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Chad Marais talks us through his crazy Rifles pit
Weskus local Chad Marais has just recently returned from a pumping Mentawais boat trip. During a ledging session at 8-foot Rifles, Chad caught this absolute screamer of a pit which he’s entered into the May leg of the Oakley One Wave Wonder. With the memory of the barrel still buzzing around in his head, we caught up with the hard-charging Capetonian to talk us through the ride.
Zag: Howzit Chad, looks like you got a couple waves during your Mentawais trip bru?
Chad: For sure! I’ve heard of ous that go to the Ments and get ‘skunked’ but it just doesn’t really make sense! There are SO many different waves that work on the slightest hint of a swell – sometimes all you need is a pushing tide and you’ll end up with a super fun little 3 footer that will be better than most sessions you’d have at your local break back home. I guess you just need a good boat and surf guide – good job All Aboard. But ja, we had plenty waves – most days it was somewhere in the 4-to-5-foot region, with a couple of 8-foot days thrown in to keep us honest. There was only one day (out of 11) that was pretty poor by Mentawais standards, and thats just because there was a stiff onshore – but even then it was 4-foot and fun.
Tell us about your 1WW entry wave in particular. Judging by Caide’s commentary it looks like you guys had just motored over to Rifles. Was it your first wave of the session?
We’d just finished up at grinding 8 foot-plus Bank Vaults – only a few guys on the boat paddled out there, because that wave is overboard heavy and shifty when it’s big. One snapped board and a very stoked Dan Rabie later we opted to motor across to Rifles to see what was cracking.
When we pulled up it didn’t really look like it was on, but I’ve scored Rifles every time I’ve been to the Ments and I’m starting to learn its moods – the other guys sat on the boat and waited to see what the sets were doing, but before we’d dropped anchor I was already cruising out into the lineup. When that set came I wanted to be on it, I wasn’t gonna sit there and let it come through unridden – turns out it was a good call.
At first it had a funny side warble on it – I think there was a weird secondary swell that was running at the time, so it wasn’t perfect Rifles, but there were still waves. I stroked into the first one that pulled through and didn’t even make the drop. The warble was creating a gnarly rib moving up the point, which wedged directly under me and flung me forward a good couple of meters – I ate it kiff! It turns out that was to my benefit though, because by this time the other guys on the boat had taken the dingy into the lineup for closer inspection – they saw me eat it hard, checked the warble messing the wave up and all decided to head back to the boat.
Just as they all got back to the boat, that wide set pulled through – perfect timing, because Dan had taken out the camera to do the “Daily Report” with Caide, then that beast pulled through! At first I was scratching just to get out of its way. It was well wide and I was pretty sure I was out of position. But it slowed up for just a second and gave me a tiny window to turn and get onto the thing. Stoked I didn’t chicken out.
So ja, I scratched in hard, got to my feet and then realized I hadn’t turned the GoPro on – it was on my wrist, and you’ll check in the vid I do a bottom turn that seems to go on forever. I was actually fiddling with the GoPro, but it didn’t count for anything in the end, because all you see in that footage is lip, knee, water, board, lip, foot, water, knee – I’ve yet to master the whole “hold GoPro behind your right shoulder” vibe – next trip though!
The first section was pretty standard Rifles – perfect, glassy, reeling and as round as ever, but then that side warble pulled onto the face and the thing went mutant over me – almost made like a little step. I kakked! Re-adjusted my line and got as close to the face as I could. Then the second section just went ballistic and threw a good two meters past me, but it was so wide and so perfect that you honestly could have set up a tent inside it. As I started thinking it was about to end, another warble pulled up the face and made it throw out even further and harder – it almost had like a wedge effect. By that time I was just like “WHAT-is-going-on-here!?” – then it spat past me hard and I started to squeal like an excited little school girl – you’ll hear that on the clip too. Ja, that thing was too epic!
Oakley One Wave Wonder: We Have A March Winner!
Due to the sheer number of quality entries uploaded this month – thanks in no small part to cyclone Irina’s ridiculous barrels – we predicted that the votes were going to be split evenly amongst a couple of the bigger and better tubes ridden during the swell. That was before Brendon Gibbens came along and threw a massive full rotation spanner in the works. In a unanimous vote, all five of the Oakley One Wave Wonder judges claimed BG’s air reverse clip as this month’s winner, along with a big chunk of the voting public.
Brendon becomes the second finalist in line to win the grand prize for “Ride of the Season” and shares the R15 000 monthly cash prize with videographer Alan Robb for nailing this ridiculous fully-rotated air reverse that BG stuck without the use of training wheels.
We grilled the One Wave Wonder judge’s on how they came to their decision.
“I’m the old guy who is expected to vote for the best barrel or the biggest wave,” said Jonathan Paarman. “Having said that, young Brendon’s wave, or more specifically that one move, blew me away. It’s hard for me to imagine doing such a move, twisting and spinning like that, whereas it is easy enough to envisage a big tube or a massive drop and bottom turn. It might be this very reason that the move has the biggest ‘wow’ factor for me personally.”
“This month was extremely tough to call a winner out of my top entries” said Alan van Gysen. “At a quick glance, Gibben’s air, Roosta’s barrel and Shawn Dennis’s pigdog barrel were all equally impressive to me and all exuded the wow factor. After a second round of close scrutiny it was Shawn Dennis vs Brendon Gibbens, but which was closer to technically flawless and the ultimate winner? After numerous sessions of ruthless analysis I felt that Brendon Gibbens was the most controlled and radical, and that he deserves the win for March.”
Wok summed it up succinctly, saying “That air is bullsh-t!”
Craig Jarvis, another of the 1WW judges, had the following to say: “I recently spent two weeks in Australia watching the best surfers in the world in action at the Quiksilver Pro Snapper Rocks. I watched every heat and I watched hours of these surfers going all-out in free sessions at Duranbah without the constraints of the contest rubric. With that perspective, the move that Brendon pulls off is exceptional and the likes of such moves are not pulled off very often by the best surfers in the world, who are surfing on top of their game.”
“This month was exceptionally hard to pick out a winner simply because there were so many entries that left me slack-jawed” confirmed Calvin Bradley. “When I narrowed it down I had three clips all tied for first place – Shawn Dennis, Twiggy’s one where he pumps in the pit, and Brendon Gibbens’. So I had to do a tie-breaker. I based my final call on which surfer showed, in my opinion, the most amount of skill on their ride. Coming out on top was Brendon Gibbens’ massive no-grab full rotation air reverse. Every time I watch that clip I still can’t believe he stuck that.”
David Burrows wins the prize for the best U16 groom clip submitted over the month, with some solid shredding down in the Boland, and earns himself a custom shape from the legendary Spider Murphy for blowing up.
Entries are open again for the April leg of the Oakley One Wave Wonder, and it’s anyone’s game. (No Comments)
It’s that time of the month – Voting kicks off
It’s that time of the month again. Voting for the second leg of the Oakley One Wave Wonder kicked off yesterday (Sunday 26 March) and will run until midnight on Saturday 31 March. The winner of this leg will claim the R15 000 monthly prize as well as join Matt Bromley’s crazy Backdoor barrel in the finals, where it will be in with a shout at the grand prize of R30 000 cash, a Yamaha Waverunner valued at over R120 000, as well as a trip for two to Macaronis surf resort for the videographer who captured it, made possible by All Aboard Surf Travel.
There’s been a whack of incredible tuberide entries this month – thanks mainly to cyclone Irina sending heaving beachbreak pits to Durban’s golden mile. But there’s also been some massive airs and shredding breaking up the barrels, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the votes swing.
The panel of five One Wave Wonder judges will vote for their favourite ride, with each of their votes counting 10% of the overall decision, while the public has the remaining 50% stake in the outcome and with the judges’ votes expected to be heavily split at the end of this leg, your vote may just be the deciding vote, sending your favourite clip through to the final.
Watch the edit below of some of the best entries this month, then click here to head on over to the Oakley One Wave Wonder site, and go cast your vote.
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And the WINNER for February is…
The February leg of the Oakley One Wave Wonder is done and dusted, and we have a near-unanimous first winner. 20 year-old Matt Bromley stole the show with a triple section tube ride at Backdoor to snag five out of six judge’s votes and a hefty chunk of the public poll.
Matt submitted two waves from the North Shore, but it was his Backdoor nugget that beat out a hotly contested field of amazing rides from New Pier to Mavericks. This makes him the first finalist in line for the Ride of the Season which scores a further R30 000 cash, a R120 Yamaha Waverunner, and an all expenses paid trip for two to Indo worth over R50 000, made possible by All Aboard Travel.
Zag caught up with Matt to break the news and make him and videographer Jay Grant R15 000 richer.
ZZ: Hey Matt, we’ve just got the final tally back and, well, we’ve got some bad news and some good news. Unfortunately your one entry from Hawaii didn’t win this month’s Oakley One Wave Wonder…
Matt: (long pause) Who won?? Twig?
ZZ: You didn’t let us get round to the good news: your second entry from Backdoor took it. Well done!
Matt: Ahhhh, psych! (laughing) Sick! I’m so amped. Yessssssssss! (more laughing)
ZZ: You should be amped, it was a radical month and there were some excellent entries to beat. But by all accounts you’ve been charging harder than ever this season in Hawaii. Were you consciously trying to nail a winning One Wave Wonder entry?
Matt: Every solid surf I had out there I had the One Wave comp in my mind. I would have been out there anyway, but it is a great bonus knowing a great ride could pay off so handsomely.
ZZ: Looks like you deserve a prize just for picking that right off the crowd. Tell us a bit more about the wave.
Matt: The wave before was just as good, in fact better, but I got clipped coming out of the barrel. I was gutted. You wait so long for a good wave out there, and I thought I had blown it for sure. Amazingly 10 minutes later another bomb came through and luckily I was in the right spot. Staying right on the beach at Backdoor really helps. I would just wait for the sun to come out from behind the clouds, and wait till there was a ‘non-local’ pack.
ZZ: Last year you had a good few entries from the North Shore, but you didn’t win. What was different this year?
Matt: Ja, last year I had some good waves and entries from Off The Wall, but it isn’t as long of a wave, or as technical. I didn’t really nail any nugs to be honest. My first entry this year was also from OTW, but once again, nothing that amazing. I thought it was strong, but then all the other entries started coming in and things started to really heat up. I knew I needed to step it up. Everything just came together on the day I surfed Backdoor. It’s not often you get such quality rides there, but when you do, they’re pretty unforgettable. I was just stoked the sun popped out and that there was someone capturing my ride on video.
ZZ: When you sent this entry through, were you confident of a win?
Matt: I thought I stood a good chance, but I really thought people would prefer Twiggy’s huge drop and cover-up at Mavs. Stoked I was wrong!
ZZ: Obvious question: what are your plans for the moola?
Matt: I’m going to put it towards my travels in 2012 for sure and get more epic barrels around the world.
ZZ: So where to next?
Matt: I’m off to West Oz in two weeks. I’ve got some good connections who really know that coast, and plan on hunting down some solid waves. I also plan on spreading the word of the Oakley One Wave Wonder over there, and look forward to nailing some more solid entries.
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Oakley One Wave Wonder: Less than 24 hours for you to cast your vote
Voting for the first leg of the Oakley One Wave Wonder closes at midnight tonight. Following that, one lucky surfer and videographer team will become R9000 and R6000 richer respectively come tomorrow morning. They will also become the first of five finalists in line to win the R30 000 cash, as well as the trip to Indo for two people, and a Yamaha waverunner valued at R120 000.
We’re not saying which, but two rides are sitting neck-and-neck at the moment in the public vote, and with some of the judges votes still to come in, that R15000 cash is still very much anybody’s. It’s going to be tight.
Reader votes count 50% of the overall decision, with the other 50% determined by a panel of five Oakley One Wave Wonder judges, 10% of final decision each. Last year the readers swayed some of the months against the judges, and the judges swayed some of the months against the readers. Either way, if you don’t vote, then don’t complain about the final result.
Like all good democracies we work on the system of one person, one vote – with a twist. In other words, you can give the thumbs up and vote for multiple different waves, but you can’t vote for the same entry twice. If you think there are two or three worthy winners, vote for them all.
Check out this kiff edit of all the Febraury entries to help you decide which is your favourite:
Punts, Hacks and a whole lot of Barrels – Voting kicks off for first leg of the Oakley One Wave Wonder
Voting for the first month of the Oakley One Wave Wonder has kicked off. In a few days time one surfer is going to be R9000 richer, and one videographer R6000 richer. This month’s winning clip will then become the first of five monthly winners to go through to the final, where they’re in line to win the grand prize of R30 000 cash plus a Yamaha WaveRunner valued at R120k, with the videographer winning a trip for two to Macaronis Surf Resort valued at over R50k. If Deon Lategan or Luke Patterson’s GoPro entries win, they double up on the prizes. Lucky for them.
A quick recap of this month’s entries:
• Benji Brand backdoors a long section at Rocky Point lefts. (Ashley Burns)
• Davey Brand tucks himself into a draining tunnel at Pipe and heads for the light. (Ashley Burns)
• Brandon Jackson scores a mutated, double thick pit at Backdoor. (Roger Velasco)
• Matt Pallett hucks and sticks and impressive alley oop at the New Pier. (Mike Pallet)
• Matt Bromley snags another beautiful Backdoor set and weaves his way through some throaty sections. (Jay Grant)
• 15 Year-old Dylan Wichmann stylishly slots into a spitting tube at the Hoek.
• Matt Pallett slides into a thick keg at a secret spot and negotiates a tricky tube. (Mike Pallett)
• Frank Solomon scores himself a wave at Pipe and makes the most of it. (Ashley Burns)
• Grant Baker negotiaties a tricky drop, sets his rail and tucks in for a wild ride at Mavericks. (Curt Myers)
• Matt Bromley stylishly threads his tall frame through a clean tube at Off the Wall, Hawaii (Nigel Davenport)
• J-Bay local Deon Lategan gives you the inside-looking-out perspective of a clean Supertubes pit. (Deon Lategan)
• 12 Year-old Ethan Fletcher gives a Supers set a proper display of grom ripping. (Ralf Fletcher)
• Jordy Smith sticks a large full-rotation alley oop at New Pier. (Kaleb Loevendie)
• PE Grom Matt MacGillivray hucks an impressive air reverse. (Llewellyn Whittaker)
• 12 Year-old Adin Masencamp does some man-sized turns in Mossel Bay. (Llewellyn Whittaker)
• National team coach Llewellyn Whittaker gives an Outer Pool set some solid whacks on his backhand (Jaco Vollgraaff)
• Chris Leppan gets shacked on a glassy Cape beachbreak and squeezes out the doggy-door (Brandon Kilbride)
• Mark Shepperson gets a thick shack at New Pier during cyclone Funso. (Darren de Wet)
• Jordy Smith gets shacked and does a celebratory hack at cooking New Pier (Darren de Wet)
• Luke Patterson gets shacked north of the border and documents it himself. (Luke Patterson)
• Grant Baker takes on a massive paddle-in wave at windy Pe’ahi. (Kate Lovemore)
Don’t say you’re not spoilt for choice, not every month will have that number of entries.
February 2012 is a leap month, so you’ve got seven days to cast your vote. Reader votes count 50%. The other 50% will be determined by a panel of five Oakley One Wave Wonder judges. Each judge’s vote will count 10%. So, for example, say Blikkies Joubert (no relation to Shaun) gets 40% of the public vote for his ten second tube into a rodeo flip and cracks the nod from two of the judges as well, he claims 60% of the vote and is an undisputed winner. Last year the readers swayed some of the months against the judges, and the judges swayed some of the months against the readers. It will be interesting to see how this year pans out. Either way, if you don’t vote then don’t complain.
Like all good democracies we work on the system of one person, one vote – with a twist. In other words, you can give the thumbs up and vote for multiple entries, but you can’t vote for the same entry twice.
Check out the clip below for a tight edit of all of this month’s entries:
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Oakley 1wavewonder.co.za opens for uploading
Uploading for the first leg of the 2012 Oakley One Wave Wonder has been activated. Six epic entries have already been uploaded, including this latest clip of Mark Shepperson getting one of the waves of the day at the New Pier on “Funso Sunday”, as it’s become known.
Mark is one of the contestants in line to win R9000 cash for the Jan/Feb best ride, and videographer Darren de Wet could be R6k richer should the judges and public deem this the best ride of the first leg. The winning ride for each month automatically becomes a finalist in line to win the grand prize for Ride of the Season.
Should Mark’s entry get voted into the grand final, for example, he could then land himself a further R30k cash as well as a Yamaha Wave Runner valued at R120k, while videographer Darren could be jetting off to Macaronis surf camp courtesy of All Aboard Surf Travel.
Voting opens at midnight on the 23 February 2012, with the public vote counting half and the judges’ vote counting half.
The stakes are high, and the door is wide open. Get your clips in now, and go check out some of the other entries>>
What would you do if you won the Oakley One Wave Wonder?
The grand prize for the winning clip in the 2012 Oakley One Wave Wonder is a whopping R30 000 plus a Yamaha Waverunner valued at R120 000. We asked Dave Richards, Chris Leppan and Deen Hill (plus chicken) what they’d do with the cash and jetski if they submitted the winning ride…
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IT’S ON! First Oakley One Wave Wonder entries are starting to roll in. Cooking east swell predicted.
Counting rides for the Oakley One Wave Wonder 2012 officially kicked off on 1 January, and there have been some smoking entries submitted already, all of which are in line to win February’s R15 000 cash prize.
The February winner will be our first finalist in line for a crack at the Ride of the Season, which earns a further grand prize of R30 000, a Yamaha Waverunner valued at R120 000, and a trip for two to Indo for the videographer/photographer who documents it, made possible by All Aboard Surf Travel.
Watch the vid for a quick squizz at some of the eligible rides so far, then get on it! It could be you, driving off into the sunset on your Waverunner with 30 grand cash in your pocket.
The official Oakley One Wave Wonder website goes live on 1 February, but if you have a clip already that you want to submit, you can use a file transfer site like sendspace, yousendit or WeTransfer to send your clip to calvin@zigzag.co.za. If you don’t yet have a killer clip, best you organise a friend with a steady hand and get filming. If you live anywhere along the eastern seaboard of SA, you might want to check out the charts for the next week. We’d hate to get on the wrong side of the proposed South African Weather Service Amendment Bill, but subtropical depression Funso is going to sit nicely in the Mozam channel. It’s not a biggie, but we will get waves. Tuesday 24 January has a 2.1m east swell combining with a 1.8m south swell in Durban. Everywhere from Mozam to the Kei will be going off.
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OAKLEY ONE WAVE WONDER 2012 – The countdown begins
There’s just over ten days to go until counting rides begin for the Oakley One Wave Wonder 2012 and as promised, Oakley are going bigger, better and higher for the second year of this insane event.
Oakley are throwing down over R100 000 cash for prize money in the monthly search for one mind-blowing ride. R15 000 goes to the monthly winner from February to June 2012 (split between the surfer and person who captures the ride), and another mega R30 000 cash going to the overall Ride of the Season, along with a R120 000 Yamaha VX1100 Waverunner going to the winning surfer, and an all expenses paid trip for two to Indo for the person who documents it, thanks to All Aboard Surf Travel.
With the “no heats, no points, just one insane ride” motto, the Oakley One Wave Wonder is anybody’s game. So get your board waxed and the cameras rolling. We’re going huge in the new year.
See www.1wavewonder.co.za for more info.
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IT’S ON! First Oakley One Wave Wonder entries are starting to roll in.
Counting rides for the Oakley One Wave Wonder 2012 officially kicked off on 1 January, and there have been some smoking entries submitted already, all of which are in line to win February’s R15 000 cash prize.
The February winner will be our first finalist in line for a crack at the Ride of the Season, which earns a further grand prize of R30 000, a Yamaha Waverunner valued at R120 000, and a trip for two to Indo for the videographer/photographer who documents it, made possible by All Aboard Surf Travel.
Watch the vid for a quick squizz at some of the eligible rides so far, then get on it! It could be you, driving off into the sunset on your Waverunner with 30 grand cash in your pocket.
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sending...
Upload stage now ON for the May leg of the Oakley One Wave Wonder.
May 2, 2012: The Public Have Spoken – APRIL OAKLEY 1WW WINNER
April 24, 2012: Twiggy Drops a Bomb Late Entry into April Leg of the Oakley 1WW
April 12, 2012: April Entries Start Rolling In