Table of contents for Summer 23/24 in Zigzag

Since this is the LAST ZAG (of our quarterly periodical format), we thought it’d be fitting to dive deep into the Zag archive. Because as Maya Angelou, Moana, Bob Marley and many other legends have said: to know where you’re going, you need to know where you come from. And we have a huge archive that we can mine, to find out exactly where we've come from. But invariably, as we reflect and retrospect, we always tell only part of the story; and leave out way more than we can include in the telling! The story of surfing in South Africa, as told on the pages of Zigzag, is layered, nuanced and deep. And as much as it may look like it from the outside, this operation is no goldmine!…

On the question of politics in the 80s era… those were heady times, for sure. So much was happening. Surfing was in an unusual position, existing in a netherworld not yet quite mainstream, anti-establishment but not anti-establishment… from the Gunston 500 crowds to that thief-in-the-night Micky Dora, who bloody sued me! (Dora forged a card saying he belonged to the Rothschild Foundation, and then went to the Stellenbosch Hydro for the week. He left without paying. I followed the trail. Had all the evidence. Published some of it in Offshore. His response was to litigate, knowing that it would drain our coffers. So we had to settle out of court.) But together with all the social turbulence and soul angst, surfing was also going professional. Shaun Tomson, Instinct, Gotcha, the…

So here’s a collection of recent jaw-dropping moments that make the usual points: South Africa is a surfing paradise that continues to produce talent (surfers, photographers and videographers) of the finest pedigree, doing that ocean dance on planet earth. It’s a beautiful thing. This is a snapshot of surfing in Mzansi and beyond – from right about now.…

WILL ·BENDIX ZAG EDITOR 2006-2016 Growing up on the south-western tip of Africa, my favourite wave was the cold, kelpy lineup of Elands Bay on the West Coast. From here the barren landscape gives way to endless sand dunes, which eventually join the deserts of Namibia. I often wondered how far that blanket of sand stretched up the length of the continent. I tried to imagine the waves it held, and the secrets it hid in the folds of those towering dunes. Later, as I grew more familiar with the east coast, I would survey maps of the coastline as it curved towards the sweaty equator, and I’d fantasise about the tropical potential. Surely Africa was holding the goods? I wouldn’t get a real inkling of the answer for many…

BIG & PERFECT "That was during the epic week of waves we had in the Cape; we surfed really good big Dungeons a few days before this. Had an amazing session at Dunes – like, 10ft Dunes, some great barrels. Then, this was the day of the year; probably the day of the last few years, at Dungeons. Solid 25 feet. Really clean conditions; and because of the super west swell, it was breaking nicely on the 'photo bowl', as we call it, or the far west bowl. So it was very approachable. Only a few of us out. We were paddle surfing with Josh Redman, Matt Bromley and Fabian Compagnolo, I think Phil Nel paddled out a bit later too. But ja, just swapping waves between the four of…

PAST PRESENT FUTURE…

Surf ’n’ sex have been joined at the hip throughout surfing’s modern representation in the media – going all the way back to the 1800s, when tales of waveriding from Captain Cook’s infamous and ill-fated voyage of discovery inspired and popularised the idea of surfing in the western world. Back then, surfing was depicted on lino- and woodcuts as the pastime of big, macho native men; but mainly of sensuous native Polynesian women, all curves, depicted riding waves topless – invitingly exotic, and dancing on water for hungry European eyes. The kind of scenes that would make sailors Mutiny on the Bounty, so to speak. This line of representation of women in surfing remained largely intact, unbroken and unchallenged through the ages – and until very recently, the same was…

Hi. My name is Josh Malherbe, and for the past nine years I’ve lived in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia. I spent the early stages of my life mostly on a sailboat. I was three years old when we left Florida and sailed halfway around the world, crossing the Pacific Ocean. When we got to Australia I was six. We tried the suburban school thing, but after a few cold winters at home in Hermanus we were back on the hunt for a boat. My parents, Chantal and Gideon, along with me and my little brother Indie, then headed to Thailand, where they’d found a small mono hull. After a hot, sweaty month in a marina we were headed for the Mentawais, where my parents had previously operated a charter boat,…

It was a privilege to be the editor of this publication, and there are many moments that stand out; but the one that perhaps helped define the direction the magazine would take over the years to come was a more understated affair. I was in Senegal, on my first assignment as a bona fide surfing magazine editor. The idea was to revisit the old fishing village of N’Gor – where Bruce Browne planted the seed for the Endless Summer, all those decades ago – and take a look at how things had changed. Or remained the same. Either way, we were on a paid surf trip! Not much else mattered at the time. In between sampling the fine selection of waves Dakar had to offer, I kept hearing about the…

A fine innings! In terms of surf magazines, the finest. Over the years, things invariably changed radically – and stayed much the same. Now, as we take stock and dream up a bold new future, we've asked the founders, editors, publishers and photographers to talk about the good times and the bad behind the tiller of the good ship Zigzag, with deep forays into the taboo subjects of politics and sex. Enjoy! PAUL NAUDE FOUNDER EDITOR 1976-1988 I often say that this industry was born out of the fearless, naïve I creativity of youth pursuing a passion. I’d say Zigzag fits that bill. We had no idea about publishing. I’d arrived back from Hawaii with three pieces of paper that Jack McCoy had given me. Each was divided into eight…

Brendon Gibbens steps up; definitely not his first rodeo. “Okay guys, here’s the plan: we check in as a group, and I’ll chat to the ticket agent if there’s a problem.” We’re sitting on the floor of Kuala Lumpur International Airport – with 21 boards between the five of us. Despite BG’s experience, the group tactic was getting us nowhere. The ticket agent dug in. He insisted that boards needed to be ditched, or paid for. Beeg assured him that neither was an option. Eyes locked for what felt like minutes. The pressure mounted, and someone had to crack. Finally, the check-in agent broke. He clicked his tongue and said something which may or may not have been offensive in Bahasa, but then printed our boarding passes and handed them…

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For the most part, print magazines have been ineffective in their response to digital disruption; but surf magazines have somehow remained remarkably resilient. There are many reasons for this. For example, my doctoral research demonstrated that printed surf magazines are more trusted and more influential than digital surf media – and because of this (and some other factors), they are active contributors to the ongoing development and dissemination of surfing’s subcultural norms and values. The surf industry depends on the successful dissemination of these subcultural norms and values to the wider public, so surf magazines also play an important role in the business prospects of the surf industry. In turn, the surf industry supports the printed surf magazine through advertising, which advertisers also use to demonstrate the authenticity of their…