Good Vibrations

Mother Nature doesn’t keep schedules and as we have seen already this year, sometimes she delivers and other times she doesn’t. As the dawn broke over the False Bay and the sun glinted off a few snow capped peaks of the Hottentots Holland Mountains the reality dawned that the waves everyone had hoped for hadn’t pitched up. The last couple of weeks Cape Town has experienced the weird effects of an abstract Indian Summer and none of the systems needed to generate a booming swell in False Bay had materialised.

After much deliberation the Green Light was given for Tuesday morning, the only day of the week where at least the swell direction was right even if the waves weren’t. As the invitees slowly arrived in the car park the sight that greeted them was that of wishy-washy small wind swell that wasn’t doing much. This didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of those that were there.

Slowly things fell into place. The wind switched offshore and the chop-seuy started to line up over the reef. The Red Bull Team pulled in, set up, handed out beverages and cranked the volume. The Sport Unlimited team arrived and set up the contest area and gave the Shootout an official kind of feel. Even an entrepreneur in the form of local standup Dave Coleman pulled in. In his red bakkie with an espresso machine hooked up to a genny, he was soon pumping hot coffee and frothing cappuccinos… much to the delight of the freezing spectators that were already gathering in the car park.

The Wavescape Mobi site was consulted over and over again just to make sure the little swell that there was would last through the day. It would, and by the looks of things, the modules were predicting it to get better. Everyone threw their money into the pot. The judges took up their position, the horn sounded, ching-chong-cha decided priority and the Kalk Bay Shootout was officially underway.

The first 6 heats of the day belonged to the new generation of Kalk Bay boogers, with the top two riders of each heat advancing and the third placed rider being relegated to a repo round.

Heat 1 saw Matt Webb and Adam Waites progress to quarter final. Heat 2 heralded the arrival of Jayden Alferd-loots and Josh Chigome who blew their completion away to fly into the Quarters.
Heat 3 saw Dale Pender and Kyle Wilson progress. Heat 4 saw the first big upset of the event as Josh kleve fell to the flying Crow and the wily David Lilienfeld. Heat 5 saw grom Ross Nortier holds his own, progressing to the quarters and taking Byron Loubser with him. Heat 6 was the last of the new school heats and saw Johnny Maritz goes nuts, winning the heat by a fair margin. Roger Pardoe showed good form to take him through with Johnny.

Finally it was time for the old school to enter the water. Those that managed to get off work, made their way over the railway tracks and down to the water’s edge. For the first time in the events history, a couple of surfers asked to be allowed to compete. In the spirit of reconciliation, Mr Kalk Bay himself, Andrew Wilsnagh left his surfboard in the van and grabbed a pair of swim fins and boogie and took to the first of the old school heats against Peter Lambert and Pierre Marqua. All riders clocked up solid opening barrels but in the end Andrew was in motion with ocean and sneaked the best waves out from under the other two. He even managed to throw in a roll and a spin for good measure. The best part was seeing the look of pure stoke on his face when he experienced the tube from a different perspective, you could hear his shouts of joy from the car park. Andrew really did bridge a divide yesterday, and was the epitome of what the day represented. Good fun amongst friends.

The second old school heat was an outright battle of the Kommetjie ballies, with Lee Moran and James Metcalf advancing. Heat 3 saw the original man with a plan Wilhelm “Van” Vessels take to the water on a very old school Mach 7-7 and a leg leash. The say form is temporary but class lasts forever and that were evident from his first wave. Van is still one of the ultimate legends of South African bodyboarding. Heat 4 Saw Dr Sean Olberholser blow the field away and then on hearing he won the heat, had to retire to attend to a medical emergency. The sad reality of being a ballie is that sometimes, work does come first, even when you are winning

Up next was the best of the rest, the repo rounds which gave the losers in the previous heats another chance at glory. Aden Kleve and Robbie Ash maximised this opportunity to progress to the quarters.

Now it was defiantly old school vs new school with most heats pitting a ballie against a bunch of frothing lighties. The tide had started to drop out and the waves were hollowing out nicely. Tube and big flips become the order of the day. The heats were tight, with most on the beach not being able to pick a winner. Lee Moran was unlucky to miss the cut after getting what most called the tube of the contest and Vans high flying old school style seemed to miss out to the new schools inverted flips. Slowly the field was whittled down to the semi finals where the action really heated up and wave selection become a crucial factor in deciding who advanced and who joined their mates in the car park.

As the light faded, the final four entered the water for the last time. Jayden Alfred-Loots, Johnny Maritz, Aden Kleve and Roger Parode were the last bunch of guys standing at the end of a very successful day. This was a battle of the new school, not one ballie amongst them. The car park was now full with curious spectators and their fallen brethren. No one could decide who the favourite was. The sets rolled in and the boys flipped, rolled and spun for all their worth. For some the half hour felt like an eternity, for others it was over in seconds. The final horn sounded and the last four returned to the car park, leaving an ageing local alone out at the back to ride out what was left of the day light.

But who won? In keeping with the tradition of the Kalk Bay Shoot out, that piece of information was keep under lock and key till the following evening, when the whole troop descended on the oldest local in Kalk Bay, the Brass Bell. With the contest done and dusted, rivalries were put aside and over cold beers and cheesy pizza old friendships were refreshed and new friendships were formed with everyone agreeing that this was one of the funnest events of the year, the vibe on the beach was that of a carnival and the attitude in the water was humbling.

That’s the thing about the Shootout; it’s about strengthening the bonds that exist in the community, not only between the surfers and the bodyboarders, but also between the old guard and the new generation. The Kalk Bay Shootout is a positive vibration that the KBC hope to propel throughout the Peninsula, if not South Africa.

Finally the time to announce the winner arrived. Contest Sherriff, Luke Jordaan jumped the stage and grabbed the mic. After thanking everyone for all their own little contributions, and dragging the tension out just a little bit longer he finally named Jayden Alfred-Loots as the new Last Shooter Standing and 2.5K richer. Johnny Maritz came in second, Aden Kleve grabbed third and Roger Parode ended up in a well deserved forth place.

Congratulation to all those that took part, all which helped organise, all that sponsored and all that pulled in to watch. It was a proud day to be part of the Kalk Bay Crew, to be part of this unique concept of a surf contest. A contest free from the rules and politics’ only to be guided by one vision, all for one and one for all in the name of fun.