Gangbusters Surfing Magazine Issue 4 by Gangbusters Surfing Magazine

s t n e cont 12.

Frank Solomon

and the Sentinel Ocean Alliance 24.

World Surf League Update Australian Leg of the Tour 38.

PHOTO FEATURE Grant Myrdal 63.

Matt Bromley Over The Edge 72.

Splitting the Peak

Competitive Surfing And Equal Prize Money 81.

How Deep Is Your Love?

t h e t r ac k inside

STERS U B G N A G OUR OF F D N U E TO RO NE. WELCOM RFING MAGAZI SU D I G I TA L

When traveling in Indonesia many years ago I had no choice but to embrace the concept of ‘jam karet’ or rubber time. I was waiting for a ferry to get me from Sibolga, a rather smelly port on Sumatra, to Lagundri Bay on Nias. When asked what time the ferry would leave,

I was told ‘nanti’ which literally means ‘one day.’ Not what you want to hear when you’re holed up in a place 08

like Sibolga. I asked again, and I was told this time, ‘begitulah, jam karet.’

This was worse, meaning, ‘it is what it is: rubber time.’ In Indonesia time moves differently. It might be the heat that causes people to operate more languidly, or it might be the lack of stress, but the chilled jam karet ideology spills into all aspects of day-to-day Indonesian living.

There is a lot of waiting in Indonesia, but it’s not a big deal. Time moves slower on the edges, in the jungle, and it moves faster in the centre, in the cities, but time does what it wants, when it wants. In these days of COVID and uncertainty, jam karet is a way of dealing with life that might be of solace to some of us. We’ll get over this. It might be over by year end, or it might be later, but no amount of stressing is going to change the course of the world. The ferry came the next day. It was 12 hours late. Most of us slept on the dock. Wrapped up in board socks to keep the mosquitoes off. I was going for two months to Lagundri and Asu. Twelve hours delay wasn’t going to make that much difference. Two months on Nias, jam karet.

n o m o l o S k Fran NEELL TTIIN N N E E S S E E H NDD TT H AAN NCCEE IIAAN L L L L A A N N A O OCCEE A

The Sentinel Ocean Alliance creates ocean-based opportunities and provides environmental education for the youth of South Africa’s coastal communities. It all started with establishing the Hout Bay Surf Lifesaving Club. This development club has grown to almost 60 members, and that won the prestigious Sports Charity of the Year award in 2019. They have also partnered with Waves For Change, a mental health programme that uses surfing as a means of therapy. In December 2020, with the support of Parley For The Oceans, Frank 12

and the Sentinel Ocean Alliance launched the world’s first Parley Ocean School. They have now developed and offer a comprehensive and extensive 8-week programme to the children who come to their school. This serves to deepen their understanding of the issues presented, thereby creating the catalyst for real change in their lives.

Their programme forges a strong love for and connection with the ocean. It helps create

a tangible impact on the lives of these children and the health of the environment.

In addition to imparting theoretical ocean knowledge, their engaging curriculum also includes many practical and handson activities. They also have weekly guest speakers and collaborators to make this programme as

stimulating and impactful as possible. The curriculum covers various topics. These include how we are connected to

the ocean, marine biodiversity, local marine ecosystems, ocean threats, marine plastic pollution and the Parley AIR Strategy. They also developed their own swimming programme, Turn The Tide. This combines mindfulness practices, ocean theory, and practical swimming lessons in the ocean. They hope to reach as many children as possible to help teach them how to swim and connect with the ocean. 13

FRANK SOLOMON ©

S W E N SURF All Adverts Are Clickable Portals All adverts in Gangbusters magazine are clickable. Those ads are all portals to a whole new surfing universe. On the other side are company websites, massive sales, surfer profiles, surf stories, surfing videos, bikinis, boardshorts, and other funky stuff. There might even be some giveaways, and we all love a giveaway. By clicking an ad, you are also supporting this magazine. We need to support the brands who trust us to carry their ads and be a voice of surfing in South Africa. If we all 16

support each other, we can work together towards having our sport prosper

Talking about clicks, you can also follow the growing Gangbusters social media presence over here and check out our sister publication, The West Wind, over here.

CONTRIBUTIONS:

If you have anything you want to be published, or you have some ideas, a photo or a gripe, or just want to hit us up with the news of a contest or anything: Editor: craig@truthcollective. co.za Designer: design@ oceanpeakdesign.co.za

MATT MCGILLIVRAY IN ACTION AT ISA WORLD GAMES.

ISA Lekker Deurmekaar It’s not anyone’s fault, really, but the handling of the ISA World Games in El Salvador was a pretty messy affair, to say the least. Close to 30 surfers tested positive for COVID. Other top surfers were bunking with Doctor’s notes like school kids getting out of gym classes. Some surfers chose to

bail on the event, and others eliminated themselves by not paddling out. There are more details on their website https://isasurf.org/ event/world-surfinggames/

MCGILLIVRAY © PABLO FRANCO

Matt McGillivray welcomes the juice.

ALAÏA BAY WAVEPOOL SWITZERLAND.

Wavepool Webcam We’ve mentioned the Alaïa Bay Wave Pool in Switzerland before. Still, just if you want to have a really good look at surfing in Switzerland, they have a Surfline camera up. If you log in and they have a Beast Mode session going, it’s pretty wild. 18

While purists still say that wave pools aren’t legit, this place looks pretty cool. https://alaiabay.ch/ en/webcam/

From Hawaii To Cape Town

KOA SMITH, DONKEY BAY.

Koa Smith has been in town, surfing in Cape Town and hitting JBay for a few swells. He’s making some YouTube videos and has a few other missions that he is on while in the zone.

Took him 50 hours to get

from Hawaii to Cape Town. That’s serious dedication. Check out episode one of his South African videos here: https://youtu.be/ QCWXQFD6mUI 19

Ballito Pro In December It’s a bummer that the entire Ballito Pro presented by O’Neill 2021 has been postponed. Several events were planned and lined up, including the SA Champs and a beach festival, music and food celebrations, and more. The statement released by the WSL is that it has been postponed until December. While the end of the year is not that far away, and we should be well down the track to vaccinations by then, there is still only one word needed to describe the waves in Ballito in December. Three letters, starts with a ‘k’ and ends with a ‘k’, and it sounds like luck.

JORDY SMITH IN A BALLITO BARREL, UNFORTUNATELY NOT IN DECEMBER. JORDY SNITH © © WSL/CESTARI

2 0 2 . e v o L . u o Y . t a h W . Do ts

ty Presen

is Nick Chr

A quick glimpse of living and surfing in and around St Francis, starring Billy Payne and Dale Staples, with Ari Kraak and Faye Zoetmulder. Video by Nick Christy Films

f r u S d l r o W e t a d p U e u g Lea

N LLEEGG LLIIAAN A A R R T T S S U HEE AA U TTH M M O O R R F F S S Y Y WAA URR E AAW OU PP TTO I I H H S SSIIXX TTAAKK E A M S N N O I O H A MPP I HEE CCH O OFF TTH

Medina 1. If it were an ordinary world title showdown, Medina would have the trophy in the bag by now. Out of five events, he has racked up four finals and two wins. However, the new escalating suddendeath format at Trestles for the world title is not as straightforward a route to a world title.

John John 2. Has got glass knees. Both of them are trashed. The most recent injury is a lot more severe than what everyone thinks. It is very possible that his quick-fix surgery could come back to haunt him very soon. Chance of a world title this year? Zero. Chances of any fucks given by JJF? Zero.

Zero fucks given.

Matt McGillivray 3. Give the man some juice, and he gets going. Matt McGillivray had a slow start, but as soon as there was some size, some push back and a little bit of juice, he was one of the best out there at Margaret’s. Unfortunately, he’s not going to find the same push-back at The Ranch or at Trestles.

He wouldn’t find much push-back in Brazil, but they’re not going there, are they?

Jordy 4. Could be on a title hunt. He’s at number three and surrounded by Brazilians at both ends. He doesn’t seem as insatiably hungry for a title as his Brazilian counterparts.

Still, he does know how to win at Trestles, so there is that.

Morgan Cibilic 5. A refreshing new look on the CT. Yet to be jaded and yet to be coached for the media, his outtakes are funny and refreshing.

Will the WSL suck him in and then spit him out, or does he see the big picture?

Slater 6. So many miles away and so under the radar, Slater still manages to piss off a whole bunch of surfers due to his bunking/doctors note getting him out of the ISA Worlds. While he was cruising, surfing and training for the Olympics, the rest of the USA team of donkeys and the Australian CT surfers had to compete in a COVID-ravaged El Salvador contest site for the world games.

p h o to e r u t a fe rant Myrdal

Photographer Grant Myrdal grew up in Port Elizabeth and spent his time surfing in JBay. This resulted in his win in the Billaabong/Country Feeling Surf Classic at Supertubes in 1987. Grant spent 10 winter seasons shooting on the North Shore of Oahu, and hanging with all of the South Africans who came over every year to compete. These are some of his favourite images, mostly chosen from those trips. After a spell of holding shows in art galleries in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo 38

and Sao Paulo, Grant moved over to shooting snowboarding and skiing. Currently Grant is the Action Sports Photographer at Mt Hood Meadows ski resort, in Bend Oregon. He spends his days shooting skiers and snowboarders, and then sells his

world-class images online. When he’s not shooting he’s grabbing the first ski lift of the day and ripping the pow, putting down some first tracks on pristine slopes. More here: https:// grantmyrdal.com/

The photographer Grant Myrdal, slashing some pow at Mt Hood, where he now works, hangs out and shreds.

Insanities is a rarely surfed slab of reef on the North Shore. It’s normally a dangerous backwash closeout but this day all the elements aligned for some perfect caverns for Richie Sills

Damian Fahrenfort, Pinballs, Waimea Bay.

Such a great place to shoot, with fluffy clouds, blue sky and backdrop of palm trees and pagoda. That point was one of the saffa enclaves, I stayed there every year with crew of other brus.

Wok super deep at Pupukea between Pipe and Rocky Point.

Paul Canning en route to a perfect ten in the Pipe masters circa ? How many saffas can claim a 10 at Pipeline?

Rainos Hayes

casually sliding out of harm’s way. Pipeline.

Sillsy was a beast at Pipe.

He did the hard yards, slowly climbing up the pecking order till he became one of the few non-locals allowed to hang in the prime take-off zone with the gnarly brahs. This one is a roll in from second reef, dropping right over the big boil which is the yardstick for perfect positioning and sets you up for the deepest barrel.

The heavy crowd at Pipe is tough to deal with. You can be out there for hours and barely get a decent wave. Simon Fish had been waiting and wanting for a while before this bomb allowed him in and he scored one of his best pipe barrels ever.

backwash beast

Shot during the famous pipe masters final between Andy and Kelly to decide the world title. The big North swell was washing through pipe, making for less than ideal conditions but down the beach towards OTW these frothy quadruple backwash beasts were unloading on the shorebreak, making for images more like snow and ice than wave.

greg emslie rips the top at pinballs.

West Side double bow on the way to Third Dip.

Royden Bryson relaxed on the North Shore.

y e l m o r B t t Ma r e v O G o es e g d E e Th

Cape Town big wave charger

and issue four cover surfer Matt Bromley is releasing a 54 minute documentary on his surfing life at the end of June. We caught up with him to see what’s really going on.

WHERE WAS THE COVER SHOT TAKEN?

That was on a strike mission to Ireland, and the wave was the big wave slab 63

Mullaghmore MATT BROMLEY © DYLAN TERMORSHUIZEN

called Mullaghmore, County Sligo, in Bundoran. Because the weather is so volatile in Ireland, I waited until the last minute then jumped on a flight to arrive in Dublin the evening before the swell. It was straight from Cape Town summer to freezing cold Ireland. The air was like zero, and the 64

water was about six degrees.

It was like being transported into another world. SO, PRETTY FRESH?

I had a 5mm wetsuit, 5mm booties, a hood and gloves. I never wear gloves,

and I felt disconnected from the situation, possibly due to all the rubber.

HOW DID YOU RESET?

So I think the gloves were worrying me, so I took them off. My hands were immediately frozen, but I had to connect to the situation somehow. As soon as the gloves were off, this wave came, and I spun around and went while everyone else paddled over it. I had to lean so far forward just to get down the wave, and then I had to lean back to pull the nose up, as it was sucking up so hard.

I was super anxious and nervous and was backing out of waves, and then this big double up came, and I went for it, to break the ice, so to speak. It As I turned, I didn’t end well. just saw this It was super steep, 200 meter-long like an 18-foot bomb, green wall. and I dug my nose, went over the falls, and got totally hammered. Then, after that huge wipe-out, it happened again, and I got beaten a second time.

The wave hit the second ledge and bottomed out again. I disappeared in the spit and then got blown out into the channel. 65

It was one of the wildest rides of my life.

MAKE THE WHOLE TRIP WORTHWHILE?

Totally. While making my movie, Over The Edge, I have been privileged to live a

BROMDOG @ MAVERICKS © RON DEAN

kind of a strikemission existence, and it has changed the way I see these missions. If I get one wave, a big and powerful and scary

wave that your instincts tell you not to go on and that all of your training is challenged, then that one wave is the success of a trip.

SAFFA PHOTOGRAPHER?

You know, paddling out at Mullaghmore is so unnerving. The waves move so fast for a big spot, and they are so violent.

They breathe, and they change shape so rapidly, it is a terrifying place to venture out. By the time I got out there, watching these 15 to 20-foot slabs exploding so hard, there was this South African photographer,

Dylan TerMorshuizen, swimming right in the impact zone!

There’s always some South African doing something nuts! He got the moment, and at the time, I had no idea he had a shot, but it was such a moment to find out he had the shot!

MULLAGHMORE STRIKE MISSION WAS ALL PART OF YOUR MOVIE?

Yes, it was. The movie, Over The Edge features Dungeons, Nias, Mullaghmore and a whole lot of Jaws.

It’s all about chasing waves of consequence.

It’s about looking at that wave, that one wave that all your instincts are telling you not to go on, and putting your head down and going over the edge. It’s also about life. We all have our big waves in life, and

when they come, we have to face them. We have to push ourselves if we want to achieve our goals and feel alive. We have to go to a place where there is fear and discomfort and deal with it.

g n i t t Spli k a e P the

N NEEYY.. O O M M E E Z I Z I R UAALL PP R QU EEQ D D N N A A G NG URRFFIIN EE SSU V I V I T I T I T T E E MPP OM CCO

BY MELISSA VOLKER

iscussion around equal prize money revisited the surfing world recently... when Lucy Small was awarded less than half the prize money of her male counterpart 72

in a longboarding contest in Australia. ABC Australia asked Small whether she thought the prize disparity was due to sexism.

Small replied, ‘Yes, I think it’s sexism ... what [other] reasons could there possibly be?’ A few guys shared their views on what’ reasons there could possibly be’ in a local Facebook thread.

‘…public interest attracts sponsors, which dictate who gets how much. It’s got nothing to do with what’s fair.’ ‘Make all sports Pay per View… No quibbling over sexism or anything else. If more ladies and men pay to watch ladies surfing, then they will earn more money. If not, then they won’t…’

‘When they can do what Medina can do, then the money will come.’ These reasons are commonly given for prize disparity: that women’s surfing attracts less money in the form of audience and sponsorship; and that women don’t surf with the same power and ability as men.

But are these reasons valid, given the historical bias that gendered the surfing space and gave male surfers an advantage? Consider the impact of: • More opportunity for men to surf due to historical gender role norms. • The surf media’s historical portrayal of women on the beach in swimwear, not in active surf shots. • Male perceived ownership of the surfing space by sheer numbers. (For some women, their

experience is still gendered through microaggressions and innuendo.)

Should women have to surf in the same style as men to be paid equally? Or, should they be able to surf like women and be compensated for equal if not greater commitment? For busting down the doors that society and the surf media closed on them for a long time? As Lucy Small pointed out, ‘Who’s measuring the standard?’ If the standard for what constitutes good surfing is set only by male criteria, then competitive surfing will remain a gendered space. 74

This, however, is not the direction of the WSL, who have paid equaly since 2018 .

Surf brands and the WSL, who sponsor and broadcast surfing, do not promote the idea that men’s surfing should be rewarded for a perceived viewership, greater market share, or ‘better’ surfing.

Women surfers are afforded the same quality waves, and the broadcast teams include more women.

Lucy Small said, ‘It took the same amount to drive here, the costs to fly here are the same, our accommodation costs the same… ’ She told ABC News, ‘In the end, we [women] are putting in the same effort, we are all there competing in the same conditions, on the same day.’ 76

In South Africa, the equal effort of women’s surfing has been rewarded equally since 2018 .

In 2021 WSL Africa introduces three new all women’s events in Cape Town, Durban and Vic Bay: Pro Women, Pro Juniors and a program to help younger girls get involved. As Bianca Buitendag said,

‘I come from a country where there is a lot of discrimination. To me, [Equal pay] is … a breakthrough... The surf industry is progressing with society to create equal opportunities.’ By Melissa Volker Melissa Volker is a successful book writer and a keen SUPer. Find out more about her here: https://missmelissawrites.com/ 78

Her books:

Shadow Flicker: https://amzn.to/3agGhao A Fractured Land: https://amzn.to/2QwxWIF coming soon:

The Pool Guy (A novelette in an anthology) Goodreads To Be Read link Add to TBR:

https://bit.ly/3rY7sg2

s I p e e D w o H ? e v o L Yo u r

DURBAN DURBAN TOWN TOWN CONTINUES CONTINUES TO TO DELIVER DELIVER BIG, BIG, ROUND ROUND BARRELS BARRELS FOR FOR ANY ANY TAKERS. TAKERS. ALL PHOTOS DAVE LINDEMANN PHOTOGRAPHY.

Travis Logie

Josh Redman

Beyrick De Vries

Luke Thompson

Davey Van Zyl

Nate Colby

Jordy Smith

E H E R E W. W E G A T H E P T T H E H E AT DISH OU

The East Coast has been cold... but the waves have been good. Not as good as Durban, though, which just continues to pump. This year will see quite a lot of out-of-town surfers camped out on the south coast, hoping for some magic.

They might find magic, or they might discover grumpy locals. Talking of grumpy locals, one extremely low key south coast 98

point was totally overrun recently, by pure coincidence. Everyone just happened to be there on the same day. The waves were pumping, and there were no bad vibes in the water. None at all. The point being, this doesn’t make for good stories, people! We need you to fight! Punch out the visiting surfers! Kick fins out! Swear about their moms or cast doubts about the weight of their dads! We are becoming complacent, people! Invaders must die etc.

A SIMILAR FIGHT AT A SIMILAR BEACH, BUT IN 2013.

FIGHT There’s no such complacency in the Eastern Cape. One recent Kouga car park saw a full-blown street fight happen amongst two surfing families in front of several somewhat horrified witnesses. Swear words issued, punches thrown, some scuffling and kicking on the ground, windpipes grabbed and more. There was a lot

of screaming, quite a bit of threatening and name-calling, and the obligatory visit to the local police station for the main ous involved. It was settled without charges being laid, but there were definitely some ground rules being set for the winter around our finer EC point breaks.

It might have been the whiskey talking Doing the rounds recently was a social media rant from a local surf administrator. It might have been the whiskey talking though, because the post was deleted the following day. Not before it was screengrabbed and Whatsapped far and wide, including to global surfing associations. It contained allegedly misguided accusations

that local surf organisations wanted other such surf organisations to fail. Lame, self-serving, trash-talk.

Only jokes

car. (Only jokes, Dave just got rearended by mistake, and he was fine. He does catch a lot of waves though...)

Longboarder Dave Lipshitz has been surfing up a storm recently, and it seems he has been getting plenty of waves. So much that one other surfer in the water got so angry that he got out of the water and drove into Dave’s 1 00

As the pandemic continues to destroy our industry, (see Ballito cancelled) there is no room for this infighting. Grow the fuck up, people, and look after our sport.

SA Champs longboardING event The best longboarders in the country are heading to Lower Point for a pretty big SA Champs event in July. COVID protocols will be in place and not too much of a party

scene. Still, the SA Longboarders always manage to pull off lekker events, so it’ll be a fantastic event to support. Details to follow.

SA LONGBOARDERS HEADING FOR JBAY.

Gangbusters Surfing Magazine Issue 4

Articles inside

Grant Myrdal photography showcase.

Frank Solomon AND THE SENTINEL OCEAN ALLIANCE

Gangbusters Surfing Magazine Issue 4