Partly due to Heather Clark’s exploits on the women’s tour, the movie Blue Crush, the rise of Saltwater Girl – the most successful magazine in the Atoll Media stable – and a general growth in surf schools and sponsored events for beginners, more women took to the water.
Soon, ASP Africa tour competitors such as Tamarys Walters, Tasha Mentasti, Sarah Johnston and Sacha Moller were competing on the WQS (World Qualifying Series), while at home, events like the Roxy Wahine Cup, Roxy Surf Jam and other junior championships began to bear fruit with the development of a crew of hot youngsters such as Tarryn Chudleigh, Nikita Robb, Chantelle Rautenbach and Holly Armstrong.
By 2005, tow-surfing equipment was state of the art, with quieter, more environment-friendly four-stroke wave runners. Durban’s Jason Ribbink and tow partner Gigs Cilliers targeted the heaviest surf they could find, including a session in 30-foot Peahi, Hawaii, in the 2005 winter season.
From just one tow crew in the mid to late nineties, there were around 16 crews in 2007, necessitating the formation of Tow Surf South Africa to make, in the words of founder member Ross Lindsay, ‘tow surfing a professionally run pursuit with credibility and legal standing’. To be a member, big wave experience, a skipper’s licence and lifesaving skills were required.
Meanwhile, in the early to mid 2000s, a hot crop of young competitors, such as Davey Weare, Royden Bryson, Travis Logie, Warwick Wright and Ricky Basnett cast aside their respect for the older generation by stamping their mark on competitive surfing. They were led by teenage sensation Jordy ‘Superfreak’ Smith, known for a prodigious surfing talent that drew more than a few parallels with Kelly Slater, not least his birthday.
Amped, a magazine by competitive surfer Peter Nicholson, was launched in 2003 to cater for the young brigade of hot surfers proud of their talents. It lasted a few issues before closing down.
In 2005, king of Muizenberg Corner (now Surfers’ Corner), Matthew Moir, won the ASP World Longboard Title with a wonderful mixture of old school nose riding, fancy footwork and carving modern manoeuvres.
The next year – 2006 – was a huge year for South African competition surfing, proof that surfers were clawing their way back up the ranks of the surfing world.
Smith, 18, scooped the men’s title at the ISA World Surfing Games at Huntington Beach in California, eliminating several WCT competitors, including 2001 world champ CJ Hobgood. Then he made history at the Billabong Pro at J-Bay in his first ASP World Championshiop Tour event. Entering as a wildcard, Smith made it to the semi-finals, finishing an equal third with Kelly Slater, behind Taj Burrow and Mick Fanning, becoming the highest placed South African at the event in history.
To top off an amazing year for Superfreak, Smith triumphed in Hawaii with a stunning second place at the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, winning the Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing Rookie of the Year award.
Not to be outdone, Grant Twiggy Baker scooped the Mavericks Surf Contest in classic 20-foot surf that year. Baker and Smith were among several surfers honoured at the inaugural South African Surfing Awards presented by Zigzag in 2007.
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