JBay in Jeopardy?

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The article, written by South African journo Craig Jarvis, refers to an alleged meeting at the Quiksilver Pro France between WSL officials and the surfers on tour who spoke about J-Bay 2016 before taking a vote. He writes that most of the surfers, particularly the two most effected by last year's shark scare, Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson, were keen to continue.

However, some were not, notably current world champion Gabriel Medina and fellow Brazilian Jason Andre, who Jarvi says were "adamant that they won’t return to surf J-Bay in 2016 and voted a firm negative, putting the event in jeopardy".

Of course, this would be another blow to SA's potential footprint in the surfing world after Dungeons was voted off the list of venues for the WSL Big Wave World Tour. There may be legitimate debate about what having Dungeons on the tour really means for South African big wave surfing, but losing JBay after all the work that has gone into restoring it again, would be a catastrophe, certainly for the townsfolk of JBay.

The regular crew of JBay pro athletes, such as Taj Burrow and scores of stoked surfers and their families, love coming to JBay. It is the best righthand point break in the world, with a great setup for spectators and athletes, even if you might be bumped or even bitten by a shark now and then.

Jarvi goes on to suggest that it was a fair call to put the decision in the hands of the guys who must deal with the shark risk, but made an interesting point that other surf spots were also sharky, and wondered if they should vote about other breaks. Margaret River, for instance, has seen a lot of scary shark activity. Neither did he mention the two shark bite incidents near Pipeline just recently, at a spot called Leftovers, or the many other areas of the world where there was a shark risk.

In fact, someone told me the other day that he was travelling (I can't remember where), and asked a local in a small coastal town if there were sharks in the water. The man said: "Put your hand in the water". He did. "Does it taste salty?" the man said. My friend said "Yes, it does". "Then there are sharks in the water here," came the reply.

Many SA surfers will tell you, once there has been a shark incident, many people feel that statistically it's much safer to go straight back into the water at that spot as the beady Sauron-like eye of fate turns its attentions elsewhere.

So what is the reason for the recalcitrance from Medina and Andre, considering that the other surfers on the world tour were happy to take the minuscule risk of another encounter? Many SA surfers will tell you, once there has been a shark incident, many people feel that statistically it's much safer to go straight back into the water at that spot as the beady Sauron-like eye of fate turns its attentions elsewhere.

A cynical observation, according to Jarvi, could be that both are under-performing goofy footers at JBay, and that "J-Bay as a tour stop isn’t in Gabriel Medina’s best interests. Jadson Andre, who doesn’t have a world title in his near future the way Gabs does, is probably just really scared, and who the hell can blame him? Perhaps Gabs is genuinely scared too, but … it’s interesting regardless".

From a corporate perspective, it's a tough situation to be in, particularly when deciding the future of an event that smashed audience world records by far. See the 22.3 million views on the above clip.

As Jarvi says, the 2016 iteration will "undoubtedly be the most watched surf event in the history of the sport. The whole world will dial in (or see it in the news), and the J-Bay 2016 event could be that final push that takes surfing firmly into the mainstream; the obvious goal of the WSL to make the juggernaut a commercial success. But then, there’s also the very real possibility, no matter how small, that another attack could occur on live broadcast again."

It is possible to have events in sharky waters. "Since the J-Bay Open 2015, Billabong South Africa held a South African Junior Championship at The Point in J-Bay, and were extremely vigilant in their shark monitoring approach during the five-day event, with extra skis in the water, drones monitoring the line up and beaming back to a permanently monitored screen, with shark spotters permanently positioned in elevated positions on the beach. There were no problems."

As a parent, you don't entrust an event with the safety of your lighteys that easily, and the event went ahead.

"As for the town of J-Bay, well, the local surfers are going to paddle out and score ridiculous waves, regardless of whether there’s an event or not," Jarvi writes.

Stabmag has conducted a poll about whether or not JBay should continue, and 92% of about 3,000 polled have voted in favour. Vote here