Boland confirms the Big Wave Speciality Event
posted by Kelly Footit on 18th April 2004
2004 sees the return of the Boland Big Wave Speciality event, which was absent from last year’s calendar. The event is contested by 32 of South Africa’s top big wave riders, 16 of which are nominated by the provinces (2 per province) and the remaining 16 are decided by the Boland committee – anyone who wants to considered should put their name down by contacting the committee. (For contact details follow the contest page link at the bottom of this page)
The inaugural event was held in 2001 at Koegelbay Caves in 6 foot plus man-eaters and Mark McCarthy took the biggest wave and manoeuvre. The following year, contested at Bay View in Hermanus, saw local boy Johan de Goede walk away the prestigious trophy. Hopefully both will be back looking for that second title.
The contest runs over a 5 day window in the middle of winter, 2nd to 6th July, with the hope that the cold fronts - which are common around this time of year – should provide some large surf which is obviously vital for the success of the contest. The aim is for the event to be held at Bay View, however, the event is not tied to a particular venue and may be contested at other spots in the area if conditions favour them.
Bodyboarding’s appeal is it’s extreme side of the sport where riders perform in waves of consequence and specifically for bodyboarding this means the hollower the better, so this is a good step forward for competitive bodyboarding in South Africa. The World Super Tour (WST) moved all it’s events to venues that fall into this category a few years ago and the hope is that future of this event will carry World Qualifying Tour (WQT) Regional status. The WST is competed by 24 elite riders, with the lowest ranked riders dropping from the event and the highest ranked WQT riders qualifying for the prestigious WST which is competed at spots such as Pipeline, Teahupoo, The Box and Shark Island all of which will put the fear into the average man.
Entrants will be finalised by 1st of June and we will hope to post a list of them as soon afterwards.
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