Last Call for Goodwave

GOOD WAVE: Twiggy Baker will surf in the event with 59 others. Photo Supplied

Previous winners Llewellyn Whittaker, Warwick Wright, Simon Nicholson and Shane Thorne have all entered, as well as New Pier stalwarts Jason Ribbink, Davey Weare, Gavin Roberts and Dan Redman. Out-of-towners include Sean Holmes and Ryan Payne from Cape Town, Remi Peterson and Matt McGillivray from JBay, as well as girl surfers Tammy-Lee Smith, Tasha Mentasti and Teal Hogg.

The event will cost R1 for invited surfers to enter, and it will take place during the course of one full day in 2017.

A veteran of all previous iterations of the Goodwave, Spike of Wavescape has been asked to be the official swell forecaster to the event. He must pull out the stops in not only predicting the size of the swell, but also the quality and conditions of the swell when it arrives, a notoriously difficult task.

SWELL STORM: The Good Wave kind of storm must be far enough away.

“March and April are favourable months for a tournament like the Cell C Goodwave,” said Spike of the historical swell conditions for the area. “East swells roll off the tropical cyclones to the east of the country at this time, but we will obviously be monitoring swell activity throughout the waiting period.”

"The challenge with Durban is that you need a confluence of several factors to get that great day. Ideally, you want the sandbanks to be lined up in the right places, a spring low tide or similar with the low tide in the morning, as well as a very focused swell from one direction."

Durban surfers will know too well that many cyclone swells can surge straight off a storm too close to the coast, which makes the piers washy, with pounding waves and strong rips.

"What you want is beautiful clean green water barrels, with enough gaps between sets to keep the lineup exactly that, lined up and smooth," Spike said. "The storm mustn't be too close."

With many top names in already, contest organisers are busy figuring out a short list. If you wish to still enter the event, please send your entry to info@craigjarvis.co.za with a few images, as well as a few words as to why you should be in the mix.

There will be 32 surfers selected for the event, as well as 32 alternates. Along with this, there might even be a few walk-up entries on the day, should any of the invited and alternate surfers not be present. Closing dates for entries is 30 November 2016.

“We already have a healthy cross-section of entries from throughout the country,” said contest organiser Jason Ribbink. Ribbink reminded those surfers who have not yet entered, to enter as soon as possible. Surfers who have not yet put their names forward are urged to do so before the month-end, when we close off the entry list,” said Ribbink. “We need to send invites out during the first week of December for the beginning of the tournament’s waiting period, which starts 15 January.”

Entries will be loaded on www.facebook.com/GoodwaveNewPier/ Selection criteria and process are at the discretion of the event organisers. No correspondence will be entered into.

First place prize is R100,000 and California Dreaming, overlooking New Pier on the beachfront, will host the event on the day. Oakley is a supporting sponsor.

The Cell C Goodwave is a South African Surfing Legends event, with Jason Ribbink the contest director. The contest is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. The Cell C Goodwave - in loving memory of Lee Wolins.