From Addington to Mavericks THE STEVAN RICE INTERVIEW

The surf has been gangbusters all season at Mavericks, and one of the surfers who was standing out, on every swell, was Stevan Rice from Durban. Originally from Addington, Stevan has come a long way.

After the early years at 101, the family moved up to Ballito, and Chris Coates took the young surfer under his wing. This culminated in Chris paddling Stevan out at maxing Tinley during the Mr Price Pro 2009, and he caught one wave, out of pure fear, in front of the whole contest.

Jump forward 12 years, and Stevan has matured into a full-on Mavericks charger. He was

Always taking off deep.

© David Grant

there during the recent season that long time Mavericks local and resident Grant Washburn reckons was the best season since they started surfing out there.

Gangbusters: So, good times out at Mavericks for the season?

Stevan Rice: It has been pretty incredible. I had my 27th birthday here, on the dock at Pillar Point Harbour, with a bunch of Mavs guys and the rescue team guys. It was pretty special.

GB: How did you end up at Half Moon Bay?

SR: I have been sailing professionally for the past 8 years, working out of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, COVID shut that down, so I have been delivering some boats to the United States’ East Coast. I made some money to go to Mexico and spend the summer there. Over the years, I’ve been going to

Taking the drop

Fred Pompemayer

It was pretty mind altering being on an adrenalin bender for that long.

© Fred Pompemayer

Hawaii, Portugal, Indo and a few seasons at home and been coming to Mavs for a few years.

GB: I heard it was the season to end all seasons.

SR: So I have been hanging with Jason Stark and Ben Andrews, who I ended up commercially fishing with. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been the best crab season, so the money has been thin. Still, to answer your question, the waves were absolutely pumping for 6 weeks nonstop. It was offshore for 35 days in a row, and we were getting two Mavs swells every week and surfing Mavs up to 5 days a week. It was pretty mind-altering being on an adrenalin bender for that long. Luckily I had my 9’9 Lyle Carlson, which turned out to be a magic stick.

GB: What were the highlights for you over the season?

SR: My highlight of the season was my wave on December 8.

On December 8, Steve caught the wave he had been visualising for years.

Greg Thompson

Greg Thompson

I have been visualizing something like this for the past couple of years. Having Twig call me into it was a pretty good feeling. The drop just kept on going. I remember going over the second ledge halfway down the wave, and there were these ribs halfway up the face. It was all pretty crazy. I’m glad I made it to the bottom. Twig was there, surfing and watching. “Steve had an epic season, and it was great to see another South African doing well at Mavericks,” said Twig of Stevan’s performance.

“He’s working the crab boats and doing what he needs to be able to spend the season surfing Mave- ricks. True dedication to the art.”

When it was big, Steve was out there, looking for the bombs.

© Todd Turner

He’s working the crab boats and doing what he needs to be able to spend the season surfing Mavericks.

Steve Impressed the Mavs locals this season

© Fred Pompermayer

© Fred Pompemayer

GB: Did you have any bummers?

SR: No, nothing really. I did get a bit of concussion at the end of the season, and I have been treated for that here in Half Moon Bay with a hyperbaric oxygen tank. My treatment was sponsored by a non-profit called One Hit Away - https:// www.onehitaway.org/ - which was super-cool. They sponsored 30 dives, and you need 40 dives to have a full recovery, so I’m nearly there. GB: Put your season into a nutshell.

SR: I arrived on the 27th, the Thanksgiving swell, and got skunked. I hooked up with another South African surfer Indi Rooken Smith, who wanted his first Mavs session, so we made that happen. After that, I went back to my job in Florida and saw the forecast, back-to-back swells, and I knew that I couldn’t get time off. So I pulled the plug, quit my job and came back to Mavs.

Steve and a shoulder-hopping SUPer

© Gauther Damien

I arrived on December 2, and December 3 was the first day of pumping surf. We all got a couple of good waves and got into the swing of things. Then December 8 came, and I caught the wave I have wanted for a few years now. Mavs gave me the gift of catching a bomb from the outside ledge. I think there have been more people sent to space than have caught a wave from the outside ledge at Mavs.

Mavericks local, and long-time friend of many South African big wave surfers through the Red Bull Big Wave Africa connection, Grant Washburn, was on hand during the whole season, surfing with Stevan and Twiggy and the rest of the crew.

“How can the South Africans keep coming over and stabbing such steep pits? It’s a freakish hot spot of extremists, or maybe some unusual magnetic field has mutated the surfers of SA into frothing beasts?

Quiet, polite okes like Steve Rice and Andy Marr come to visit, pull on a hoody and turn into some kind of superhero.”

Twig is still rocking, of course, but Steve had an incredible run during the biggest and best stretch of Mave ricks we’ve ever seen. Like 5 seasons of epic days packed into 2 months, and he managed to be in the spot for some of the finest moments. There aren’t that many people that can get comfortable in heavy Mavericks, and Steve seemed to have a natural fit. The casual ‘just another day at the pier’ is not easy to keep when a 50-foot slab of ocean ploughs into the coast, but when he sees a huge set, his eyes light up.”

© Fred Pompemayer