| Who blew up: |
1. Rosey Hodge
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| We all know Rosey Rips, but to be left standing on the podium against a field of world class competitors at the recent Billabong ISA World Surfing Games is no small feat. She ended up with the silver medal around her neck and in so doing ensured that team SA finished with some pride in tact and some bling to take home. These ISA contests are crazy. The competition takes soooo long to get through because of all the divisions and repocharge heats. It’s difficult to maintain focus for that length of time also you have the added pressure of not just performing for yourself but your country as well. BMT intact Rosey handled both and through her performance ensured that SA enjoyed a bit of that elusive limelight. Well done! |
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2. Chris Leppan
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| Durban boy Chris Leppan has spent a fair mount of time in the Cape recently. This weekend he used that to his advantage by taking out the physical event section of the Insight Blazon Contest held in Strand. This is a bold new contest format where half the event happens on the day at the beach and the other half in the week after online (for more check out http://www.thebombsurf.com/pages/380/insight-blazon) When it came time for Chris to put his money where his mouth was he stepped up with a nine point plus ride and in doing so sealed the deal. That’s what we call BMT. |
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3. Simon Lowe
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| Well known in Cape Big Wave surfing circles Simon is somewhat of an enigma to the rest of us. Unless you have a heaving slab on your doorstep chances are you’ve never even seen him surf. Well last week we got the chance to see him in action. Holy shit can this guy charge! The bigger and gnarlier it gets the harder he goes. He’s not content with just taking off on big waves, no he wants to get barrelled. Barrelled on waves that would have most mere mortals running for the hills. Somehow he sets his line on that 10ft plus beast of a board of his and pulls into caverns you could drive a bus through. The photos we have on our site don’t do him justice at all and the beatings he takes in the pursuit of his big wave barrel mission have to be seen to be believed. With guys like him in the water its no wonder that the younger guys are having to push themselves the way they do. |
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| And who blew it? |
3. Jason Wright
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| Jason is a quiet unassuming guy who really likes to surf big waves. Living in DBN that presents a problem for him most of the time because the waves there seldom get big in the big wave sense of big. However he is one of a growing crew of Durban surfers who will take the time and spend the money to fly down to CT when it gets big just so he can scratch that big wave itch. Fresh of the plane and into the Dungeons Lineup Jason had had a couple under his belt when he decided that he wanted to get a REAL one. Putting himself in position way deep he sat and waited. The wave came alright but it ended up breaking 5ft in front of him detonating him and his surfboard in one swift Atlantic Ocean wake up call. The unfortunate thing for Jason was that the board was borrowed (from Jason Ribbink) and ended up in two pieces. That and he had to spend the rest of the day sitting on the boat watching the other guys get BOMBs. |
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2. Tony Butt
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| Renowned English author and big wave rider Tony Butt decided after a two year sabbatical to grab the dragon at Dungeons by the tail and have a go in what must surely rank as our heaviest lineup. Fresh into the lineup Tony greeted all his old friends and positioned himself safely in what was the take off area. Unfortunately for Tony (and everyone else in the lineup) the clean up set of the day washed through catching everyone inside. As the white water subsided broken leashes and broken boards were the order of the day. Tony emerged shaken, but otherwise in tact, board nowhere to be seen. He swam back to the boat which was anchored in the channel and spent the rest of the morning mourning the loss of his 10ft gun and watching the other guys getting great rides. That would be the end of the story except that an hour or two later J-Bay local Gumby joined the lineup beaming with his new find (an immaculate 10ft gun he’d found drifting in the shipping lanes off Hout Bay). Eventually Gumby returned the board to its rightful owner but not before the swell dropped and the tide came in. Sorry Tony. |
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1. Everyone who missed the RVCA launch jol in CT.
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| Every now and again there is a party that goes down which redefines what constitutes a serious jol. The RVCA launch party in CT last week was one such party. Surfers, skaters, artists, fashionistas and party animals arrived en mass to celebrate the launch of RVCA in SA. Add to that a cool venue, a bottomless bar tab and the rocking tunes of Taxi Violence and you have a pretty explosive cocktail. Explosive indeed. In the words of one young pro surfer who shall remain unnamed “It was huge bru, when the girls got on the bar counter and started stripping while handing out free tequila, I knew the next day would be messy...” Messy indeed, but what a jol. If you missed it you’ll just have to try really hard to get yourself invited to the next one because that was without doubt the party of the year so far. |
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