 | While you were poking your eyes out in impotent rage at Bryce Lawrence and the South African rugby team’s ability to win everything but the ballgame, in the small neglected corner of the sports world known as professional surfing another South African athlete was being maligned by the administrators of the code. ...read more |
Judge Dread
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 by Andy Davis
Long Period Swells
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 by Kristine Kronjé
 | During the FIFA World Cup last year Thomas Mulcaire together with Ricardo de Oliveira set out to shoot Afrika, a documentary film following a group of Brazilian surfers traveling from Maputo to Eland’s Bay. In extension to this film their exhibition of film stills Light and Variable Winds with a Large Long Period Swell showed at the Goodman Gallery Project Space in Johannesburg recently. Answering the question how soccer, surfing, Africa and art relate. This is the story… ...read more |
So Long Cowboys
Monday, August 29th, 2011 by Warwick Wright
 | I remember a time when surfers were more than just professional athletes. A more exciting era when pros charged as hard at the bar as they did in the waves. Surfing has come a long way on the back of that rebel spirit but today most pros are eating raw carrots and doing yoga on balance balls, that leaves me with a question: “Where have all the cowboys gone?” ...read more |
Deeper than Blue
Monday, August 1st, 2011 by Samora Chapman
 | The Wavescape Film Festival marks a unique moment on the Durban surf calendar. It’s the one time in the entire year that all the waveriders gather, shrug off their differences and pack into theatres to see the luminaries and the legends dance on the holy waters of world surfing. ...read more |
Facebrick Nirvana
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011 by Luke Mason
 | The path to surfing greatness is littered with rippers with fading sponsors and deviated septums. Hung-over vampires, their tans disappearing after their moment in the sun, they feed on table scraps and hump desks and handshakes, making a living in the contingency of a dream unfulfilled. After all, with only 32 spots available, losers outnumber winners a thousand to one and it’s no longer enough just to be talented. The ‘hopefuls’ know that hope doesn’t win contests. ...read more |
Last Rounds
Friday, July 22nd, 2011 by Luke Mason, images Jared Aufrichtig
 | Commentary rumbles over the aloe trees; No Nukes at Thyspunt flags blow in an offshore breeze. Waves! Actual rideable waves turn what’s been a great place to tan for the last week, back into a world class surf-break. Huey has arrived, fashionably late to his fashion show. The wetsuit models prepare for their close-ups. ...read more |
The Long Shadow
Thursday, July 21st, 2011 by Luke Mason, images Jared Aufrichtig and Roy Harley
 | The ocean is dead. Someone has killed it. J-Bay hangs in a deflated stasis, the bite of the event off chewing something else. Day 7 sees the surf shrinking from pathologically tiny to windy puddle. ...read more |
Rock Hard Weekend
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 by Luke Mason, images Jared Aufrichtig
 | The udders of winter’s cash cow swell and lactate, business owners pull up a bucket and a stool. The surf only arriving at the end of the waiting period is the best possible thing that could have happened for the town, after last years’ contest flashed by in 3 days, leaving J-Bay bewildered and feeling slightly dirty. At this stage far more beers have been drunk then waves ridden. Pockets and livers alike continue to haemorrhage and vomit yellow bile. ...read more |
And So It Begins
Saturday, July 16th, 2011 by Luke Mason, images Roy Harley and ASP/Billabong
 | The world’s best surfers are here. Cameramen hunt hungrily. Fans line the beaches, giddy and star-struck as the surfing’s elite focus their energies on this legendary wave machine. The eyes of the surfing world are glued to internet screens from Japanese cubicles to smartphones in San Diego. Dolphins swim down the point completely unconcerned. Beautiful women prowl the contest area, hoping to get their nails into something with a picture perfect backhand snap. The festival atmosphere is alive again! The ...read more |
Go Surf
Monday, July 11th, 2011 by Warwick Wright
 | I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me god. South Africa currently enjoys the undivided attention of the surfing world. Thanks to two back to back 8-10 foot swells that lit up the Mr Price Pro. People are claiming it as the best WQS event outside of Hawaii, ever. And coming up is the Billabong Pro in J-Bay, widely regarded as the best wave on the World Tour. So it’s a ...read more |
