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.

“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.