Well done Table Mountain for becoming one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. We love Cape Town, and we love our mountain! This picture incidentally was taken at 11:11 on the 11/11/11 from Bloubergstrand in early anticipation of this announcement!

Super proud!

Here are the pictures:

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SKZN successfully defended their title, well done to the team and to Storm Prestwich for taking the double win in Juniors and Pro divisions.

Results:

Boys Division
1 Tristan Roberts
2 Michael Mynhardt
3 Tim L Bowman
4 Dylan Le Roux

Dropknee Division
1 Dylan van Tonder
2 Stuart Bradford
3 Ryno du Toit
4 Murray Jones

Grand Masters Division
1 Michael van Huyssteen
2 Len Bradford
3 Riaan Nutt

Juniors Division
1 Storm Prestwich
2 Matthew Lombard
3 Stephen du Preez
4 Tyler Voster

Masters Division
1 Sean Oberholzer
2 Lee Moran
3 Morne Laubscher
4 Gerrit Hitge

Mens Division
1 Nic Flood
2 Matthew Webster
3 Nick Phillips
4 Jaryd van Daalen

Pro Division
1 Storm Prestwich
2 Joshua Kleve
3 Rheinhard du Toit
4 Derek Footit

Womens Division
1 Janneke de Kock
2 Danielle Beekman
3 Kerry Porter

The four day event, which includes sprint racing, wave-riding, Le Mans Formula 1 racing and endurance racing, began with long distance stand up paddle board racing.

The men’s event was won by German Andreas von Blottnitz. Jonathan Rosslind and Greg Bertish managed to do South Africa proud by coming in second and third respectively.

Germany took the ladies’ event as well, with Gabi Ott coming in first. Karina Figl from Austria tied with Natasha Pietersmann for second place.

The SUP series will continue until Saturday. If you’re in the area for holiday gift shopping, take some time out to see some of the worthwhile, upstanding action. Today presents the Le Mans Formula 1 surf slalom while the wave riders will battle it out on Friday.

Western Province, the hosts, took second place and the visitors from Reunion Island came third. The Emergin South African team came fourth and Boland came in at fifth place.

The U18 Boys Final title was snatched up by South African junior team member David Brand, who managed to beat current SA champion Matt Bromley of Western Province, pushing him down to second place. Hugo Dubosc of Reunion Island came third and Mikey February, another member of the South African team, came fourth.

This victory has managed to distinguish Brand as the top seed in the U18 SA Team when they compete in the ISA World Junior championships in New Zealand in January 2010.

The U18 Girls’ Final title went to Sarah Baum of the SA Team. She beat Camilla Davila of Reunion Island, who came second. Heidi Palmboom of the SA Junior Team came third and current U18 Girls’ champion Alice McGregor of the Emerging SA Team ended up in fourth place.

The U16 Boys’ finals saw the title going to Daniel Wilson of the Western Province. South African team members Steven Sawyer and Jarred Veldhuis came second and third. Fourth place went to another WP surfer, Benji Brand.

The U14 Boys’ Final victory also went to a WP surfer: Max Armstrong. He beat SA Emerging team member Benjamin de Castro. Lucas Jannier of Reunion Island came third and Brandon Benjamin of the Emerging SA Team came fourth.

The Reunion team members have been spending this past week training in Durban, where they will take on the SA team again, as well as a team from Central KwaZulu-Natal and Southern KwaZulu-Natal in Durban tomorrow and Saturday. The Reunion Islanders return home on Sunday, but they’ve already promised to host a reciprocal event on their home turf next year.

Well done Junior SA Team! Hopefully this weekend’s challenge against Reunion Island and the KwaZulu-Natal teams will see a stellar repeat performance!

Well, we were elated to hear that they did it! Yesterday, more than 100 surfers hopped onto the same wave at the Earthwave beach festival that took place in Muizenberg this past weekend.

The initial estimate was that there were more than 120 surfers on the successful attempt, but from the photographs, the correct tally seems to be closer to 103 – which is still better than the 100 that were set by Earthwave in Brazil last year. So provisionally, South Africa has broken the record yet again!

According to the report on IOL, it was initially a bit of a struggle to get all the surfers on the one wave. “The first wave was chaos. Some yelled “go, go”, others said, “no, no – back wave”.”

Earthwave’s local organiser, Paul Botha, told IOL that the secret to reaching success is to not have the surfers clumped together. “They need to stay in a line, spread out along the beach, so that when they turn and paddle, they don’t paddle into each other.”

The Earthwave festival is an annual event to promote awareness of climate change and sustainable lifestyles.

Video footage and photographs will be sent to Guinness to have the record updated and ratified.

The surfers want to help South Africa break the Guinness World Record for ‘most surfers riding the same wave’ at Muizenberg beach near Cape Town on 4 October. The attempt will form part of the two-day Earthwave global environmental festival held there on the weekend of 3 and 4 October.

South Africa wants to reclaim its 2006 Guinness World title when 73 surfers managed to ride the same wave at Muizenberg. Brazil snatched the title with 84 surfers breaking the record in 2007. In 2008, they broke their own record with 100 surfers.

Picture: Jim McLagan/Argus

Following the conclusion of the mid-year international surfing contest season in South Africa, 26-year old Bryson – formerly of East London and now residing and surfing in Cape Town – clinched the title after being in dominant form in the four ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) events staged in South Africa this year.

By winning the 1-Star-rated Lizzard Nandos Pro in Durban, finishing as runner-up in the 5-Star O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Cape Town and placing equal 17th in both the 6-Star Prime-rated Quiksilver Pro Durban and the 6-Star Mr Price Pro Ballito, Bryson managed to accumulate 4263 points. That’s nearly 700 more than ASP Africa runner-up Travis Logie, from Durban. Bryson also set a prize-money record by pocketing R102 350, more than double that earned by any of the other 96 ASP Africa members.

After losing their places among the top 45 ranked surfers on the ASP world Tour at the end of last year, Bryson and Logie are hoping to requalify for the 2010 Dream Tour.

Since there was only one event – the Mr. Price Pro Ballito – no ASP Africa women’s champion will be crowned this year. The 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior men’s and women’s U20 titles will be up at the Billabong Pro Junior events at Victoria Bay at the end of September.

But amid the massive solid six foot swells and big waves pounding the shore, the skilled surfers bravely continued to battle it out. In the end, it was 24-year old Aussie Blake Thornton who earned the South African CWC trophy – a replica of a shark’s jaw – which he proudly held aloft.

With his victory, Blake beat local fave Royden Bryson. Blake told Global Surf News how Royden had fallen on his final wave. “I think maybe the cold was getting to us. I am sorry for him, but so glad I won.”

About surfing in the wild, shark-infested waters of South Africa, Royden said: “Thankfully this is a fake jaw. Hopefully I won’t see any real ones. There was actually a seal swimming around out there with us in the final. Everyone knows that sharks love seals, but actually in a heat you’re only worried about what’s going on in the heat.”

His focus paid off. His victory earned him 1500 points and $12 000.

Final results are:

O’Neill Cold Water Classic South Africa

Final
1. Blake Thornton (AUS)    1 500 points  $12 000
2. Royden Bryson (ZAF)     1 313 Points    $6 000

Semifinals (Winner to final, 2nd = 3rd place, 1 125 pts + $3 500)
SF1:  Royden Bryson (ZAF) def. Glenn Hall (AUS)
SF2:  Blake Thornton (AUS) def. Jarrad Howse (AUS)

Quarterfinals (Winner to semis, 2nd = 5th place, 975 pts, $2 000)
QF1:  Royden Bryson (ZAF) def. Kyle Lane (ZAF)
QF2:  Glen Hall (AUS) def. Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF)
QF3:  Jarrad Howse def. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
QF4:  Blake Thornton (AUS) def. Jean de Silva (BRA)

The next CWC will take place in Canada’s Vancouver Island in October.

(Source)

Durbanite Grant “Twiggy” Baker received the Billabong XXL Biggest Wave award for a riding a wave that was measured at 20 metres (61 foot) at Tafelberg Reef, near Hout Bay in Cape Town, in August last year. He also collected the Surfline Best Overall Performance award for his dedication in pursuing huge surf and competing in big wave events all over the world during the past 12 months.

He was also nominated for the Monster Paddle award and his tow partner, Greg Long from California, who had towed Baker into the wave at Tafelberg, won the premier Billabong XXL Ride of the Year award and a cash prize of US$50 000 (approximately R450 000) for his incredible tube ride on a 10 metre wave at nearby Dungeons during the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event in July 2008.

Baker received $15 000 (approximately R140 000), a Honda Aquatrax personal watercraft and an HSA sled for his XXL Biggest Wave. He also earned a further $5 000 for the Overall Performance award.

Cape Town-based photographers Alan van Gysen and Brenton Geach, and video company Fixerfilm/Hutchmotion, shared $4 000 for providing the images which determined the XXL Biggest Wave winner. Fixerfilm/Red Bull BWA scooped up the $5 000 for their video footage of Long’s Ride of the Year.

The 4A rated event, which is the first stop on the South African Bodyboarding Association (SABA) tour, is being organised by the Western Province Bodyboarding Association (WPBA), in association with Ocean Minded. It is playing host to South Africa’s finest bodyboarders as they compete for top honours and prizes to the value of R60 000.

One of the competitors is current South African Pro champion, Mark McCarthy. The 25-year old has travelled all the way from Australia to compete. He currently holds 5th place on the International Bodyboarding Association (IBA) World Tour, and said that coming home would be a welcome relief from the strain of constant travel associated with the tour.

Öne of the biggest attractions to competing in the event was the quality of waves surfed last year as a result of the contest being held with a roaming venue,” said McCarthy.

By using the “roaming venue” method of holding a contest, the organisers are able to take advantage of the diverse scope of the Cape Peninsula, which usually offers favourable swell and winds at one or more beaches along the coast.

According to WPBA Chairman, Deon Meyer, bodyboarding is best done on steep, hollow waves that offer riders a ramp-like end to their ride so that they can perform the spectacular aerial manoeuvres that professional bodyboarding has become renowned for.

“The level of competition at SABA events is world class and we will do our best to ensure that only the best waves are ridden in order to showcase bodyboarding as the spectacular sport it is,” Meyer said.

“The level of competition at SABA events is World Class and we will do our best to ensure that only best waves are ridden in order to showcase bodyboarding as the spectacular sport it is”, said Meyer.

For further information please call WPBA Media Liaison, Gareth White, on 072 740 4225 or SABA Contest Director, Pat Harris, on 082 863 6665.