Boland Team 2012

The South African Bodyboarding Champs is the final contest of on the boyboarding calendar in our fine country and this year the Boland Boadyboarding Association is stopping at nothing to claim the ever so illusive Fishermans Trophy and be crowned SA Champs!

Last year Boland managed to obtain a 3rd place at SA champs that was hosted in Cape Town but this year the team will be traveling to Margate, on the south coast of KZN, to compete.

This year the Team is looking very strong with the return of Marc Webster who has already bagged one SA Champs in 2009 and will be representing the Pro division along with Tristan Roberts, Myself (Matt Webster), Vlooi Botha and Matthew Lombard.

The junior division will consist of Luke Staniforth, Rob Cook, Jock de Klerk, Francois Conradie and the Kid that leart to bodyboard from YouTube and get this, he rips!

Boys division will consist of a mixture of some of the best boys in the country with Tristan Roberts (last years SA champ), Dylan Le Roux and newcomer Tubby filling up this division.

The Drop Knee division will consist of myself and Boland legend Morne Laubscher who is looking very comfortable riding the drop knee division this year.

The mens division will be represented by Thinus Scott, Bernard with a very long surname and  Morne laubscher

We have to beautiful woman that will be representing Boland at SAs this year and they are Rose Lombard and Susanne Joubert.

The final division will be Masters and this will consist of Melvin Victor, Len Bradford and Marcel Habbits.

Sumo Wedge

Wedges. There is not a bodyboarder on this planet that can honestly say that they do not like surfing them. They as much fun as strapping firecrackers to your old toys and watching them explode into millions of pieces. I'm talking to much fun and when a NEW wedge shows up on your front door, you go mental. What? Did I say a new wedge? Hellz yeah I did!

The past weekend saw a drunken Japanese skipper ,strategically, park his 50m long fishing trawler on the part of Clifton beach that has a bit of a shore break. This calculation resulted in waves breaking against the hull of the boat and being redirected away from the vessel in a pleasing display that can only be described as "wedging".

When I walked onto Clifton beach on Saturday to bear witness to the fishing trawler that had beached itself, the 1st thought I had was "potential wedge" and after sitting there for a good hour, I saw 3 waves do exactly what world class wedges do, Go nuts! My prediction, based on the idea that that boat is not going anywhere, is that the wave will start showing its true ability in a few weeks, as the sandbar needs to even out and such. But based on what I saw this past weekend, the future looks very good. Oh and I think it should be called Sumo Wedge because, whats more Japanese than a Sumo Wrestler?

P.S the minute Sumo Wedge starts producing, I will be sure to obtain footage and share it with my followers....

The Winds of Change

This past weekend I got to the 4th and final Boland Bodyboarding Association trial of the year and there was an awkward presence that surrounded me at the beach. Something was bugging me and i had no clue to what it was that had started making my body itch (figuratively). So I checked around me, the ocean was there, the sand was there, a gaggle of groupies were there even Paul Morkel was there after being AWOL throughout the whole trial series. I really couldn't understand what it was, until it hit me square in the face.

After the contest came the prize giving which is the precise time that the news hit me hard and true. I could not believe my ears when I heard Len Bradford, Bolands main sponsor, utter the words "We have canceled our contract with Science Bodyboards". I was amazed at his statemen! I only ever knew him as "Len from Science" and for the majority of my bodyboarding career I have known no other board company. But the shock did not end there, no no no, Len then went onto say "Reef will now be bringing in Stealth Bodyboards". at this point I blacked out and woke up in ICU (jokes)

And thus the winds of change swept through the sport of bodyboarding in South Africa like a tsunami in Japan, taking with it the old and bringing in the new. You see it is good that we are seeing change. Although its hard to get used to,or, understand it, it must happen. South Africa will now be seeing new types of bodyboards entering our country to start something new and honest. After looking at some of the boards on Stealth Bodyboards website I get to excited and forget completely about umm aahhh, that board company that used to be in the country.

For more info check out this link for the facebook group check out this link and if you bored and want to watch something that made me shed a tear click here

The 3 Ninja Kids

The past week has been crazy. 30 hours of driving is way to long inside a car and it is exactly what we had to endure in order to get to, and from, Margate where we competed in the annual Kokos South Coast Classic. Apart from the torturous drive, the rest of the time in Margate was amazing. The contest started on 27th of April and all the contestants were greeted by 3ft waves that were perfect for competeing in. The contest saw some amazing riding from riders such as Ian Camble, Sasha Specker, Mark Mac, Stephen du Preez and Tristan Roberts. The following are images from the contest

(Above) Jason Fowler aka Bruno finds himself driving down a smooth line.

(Above) Mark Mac boosting an Air revo in the dying seconds of his Pro heat

(Above) Stephen du Preez performing in the finals of the Pro Division, which he won with this ARS

 

(Above) The guru of South African Bodyboarding Sasha Specker killing it on the knee