O'Neill South Africa is proud to announce the start of the waiting period for this unique event in South African Surfing. The Event waiting period for entries is 1 May 2009 - 30 April 2010, with the final prizegiving being held on the 19th May 2010, in Cape Town. This is solely a Big Wave recognition event, with the emphasis purely on Big Wave Paddle surfing. The Biggest Paddle wave wins!
Paddle surfing is what big wave surfing is all about. Paddle surfing takes guts, knowledge, experience and Raw Courage. To paddle out, line up for a big slab of ocean, turn your board around and commit to a wave, paddle your heart out and have the courage to take the drop. That is what Big Wave Surfing is all about. There is no easy recipe, no short cuts, no easy way out. Just pure, determination and commitment to catching the biggest slabs of ocean Neptune can throw at us.
Paddling into giant waves with your own bare hands, these are warriors, the Big Wave Watermen O'Neill are here to honour and reward for their passion, courage and commitment.
Founded by big wave surfing legend and O’Neill ambassador Chris Bertish in 2008 this is an event O'Neill will be running annually, to give recognition to all our Big Wave Surfers, for following their passion of riding Big Waves and pushing the boundaries & limits of the sport, while keeping the South African flag flying high.
The event is only open to South African Surfers who are continuously out there, pushing the limits and boundaries of Big Wave Surfing in South Africa.
Each Award explained:
The Raw Courage Award (Biggest Paddle wave ridden & completed) - Format: Photograph or video
We are looking for the 20ft plus range, for this, the most prestigious award of the event. There are many 15-18ft waves ridden by the top paddle surfers each year, but only a handful of 20 footers. We would like to honor those watermen who can officially claim they have ridden & successfully tamed a 20ft monster using only there bare hands.
Biggest barrel award (made) - Format: Photograph (min 3 sequence) or Video.
This Award is a true test of commitment and courage under pressure, to Big Wave Surfing.
We do recognize that any paddle surfer that pulls into a 15ft plus barrel and completes the ride, the level of difficulty is extremely high and even though it is a whole lot easier to position yourself for a barrel Tow Surfing, we do realize that a 25-30ft barrel tow surfing still requires huge amounts of courage and commitment.
Therefore, size, entry into the wave, positioning and degree of difficulty will be the major criteria analyzed for this award.
Balls to the Wall Award (Most committed Surfer) - Peer poll - No photographic evidence required
This is an Award to a rider who has shown commitment and courage to all his sessions through out the year. Someone who’s true passion for big waves shines constantly.
They may work full time and only able to make an hour of each session, whether it be through week normal work hours or over weekends. A rider who’s true determination in developing as a big wave charger and pushing his and other’s limits around him, while demonstrating his courage commitment to his passion for Big Surf. I would like to see this award going to the underground charger, who is quietly charging, making a name for
themselves and building their reputation, with ever session they have in large surf. The winner of this award will be decided by the surfers in the event
Psychofreak Award (8 ft and bigger) - Format: Photograph or video.
This award brings in the WOW factor of big wave surfing. We are looking for the sequence or video footage that shows a surfer in a super radical, heavy situation on a massive wave. This could be the worst wipeout of the year!
Grom Charger Award (20 years and younger) - Format: Photograph, video and peers
We are looking for the underground grom who charges the hardest through the year and pushes his limits in big wave surfing. This is a category which O’Neill would like to build in the future as we believe that if we can get our junior surfers introduced into big wave surfing at a young age South Africa will continue to dominate the sport into the future.
All nomination rides are to be sent in to www.thebombsurf.com , to be showcased, where they will be judged and voted on during the year. |
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