Chrispy and Twiggy Crack the Nod

Wednesday 24 Mo-vember 2010

WAIMEA BAY, Hawaii: The invitees to the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau have been announced, and at last Chris Bertish has cracked the nod, making it one representative each from main surfing centres Cape Town and Durban, represented by Twiggy Baker.

However, somewhat strangely, Chris has been slotted in as a competitor from the European Union (EU). He has spent a few days persuading his mates that he is proudly South African and has absolutely no intention of surfing under the EU banner but will keep the SA flag flying when he jets over there for the Mavericks event (flying Saturday) followed by the Eddie later.

Apparently he received official notification (after hearing rumours that a request had been put out for his profile picture - a sure sign) with a simple note saying "Dear competitor" which was kind of weird, one might think, but the strangest of all was the EU next to his name when the official list was announced.

According to Chris there is one slot available to South Africa for the event, which is filled by Grant Twiggy Baker. But with his Mavericks win, Chris could not be ignored, so they made up a slot for him. Funnily enough, Andy Marr, is listed as representing Hawaii, due to the same issue. So make sure you tell eveyone, on Facebook, Twitter, and whereever, our boys are from South Africa!

The event will be held on one day, between December 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011, when waves exceed the 20-foot minimum threshold and Invitees contend for the $98,000 prize purse. The traditional opening ceremony will take place at 2:30pm, December 2nd, 2010, at Waimea Bay.

Monster Energy will be presenting the Monster Drop Award for the surfer who makes the most critical drop and rides out of it during the event. The judges will determine the winner the day of the competition and will present the chosen surfer with a unique Monster Drop Specialty Award.

Invitees                                                           Alternates
Clyde Aikau HAW                                           Kahea Hart HAW (Aikau Pick)
Kala Alexander HAW                                      Ross Williams HAW
Tom Carroll AUS                                             Nathan Fletcher USA
Kohl Christensen HAW                                    Mark Mathews AUS
Ross Clarke-Jones AUS                                   Sion Miloski HAW
Shane Dorian HAW                                         Kalani Chapman HAW
Keone Downing HAW                                     Keoni Watson HAW
Sunny Garcia HAW                                         Anthony Tashnick USA
Mark Healey HAW                                          Ian Walsh HAW
Michael Ho HAW                                            Koby Abberton AUS
Bruce Irons HAW                                            Danny Fuller HAW
Noah Johnson HAW                                        Kealii Mamala HAW
Rusty Keaulana HAW                                      Ken Collins USA
Brock Little HAW                                            Myles Padaca HAW
Greg Long USA                                                Laurie Towner AUS
Reef McIntosh HAW                                       Jamie Mitchell AUS
Garrett McNamara HAW                                 Paul Patterson AUS
Peter Mel USA                                                 Andrew Marr HAW (?)
Ramon Navarro CHL                                       Rusty Long USA
Jamie O'Brien HAW                                         Tony Ray AUS
Makuakai Rothman HAW                                 Derek Ho HAW
Kelly Slater USA                                              Taylor Knox USA
Jamie Sterling HAW                                          Tau Hannemann HAW
Dave Wassell HAW                                          Manoa Drollet TAH
Grant Baker ZAF
Chris Bertish EU (?)
Carlos Burle BRA
Takayuki Wakita JPN