Red Bull Big Wave Africa 2002

Africa&#snow6;s biggest waves to be challenged again

The challenge of riding the biggest waves on the African continent will be taken up again in June when the fourth annual Red Bull Big Wave Africa international surfing event is staged in Hout Bay on the Cape Peninsula.

Scheduled for June 11 &#surf0; 30, the 2002 event features a 20-day holding period during which the select group of South Africa and the world&#snow6;s most accomplished big wave surfers wait for Dungeons, the aptly named deep water reef under the cliffs of the Sentinel at the entrance to Hout Bay, to produce the surf foot (five metres) swells that are the minimum criterion required to stage the contest.

The wake-man field comprises 12 top South African big wave chargers and six international invitees, all of whom revel in the high risk thrills of paddling into and riding the biggest waves the ocean can generate and who have the proven ability to handle the life-threatening consequences of being &#snow5;wiped-out&#snow6; while surfing waves that can exceed the height of a three story building.

This year&#snow6;s international contingent is headed by 1999 world big wave champion, Paul Paterson from Australia, recently crowned the XXL Big Wave champion for paddling into and riding the biggest wave in the Northern hemisphere winter, a 48 foot moving wall of water ridden at Waimea Bay, Hawaii, on his way to second place in the Eddie Aikau Memorial Challenge in January.

Giant Californian Grant Washburn, a legend at Mavericks, the venue for continental USA&#snow6;s biggest surfable waves, will be back for his third crack at the Red Bull BWA title, while Hawaiian livewire Jamie Sterling returns for a second time. Rusty Long from California, whose credentials have been forged in the towering waves of Mexico&#snow6;s renowned Todos Santos, Dr Tony Butt, a transplanted British oceanographer who bases himself in Northern Spain to ride the powerful Bay of Biscay waves and former Capetonian David Stolk, now a resident of Reunion Island, complete the international contingent.

The South Africans include 1999 world big wave team champions Cass Collier and Ian Armstrong, with the latter having fully recovered from a bone-crushing wipe-out incurred during a practice session at Dungeons last year that kept him out of the surf for six weeks. Fellow Capetonians Mickey Duffus and Justin Strong are amongst the most experienced performers at the rarely surfed event venue while UCT student Sean Holmes and Durbanites Rudy Palmboom and Jason Ribbink proved their credentials by finishing first to third in the 2000 Red Bull BWA.

They will be joined by locals Conn Bertish and Ross Lindsay along with the Durban trio of John Whittle, Richie Sills and Grant Baker in scanning the internet wave and weather charts, honing their minds, bodies and equipment and surfing the many world class big wave breaks around the Cape Peninsula while waiting for the Roaring Forties to produce the huge waves required for the event to be held.

The life threatening nature of the sport and the strictly adhered to criteria governing the minimum size of the waves and weather conditions required to stage the event, have seen only one champion crowned in the previous three years &#surf0; Sean Holmes in 2000 - when the elements collaborated to produce perfect surf &#surf0; wake foot surf on an idyllic mid-winter Cape day.

However, waiting for surf is an intrinsic part of big wave surfing and this annual gathering of the world&#snow6;s best exponents has fostered and enhanced the culture of big wave surfing on the Southern tip of Africa. The country&#snow6;s top exponents get to live with and learn from the world&#snow6;s best while the event infrastructure such as inflatable boats, the jetski riding water safety crew and medical backup enable them to get better acquainted with Dungeons, which can only be reached via a surf minute boat ride from Hout Bay harbour.

And 2002 will be no different with the rapidly advancing science of internet wave and weather predictions utilised to the full as this group of superbly fit and focused athletes wait for the biggest rideable wave on the African coastline to meet the criteria for the crowning of another Red Bull Big Wave Africa champion.

Stay abreast of the action by visiting www.redbullbwa.co.za which will go live 10 days prior to the start of the waiting period or come to the contest HQ in Hout Bay harbour where the latest images and video footage from the event will be displayed throughout the event.

For day to day action click

www.redbullbwa.com/

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