This article WILL contain swearing! Kids…

Imagine the end of the month comes and you’re waiting for that pay cheque because you desperately need the money ASAP. You have been working hard the whole month, but in order to get paid you need to survive one last obstacle.

You walk into the office towards the end of the month, hoping for good things.

Suddenly your boss comes barreling out of his office, wielding a steel baseball bat. You think he is joking, but suddenly he comes towards you and starts fucking you up. Beating you, he breaks your ribs, dislocates your shoulder and leaves you lying in the passageway concussed.

If you think this is far from the truth, then think again because this sums up the Red Bull Big wave Africa 2008 that took place at Dunegeons on the 26th of February, this past Saturday.

I was actually unaware that the Big Wave Africa was even in the waiting period, when I received an sms at 7:34 on Saturday morning.

“Red Bull BWA 2008: Green alert! We have a go, contest aiming to start at 8:30am”

I woke up, jumped in the shower and bent it towards Hout Bay at a phenomenal rate. Brendan was the only person willing to meet up at that time to see some crazy guys go out at Dungeons in the hope of finding glory.

We stopped off at Woolworths to get some food, and obviously some booze. We settled on something low key and easy to carry. A classic box of wine!

We drink wherever we go

We found signs near the Hout Bay harbour pointing towards a parking lot, where we would then be picked up in the VIP shuttle (I’m not joking, there were two shuttles, and naturally we got picked up by the VIP shuttle)

They drove us towards the top of the township vibe in Hout By and we made the short walk over to the Sentinel to settle on for some big wave action.

On arrival there was quite a decent size crowd, and people were coming and going the whole day, leaving us with a good size crowd throughout.

The gathering crowd

Within the first half hour of arriving, we definitely saw some of the finest action. The crowd could be heard cheering as the riders took to the waves, unsure of how they would fare. Collective gasps could be heard as wave after wave, guys were getting absolutely cleaned by the devastating power that Dungeons produces.

Our view over Dungeons

Boats in the distance, getting a good view point of the action

There were three surfers who were ambling along, waiting for a wave, when suddenly one caught them by surprise, crashed on them and sent boards and bodies all over the place. Some were unfortunate because successive waves came crashing down on their lives, and the support teams on jet ski’s were unable to reach them in time.

For the entire day, you could see boards being pulled out from the ocean, some of them broken, testament to the raw power that nature unleashes. Leashes were snapped and bones were broken, but these guys were out there for the love of the sport.

As much as you do something for a living and for the money, there is no way big wave surfing is focused on money for one second. I can think of millions of other ways to make money without risking my life at all. Office jobs won’t directly kill you.

Your boss might drive you insane and you might try off yourself, or your heart will attack you and you will die. You might even die as your boss sucks your life and soul out of you by paying you shit while he works from a laptop in the Bahamas. But the office walls are hardly going to come crashing down on you, smashing you to pieces while a rescue crew try and save you.

Big wave surfing will kill you if you are not at your peak. The ocean is your boss, and of you don’t treat him right, he will completely obliterate you. The waves are your office walls, and every single time you type a document, those walls come crashing down. Every time you make a phone call, or attempt any work, those walls will break apart all over your helpless body.

The 20 odd foot waves on Saturday are hardly the biggest waves ever surfed, but being there in person, it is scary to see how big 20 foot actually is. It’s 20 foot of power which you need to try control in a graceful manner. It’s not only about surviving, but about impressing the judges. One slip…and you’re gone. Imagine being in the office and you send in a document 3 seconds late and your boss fires you?

This is big wave surfing. Judge anything wrong by even so much as a second and you will come crashing down and might find yourself out of the next heat, and out of the competition.

But that’s the sport, it’s about who is best on the day. And as the competition has quite a fair window period, you need to be on top of your game throughout the waiting period. No easy feat…

It was one of the crazier days out and it was amazing to experience athletes of such a high calibre, it’s a definite must see event in Cape Town. For more information, videos, photos and results click BWA.

I also just want to say a big thanks to the sponsors Red Bull and everyone involved for making the event a success. From the marshals to the shuttle drivers, the team keeping a watch on the surfing conditions and all the support teams, you guys did a great job, I’m just happy the event got to take place this year with great surfing conditions!

Sean Lloyd

Editor