? Then leave a comment!
Posted by gman on the 30/01/2012 08:53
yes jordy's surfing was good, but i really didnt see him catch more waves than anyone else, on the contrary he didn't catch all that many waves. although when he did he made it count
Posted by gman on the 30/01/2012 08:54
irrelevant, but he had 3 videographers shooting with the phantom camera and a stills photographer with him
Posted by Mongoose on the 30/01/2012 13:43
I woke up to catch the swell on Friday morning, jumped off New Pier at 5am, caught my first wave and snapped my board, swam in to get my other one out the car to find my car had been stolen. I spent the whole weekend applying for new ID's, licenses, bank cards, case numbers, police reports and insurance documents. didn't catch one wave this weekend. Fukd off
Posted by Fabricio on the 14/02/2012 09:33
I wnated to go to the beach and theses photos make me so jealous but they are so awesome it's like being at the beach. Stunning!
Posted by John on the 20/02/2012 21:41
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Posted by Maria on the 22/02/2012 08:06
Greetings from nrhoretn Japan friends. Sendai ?? Uh, yeah, like Maryland is the nrhoretn United States.You are almost in nrhoretn Honshu.I worked on Hokkaido for a few years that is nrhoretn Japan.
Posted by Ivana on the 22/02/2012 13:10
Only one way to find out champ. . . . . but from what i'm hrinaeg it sounds just like someone saying there good at riding a bike and can wonder if they can ride a motorcycle. So I would say yes. You can also start out by surfing towards the shore which will be easier that standing up on a body-board. Then progress to surfing into the wave like you see most people do.
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A Durban Dog out surfs Jordy, SWARP is finally validated and an Isuzu beats The Bendz...
22/01/2012
Who Blew Up
1. Sarah Baum.
Sarah opened her account at The Billabong World JNR Champs being held at Burleigh Heads in Australia with a devastating performance when she posted a heat total of 18.53 in her R1 encounter against Quincy Davis (USA) and Felicity Palmateer (AUS) and took out the heat win.
This means she moves directly into R3 and misses the cut-throat elimination round in R2. With the form she’s been showing recently TBS can’t wait to see her in action on the WQS. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again... GO Sarah!
2. Rolling Retro With RVCA at Llands.
Lordy, if you were in CT and you missed this you should flush your own head down the toilet in shame. What a jol the crew had at Llundudno over the weekend. While Jordy’s superman on a Shaun Tomson twinnie drew appreciative gasps from the crowd, it was Reg Macdonald’s surfing hound dog that stole the show.
He gets extra props because he is a warm water Durban Surf Dog and he didn’t flinch in the polar arctic conditions of Llandudno as he rode shorewards ua natural in an amazing rendition of ‘Da Bull’
3. Hank McGregor.
As all the SWARP (Surfers What Are River Paddlers) members will tell you Hank McGregor is the ‘Kelly Slater’ of the Canoeing world. This weekend Hank, who is a stoked and devout surfer added his 3rd consecutive Drak Challenge win to his growing list of accolades in fun conditions on the upper Umzimkulu. Not surprisingly Hank is also the only surfer in Durban who can out paddle the rip at New Pier when it’s pumping.
And Who Blew It?
1. Jason Heyns.
TBS has to be careful what it says here as this may well be a case of ‘the pot calling the kettle black’, but we did laugh long and hard when we heard of Jason’s near call. Driving on that magnificent stretch of road between The Crayfish Factory and Outer Kom Jason was so absorbed in admiring the view (who hasn’t been?) and watching the surf (ditto) that he very nearly drove his car off the cliff.
Luckily he kept some wheels with traction and prevented an accelerated trip into the 365 car park via the mountainside. And who said an Isuzu can’t beat the Bendz?
2. Jeremy Johnson.
Jeremy arrived in hot and steamy Durbs to help his missus (the very beautiful and capable Kaitlin Moir) relocate to the Mother City after she has spent a couple of months of hanging tough in the tropics. Deciding he was keen to sample both the local waves and cuisine while in town Jem foolishly ignored Kaitlin’s well researched guidance and instead accepted the advice of TBS about where to surf and eat.
He ended up surfing in a storm water drain/sewerage outlet and was then sent to The House Of Curries (the only place in the world where you can feed 5 peeps to overflowing and get them wasted on R200, that’s R40 each!). R400 later Jem felt very ‘strange’ the next day and was a shadow of his former self. All TBS can say is thank goodness he didn’t follow the rest of our advice and end the evening off with a night cap at Cool Runnings!
3. Velvet Sky.
A top BOMBsurf executive (there are only 2 and neither really pass as executives) was stranded in OR Tambo on Friday as a result of Michael Naiker doing a guest appearance in the cockpit. The flight was delayed while protocol was re-established. TheBOMBsurf managed to obtain a bootleg copy of the transcript of what went down.
The transcript with air traffic control is as follows:
MN: OK may laarnies we need to make sharp, my auntie is making a Bryani for dinner and we need to skop down to make it back to Durbs in time for dinner.
Air Traffic Control: Repeat your position Alpha Bravo One, are you ready for take off?
MN: Eeey cuzzie, we ready to make this little birdie fly fasta then my GTI, come pull finga lets go!
Air Traffic Control: Uum.... Alpha Bravo One... is all ship shape in the cockpit?
MN: Ship shape, what’s next, surf and turf? Aaaay can we get this order to GO, comon ou’s I got a stekkie hotter than a Grey Street Bunny waiting that side...lets muuuve it ek se!
Air Traffic Control: Err Alpha Bravo One aah there are some gentlemen on route to establish your credentials.
MN: Aye bru, don’t come with that credentials, I’ve got a mile high .... (sounds of a scuffle)... Silence.
Air Traffic Control: Alpha Bravo One are you ready for take off?
Alpha Bravo One: (Laughter, hysterics, much giggling) In the background, “cut me loose, cut me loose, you are the son of a thousand bastards all bastards like you.... Cut me loose I tell you!...” In the foreground “ Ahh all clear on runway zero nine tango Control, request permission to taxi...
Got something to say? Then leave a comment!
Posted by andre on the 23/01/2012 16:14
Hey Uncle you had a hella va ting going there!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey hope the auntie does not get hold of this Bomb surf!!
Posted by Seymen on the 17/02/2012 04:04
Tomika - Stunning! I love how you make wndideg photos into art! There is soo much garbage out there, and you have a refreshing take on wndideg photography. I'm glad I stumbled upon your site!
Posted by Jeremy on the 22/02/2012 03:14
We suohld show compassion to them. They already have it bad enough KNOWING that they were fooled, so why make it worse and rub it in their faces? That's why its important to read the Bible for yourself so you won't be duped by teachers that preach falsely.
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