Category: Surfing

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The Lalaland Favourites Collection

Charl Mikkers sets up a bomb out front of Lalaland in Tofo, Mozambique (c) Lalaland

The Lalaland Favourites Collection

Just a cool little clip portraying Lalaland Africa in Tofo, as it transforms and grows.

http://lalalandafrica.com/2015/11/03/the-lalaland-africa-favorite-collection/

After you’ve seen the show, click on around their website and see what Lalaland has to offer. They are right on the beach at Tofo, just a short walk north along the main beach, and pretty much secluded. Lalaland features self-catering in a shared kitchen that can do anything. And a trio of tropical flavoured double rooms with outside showers and toilets!?

Imagine it!

There are often times waves to surf right out front, but otherwise, Tofinho and the new famed Barra are short vehicle rides away. Scuba and snorkel divers can stay underwater all day if they want – the water is crystal clear and warm as toast, especially now in summer when it gets to 28 degrees or more! And this is when the fishing gets spectacular with huge kingfish swimming in and around the bathers even sometimes.

For my clients and budding video creatives, please give Magisto a try, you can get a version for you PC or tablet or phone device, and it makes life just that much more interesting as it’s algorithms attempt to make sense of the tonne of video and still material we all inadvertently shoot and amass.

It is a great way to keep your content channels a flowing. It is a hundred times easier to get a great result and too bad for all those pimply video editor type creeps who do this stuff for a living and charge a fortune (ok my pimples have cleared up).

It even pops up with a message that its made a video (with your data), as a surprise for you every now and then, and guess what, it just sometimes works! If you don’t like it, delete it, or tweak it until you are happy.

Good practise: The idea is to go in shooting for about 10 really good clips, and one or two tight stills. The editor robot known as Magisto then figures things out somehow, and thumps out an dead awesome edit (most times, sometimes it’s an epic fail, but there is a feedback dialogue for you, but remember, nothing good can come of boring footage).

It even offers sound (choose from the Magisto library, your own music, or no music) and titling options, and many different treatment options. WOW!

Then you can share it to the world on all the usual platforms…right from Magisto, or pop it over to YouTube (they seem to be in cahoots)…better still, embed it in a post on your website! Too easy!

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Secret Shark Attacks

Secret Shark Attacks

Never thought it would get to this but there are shark attacks going down all over the globe, that are being kept secret!

Makes you wonder what it is that turns the media, from sensationalists, to economists, in a blink?

Two in Moz, two in the Kei, and one in the Cape. Those are just about all the details I can give, since they are still deemed secret shark attacks. All this month and last! And that is just Southern Africa.

Protecting and nurturing an embattled, and injured tourism sector is the obvious reason. But surely there is a way to turn this all around.

SUP’s!

Yup, SUP’s are big bad surfboards about 10ft long and 5ft wide, which you drive with a skippers ticket and a paddle. And you can surf them in shark infested waters without a fear in the world. Paint it Orca colours and any great white within a mile will head for Seal Island!

It is with this idea in mind, that Brucifire and thesardine.co.za team will be heading to Port St Johns this week, two SUP’s and two dogs on board, to surf the classic sandbars in complete safety. And pave the way for the SUPping future!

More fire!!!

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Andy Marr takes the Striped Horse

Andy Marr takes the Striped Horse

Press Release

Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Cape Town

 

ANDY MARR WINS STRIPED HORSE CHALLENGE BIG WAVE COMPETITION

 

Veteran Kommetjie charger, Andy Marr, has proven how much experience counts in big wave surfing by claiming victory in the inaugural Striped Horse Challenge presented by Zigzag in association withRVCA, Twig Surfboards and Hurricane.

 

As the second oldest* of the 16 big wave surfers in contention for the grand prize that includes a return ticket to Hawaii, R20 000 cash; two new Twig Surfboards and travel accessories from Hurricane, Andy Marr knows what it takes to ride the challenging peaks of Dungeons. And the experience the 41 year-old has accumulated during the countless hours he has spent charging massive waves below the Sentinel outside Hout Bay, were on display for the incredible barrel he rode on 6 August.

 

Photo caption: Andy’s winning wave from Grant Scholtz’s perspective.

(Image credit: Grant Scholtz)

(High resolution image is available on request)

 

Cape Town photographer, Grant Scholtz claimed R5 000 for documenting Andy’s winning wave, and he shared the R10 000 prize with videographer, Dean Engela, who was also in the right place at the right time to record Andy’s ride.

 

This is what a few of the Striped Horse Challenge judges had to say about Andy’s winning wave:

 

“Even though it was a slow winter for big waves in Cape Town, this wave from Andrew Marr more then makes up for it. Andy’s style and poise under pressure to negotiate the drop, angle off the bottom and almost ride though a huge tube sets this wave apart from all the rest. Well done Andy!” – Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker

 

That was a defining wave in Andy’s surfing life. He did exactly what I would expect him to… He pulled in! Enough said.” – Pierre De Villiers

 

“I love the fact that Andy always sits way deep, and on this wave he shows style, poise and absolute commitment through a beast of a barrel!” – Ryan Butcher

 

Photo caption: Andy Marr was stoked to claim the Striped Horse Challenge winner’s cheque in the event presented by Zigzag surfing magazine. 

(Image credit: Alan Van Gysen)

(High resolution image is available on request)

 

Shortly after he was announced as champion at the Awards Evening at Aces ‘n Spades on Saturday,Zigzag Magazine cornered Andy to hear his thoughts on the big win.

 

“You know I think I was fortunate that we had a really slow winter here, because the youngsters are really pushing the barriers now,” said a clearly stoked Andy. “It’s weird that an old man can still win such a thing, you know. James Lowe, Matt Bromley, they’re our future. So ja, I was very fortunate…slow winter, lucky wave. Thanks to Striped Horse Craft Beer and Zigzag Magazine for putting everything together. Going back over to Hawaii for this upcoming season gives me the opportunity to go back and say hi to my daughter again, and my beautiful friends in Hawaii and San Francisco. It’s been almost six years since I’ve been back there and I always thought I’d go back on an El Nino year – and we’ve got one so it’s going to be a big deal!”

 

Go to www.stripedhorsechallenge.co.za to view all the entries that were in contention for this year’sStriped Horse Challenge title.

 

******

 

* The oldest contender was Greg Bertish at 44 year-old, Andy the second oldest at 41.

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Fearless SA Big Wave Surfers in Contention for Striped Horse Challenge Trip to Hawaii

Fearless SA Big Wave Surfers in Contention for Striped Horse Challenge Trip to Hawaii

 

In a little over a month, one fearless South African surfer will be handed a return ticket to Hawaii (plus R20 000 in cash and over R30 000 in prizes) for winning the Striped Horse Challenge presented by Zigzag in association with RVCA, Twig Surfboards and Hurricane. The search for SA’s most committed big wave surfer closes at the end of September, so there’s still time to enter, but already there are some serious contenders.

 

Top entries include Mike Schlebach (Kommetjie) who caught some incredible waves at Sunset and Dungeons on 6 August, Andy Marr (Kommetjie) who rode a huge barrel at Dungeons, James Lowe (Kommetjie) and Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) who rode some heavy tubes at Bayview in Hermanus. Jeremy Johnson (Llandudno) a goofyfooter who rode some massive waves on his backhand at Sunset and Dungeons on 6 August and Juria Muller (Vlees Baai) who caught some bomb waves at both Sunset and Dungeons are also in the running for the trip to Hawaii.

Andy Marr at The Dungeon: Photo credit to Grant Scholtz
Andy Marr at The Dungeon: Photo credit to Grant Scholtz

“A pilgrimage to Hawaii for the winter surf season is a crucial rite of passage for any surfer wanting to make a name for themselves in big waves. But Hawaii is both far away and very expensive and therefore out of reach of the budgets of most South African surfers. That’s why we at Zigzag are so stoked to be presenting The Striped Horse Challenge, supported by RVCA, TWIG and Hurricane,” said Andy Davis Publisher: Zigzag Surfing Magazine.

 

“This competition is going to give a hard charging South African big wave surfer the chance to spend a season on “The Rock” chasing big waves and rubbing shoulders with the sport’s elite. It’s a truly magnificent prize. And judging by the calibre and quantity of the entries, it’s pretty obvious that every waterman in South Africa is eyeing this prize very closely.”

 

The judging panel, which is led by 2013/14 Big Wave World Tour champion Twiggy Baker, are going to have a tough time determining the winner from over 20 rides by 14 different big wave chargers that have been entered so far. They’ll be taking many things into consideration; not just wave height, but commitment level, the technical aspect of the ride, as well as what exactly constitutes ‘making a wave’ – which is always a highly debated subject, because these giant waves often don’t allow a rider to make it all the way to the channel to kick out.

 

On top of the massive reward for the winning big wave surfer, the videographer or photographer who recorded the standout ride will also earn themselves R10 000 cash. There’s also a chance for visitors to the stripedhorsechallenge.co.za website to win great prizes too. Once you’ve watched all the entries and determined your favourite, you can drop a comment below the ride and the best-rated comment each week wins an epic hamper from sponsors Striped Horse Craft Beer, RVCA and Hurricane.

 

Go to stripedhorsechallenge.co.za to view all the entries so far, or to enter your own mind-blowing big wave ride.

 

Mike Schlebach at Dungeons video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgyRwUb12u4 ]

With this mad drop at Dungeons filmed by Josh Rowe, Mike Schlebach has put himself in the running for the massive prize.

 

Jem Johnson at Dungeons ride – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgXPQHRcrWA ]

Jeremy Johnson stuck this incredible drop at Dungeons (filmed by Sacha Specker) but will the judges consider this a ‘make’?

 

Juria at Sunset video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovYmt_Bn_9w ]

Another serious contender by Juria Muller (filmed by Josh Rowe), who made this perfect ride at Sunset Reef look easy. 

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Brucifire on wave watch: Jbay is cooking

Brucifire on wave watch: Jbay is cooking

Bruce Gold down at Supertubes with a video commentary shot from the office, this morning.

It seems that the reasonably strong and very southerley angled swell has already made it’s way to JBay.

Jeremy Johnson and James Louw are out at Dungeons, where it’s not all time, but rideable.

There are no waves on the south coast just yet, they should arrive there tomorrow.

Nice weekend!

 

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