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Reef/Science Biggest Wave Contest - Results.

posted by Gareth White on 25th March 2008

James Moolenschot has been declared as the winner of the inaugural Reef/Science Biggest Wave Contest at an awards ceremony held recently during the briefing for the Sport Unlimited Cape Classic.

Moolenschot, who was unable to collect his prize of R4000 cash and an A2 sized canvas print of his ride due to the fact that he is currently abroad, said that he is incredibly stocked with the win, and that he was grinning more than a kid with a cherry bomb when he was informed of his win.

“When I looked at the competing images from Bay View and Peter's rides I was stumped as to which wave would be voted bigger and so it feels great to have sneaked into 1st place. It would not be an achievement if the competition was not as it close as it was, so huge credit to all the other riders”, commented Moolenschot.

Photographer, Shaun Timoney, who captured the shot of James, was on hand to collect his bounty of R4000 and had some kind words to share with the audience. Timoney had been out shooting the surfers when James paddled out and started dropping into the monsters.

“The first thing I thought of was how mad are these guys, what the hell do they think that they are doing? Then I saw how well they were riding and decided to take a couple shots while I was out there. On that day I rekindled my respect for bodyboarding, those guys are nuts”, commented a pleased Timoney.

Ishmael Grant came in a respectable second place and also received an A3 sized canvas print of his ride, as well as a pile of sporting goods, generously donated by Sport Unlimited.

Peter Lambert, despite all his big wave hunting over the past year, walked away with third place and an A3 sized canvas print and a bunch of products, also kindly sponsored by Sport Unlimited.

To pay further homage to Peter’s big wave prowess, Reef and Science awarded him with the biggest wipe-out award for 2007. The wipe-out in question happened on the West Coast at a rather dangerous slab, onto which Peter was slammed, butt first. Much respect Peter - we hope you enjoyed your carrots!

Below is my interview with James.



How do you feel about winning the comp?

That is fricking AWESOME!! I'm so stoked! I'm pretty bummed that I can't be there, I would have really digged to be a part of the celebration. When I looked at the competing images from Bay View and Peter's rides I was stumped as to which wave would be voted bigger and so it feels great to have sneaked into 1st place. It would not be an achievement if the competition was not as close as it was, so huge credit to all the other riders.

Tell me a bit about the day on which you rode those monsters?

This was one of those days that could have gone either way in terms of being a tow-in day or a paddle day, usually defined by the wind strength. I decided to paddle out by myself and join the surfers out there since Peter was going to be late that day. After 15 minutes the wind jacked up and everyone except 3 surfers and myself paddled in. 15 Minutes later the wind dropped again and the 4 of us had it to ourselves for around 2.5 hrs, sharing huge bombs and just getting dialled into the conditions for the day.

Later the crowds hit and Timony pulled into the channel to shoot the action from a boat. I lasted about another hour before dehydration and adrenal fatigue got me into a few hairy situations, and then I bailed.

I took one of the worst wipes of my life that day where I got mowed down by a wave that held me under for so long I went through 3 phases of panic! Ha ha, I can laugh about it now...

Is there anyone you would like to thank?

There are not many people that do these things alone, and my inspiration to push limits in surf has come from riding with Peter Lambert for the last 16 years or so. We are always so competitive and pushing each other to ride harder and with more style. On top of that it was our partnership in buying our little duck that helped push us into bigger stuff. Shot bro!

Also I think that Reef / Science really deserve a huge shout out for putting their goens on the table and supporting unknown territories of the sport. I hope they continue to run this contest every year!

Okay, sick man I'm grinning like a kid with a cherry bomb here. I will be so amped to check the canvas print when I get back to SA.

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