Tabla de contenidos para March 2020 en Zigzag

It was 1994. The year was a day old. I had made a resolution to surf everyday. It made perfect sense. Stay fit, improve my technique, possibly attract a new sponsor. Instead, after three consecutive days of surfing The Berg in onshore wind speeds that could strip paint off buildings, all I had to show for my resolve was blue bottle welts, swollen glands, one broken board and a world of regret. This wasn’t a resolution. This was war at sea. There had been no improvement to my surfing nor any lucrative sponsorship offers, there was only the irrefutable fact that I had, once again, made a resolution I would not keep. To hell with you 1994, I thought. I’m going back to what works best. Crowded waves on the…

Fast forward to this season and team South Africa is once again engraving its name on the story of surfing, the old fashioned way, by showing up and charging the Rock. Matt McGillivray just qualified for the World Tour on the back of his Hawaiian results in proper heavy conditions. Davey Van Zyl became the first international surfer to win the Vans Pro at Sunset Beach. Jordy bought a house on the Seven Mile Miracle and has spent the last few seasons throwing himself through the guts of those heavy Polynesian left reefbreaks, and the results speak volumes. Twiggy continues to defy logic and several natural laws in his pursuit of big wave glory at Jaws and Waimea. Matt Bromley scored his first Eddie invitation. The steady stream of photos…

WWW.ZIGZAG.CO.ZA/MAGAZINE/SUBSCRIBE/ TOFINHO BEACH COTTAGES TOFINHO, MOZAMBIQUE Nothing beats the view of Mozambique’s most famous surfing spot right at your doorstep. Tofinho Beach Cottages will allow you to watch the morning waves while you relax on the veranda and when conditions are ideal, which they often are, you can just grab your board and go! With so much more to offer, Tofo has lovely open beaches for swimming, interesting reefs for fishing, snorkelling and scuba-diving. An array of little restaurants can be found close to the local market and sometimes live local music will allow you to continue the sway out of the water. Tofinho is a kilometre south of Tofo, 500km north of Maputo and is easily accessible with a normal sedan vehicle – no 4x4 needed. With self-catering cottages,…

I WAS 14 YEARS OLD WHEN I DISCOVERED PHOTOGRAPHY I found an old camera my father had at home. I thought it was really beautiful and interesting, the shape and feel of it in my hands, the sound it made when you pressed the shutter. I bought a few rolls of film and started playing with it. Of course I ran to the beach soon after and started taking photos of waves and my friends surfing. Being from the southeast of France, waves were pretty small and rare where I grew up but there was always plenty of wind, so I started windsurfing too. Photography fused the things I loved doing most all together. When I was 19, I bought a ticket to Hawaii and landed on Maui with one…

UP AND RIDING Since I can remember, I’ve wanted to learn to surf. I’ve tried about three times, just lending a board and trying to figure it out on my own, which always leads to injuries. First it was a torn nerve in my shoulder, which meant two months in a sling, then onto my fourth concussion, and after that, a few stitches. I’m 16 now and this morning I finally went for my first real lesson. It was amazing. From the energy and support from the rest of the group and the coaches, to the indescribable feeling of standing up for the first time, and even though you’re still wobbling all over the place trying to find your feet, there’s nothing else like it. I’ve always been interested in…

Right now, Australia is ‘ground zero’ for the global climate crisis. The Great Barrier Reef is dying, its world-heritage rain forests are ablaze, the giant kelp forests have all but vanished, multiple towns have run out of water, or are about to, and now over a third of the entire continent is burning. And what’s worse is all of this was foreseen. In fact, over a decade ago a report commissioned by the Australian government predicted that climate change would cause the country’s fire seasons to start earlier, end later, and be more intense — starting around 2020. Nearing the end of 2019, a combination of record-breaking heat, drought, lightning strikes, high wind conditions, and arson ignited unprecedented raging fires across southeast Australia. Since then the mega wildfires have yet…

It’s funny how historians, those who spend their time and energy studying the details and intricacies of the past, often turn out to be the most forward leaning, futuristic members of the tribe. And the well-worn wisdom rings true, that those who are ignorant of history are destined to repeat its mistakes. Which brings us neatly to Joel Tudor. In an age of radical, almost absurd surfing progression, creating a modern era of perfect man-made wave pools, slick, corporatised professionalism, continental shifts in the surf industry and the rapid take up of our sport globally, the intervention of surfing’s historians has never been more necessary. Joel Tudor’s Duct Tape surf events, a roving, global invitational logging series, embracing the loose, rebel spirit of club contests from the 60s and 70s,…

SMTH SHAPES RETRO TWIN DOUBLE WING SHAPER: Graham Smith DIMENSIONS: 5’11” x 19 ⅝” x 2 ⅝” – 33.5L FIN SETUP: Twin Check out the new range of modern retros fresh from the planer of Graham Smith. Jordy has three of these in his latest quiver simply because they’re so much fun for the summer bowls. He’s particularly excited about the Retro Twin Double Wing in mint with the black rails. Imagine a board with all the speed and looseness of the original twinnies but with modern rails. EMAIL: info@grahamsmithboards.com TEL: (+27) 31 368 4022 WEB: www.grahamsmithboards.com SMTH SHAPES ROCK & ROLL SHAPER: Graham Smith DIMENSIONS: 6’0” x 21 ¾” x 2 ½” - 40L FIN SETUP: 5 fin The Rock & Roll is a blast from the past. A modern…

We open the 2020 Splab account between the piers as legendary Durban beachfront carguard, Sean Mills has finally called it a day after looking after the rides of the city’s surfers for over 17 years, retiring to a smallholding in Johannesburg to work with his sister. It’s quite often a thankless job, standing in the baking heat, holding the keys to millions of Rands’ worth of automobile, with criminals and car thieves waiting to pounce. But Sean always stood his ground and kept his eyes peeled for any opportunistic skelms. We’ll miss you Sean, thank you for the friendship, connection, chats, laughs, the regular WhatsApp surf reports and keeping our cars safe all these years Now onto a long list of men bending the knee. There’s been a flurry of…

Brendon Gibbons is a frequent flyer. He’s been breaking lip lines and defying gravity for decades, getting airborne across the globe. It’s unlikely he needs to declare anything at customs before boosting and he certainly doesn’t need to request a window seat. You can’t beat a view like this. Flight Gibbons somewhere between a rainbow and designated landing spot in Portugal, stow away table in the upright position and electronic devices set to flight mode. Flip the page for a different perspective. Meanwhile, Adin Masencamp settles into some onboard entertainment between pockets of turbulence at Caves. You don’t need to get airborne to appreciate the many views surfing throws your way, however you take it in and whatever mode gets you there, riding waves is undoubtedly one of the best…

Brought up on a diet of warm water tubes and meaty hacks, Bevan Willis is an East Coast flying sorcerer. If you’ve ever surfed with Mr. Willis you’ll no doubt be aware of the guerilla tactics he employs out back, bullying every wave he gets on. Based on a yacht bobbing in the big blue, Bevan knows a thing or two about water, especially how to throw it around in buckets. Name: Bevan Willis. Age: 21. Nickname: Bog Roll. Local spot: Umdloti. Occupation: Deckhand on M/YACE. Favourite board: OG Flyer Channel Islands. Signature move: Carve or hack. West Coast or East Coast & why: Definitely East Coast, I love the warm water. Surf with the homies or ace out: With the homies. Favourite surfer: Dane Reynolds. Most underrated: Bryce Young.…

The reason I don’t enter contests is because they are divided into age groups. It’s blatant discrimination. There should be weight divisions, like they have in boxing. After Grand Kahunas and Veterans there should be Fat Bastards in the 100kgs and up category. I would certainly be a contender and might even take the title if Dave Lipschitz dropped out. But it goes beyond that. I could be the Jordy Smith of the Fat Bastards division if my local break wasn’t a complete dog show seven days a week. How am I meant to train if I can only get two waves every hour? Our cricket and rugby players aren’t expected to practice on fields full of random people chucking balls about. Surfing South Africa needs to do something about…