When the New Pier is firing on all cylinders, it is hard to argue that it isn’t one of the best beachbreaks in the world. If you wait for the perfect day and throw in 32 of the country’s best tube riders, what you get is a show that people talk about for years.
The waiting period for the 2013 Quiksilver Goodwave speciality event at New Pier kicked off this past Friday, 1 March, and with six months to wait out the perfect combination of swell, wind and sandbank formation, should they arrive, spectators will be in for a hi-performance feast.
The last time the Goodwave ran was in 2008, when Shane Thorne claimed the R65 000 first prize for one day of shredding his beloved home break. Before Shane, past champions include Antonio Bortoletto (2007), Warwick Wright (2005), Simon Nicholson (2004) and Llewellyn Whittaker (2003) – each earning their big pay day for a single day’s competition.
Check out this slideshow of just what the New Pier is capable of delivering – as captured by our Shot Bru contributers – and you’ll want to be among the first to know when competition will run.
Follow #goodwave on twitter to keep updated on when it will run…
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Press Release – Friday, March 1 2013 – Durban
Quiksilver Goodwave 2013 – Waiting Period Begins and Surfer Selected
Gavin Roberts (Scottburgh) has been selected to compete in he 2013 Quiksilver Goodwave presented by Zigzag
Organisers of the Quiksilver Goodwave presented by Zigzag announced the start of the event’s six-month waiting period today. The 32 high profile invited surfers for this year’s edition of the event have also been announced and can found on the events website: www.goodwave.co.za. Assisting with the selection of this years competitors were World Tour surfer Travis Logie, surf photographer and Zigzag assistant editor Alan Van Gysen as well as surf journalist Craig Jarvis. South Africa’s most controversial surf personality Warwick Wright was also called up to assist in the selection process.
The Quiksilver Goodwave is a unique invitational surfing event held between the Durban piers, the event has a waiting period of 6 months, from 1 March to 31 August 2013, and will only go ahead should the forecast point to a day of pumping surf in the allocated period. Event organizers will be working closely with legendary surf forecaster Spike from Wavescape for their information, hoping that he will be able to predict a great day to surf the event.
“The Quiksilver Goodwave is a great event to work on because it presents a unique surf forecasting challenge. Not only do you call swell height and direction, but you need to determine the quality and power of the swell, whether it’s spaced out or frequent. Big east swells can pound the beachfront and turn it into a thumping, sandy mess. You want a perfect confluence of a smooth, spaced out swell, some southeast in the direction for it to wrap onto the piers, perfect offshore winds, and to top it off, the influence of a timed low tide at a certain point during the event,” said Spike from Wavescape.
It is not the “Big Wave” or the “Perfect Wave” event, it is an event designed to see South Africa’s best surfers blowing up in good waves on the Golden Mile. Four-man 30-minute heats will take to the water at one of the three selected venues: New Pier, North Beach or the Bay of Plenty. The venue will be determined by the swell size, wind direction and quality of the sand banks at the time. Jet-ski assistance will be used to ferry competitors back out to the take off zone in order to maximize the amount of waves ridden in the allotted 30-minute period. A panel of experienced judges will be scouting for a variety of solid maneuvers and good tube riding. The winner will receive R15 000 for his efforts with a total of R25 000 on offer but it is the good, clean, solid conditions with only three other competitors in the water that the surfers most look forward to.
Former winners Shane Thorne (Cape Town), Simon Nicholson (Durban), Warwick Wright (Durban) and Antonio Bortoletto (Durban) have all been listed to compete in this years’ edition of the event. Big wave chargers Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker (Durban), Josh Redman (Durban) and Matt Bromley (Cape Town) as well as young ripper Slade Prestwich (Durban) have also all found themselves on the list. Greg Emslie and Devyn Mattheys of East London will join the south coast trio of Casey Grant, Gavin Roberts and Frankie Oberholzer on their way up the coast when the event runs.
The Quiksilver Goodwave is one of the most anticipated events on the calendar and event organisers hope that it all falls into place this year. “The Goodwave has become increasingly difficult to run over the past few years, the harbour pier has been extended preventing a lot of good south swells from coming into the Durban bay, however, there are still good swells that can produce amazing surf, we just hope that when the swell does come all of the other elements come into line as well, ” said Quiksilver’s marketing manager Dane Patterson.
The Quiksilver Goodwave is presented by Zigzag and is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. For more information and a full list of competitors go to: www.goodwave.co.za
The 32 selected surfers for 2013 include:
Antonio Bortoletto (Durban), Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga), Brandon Jackson (Durban North) Brendon Gibbens (Cape Town), Casey Grant (Scottburgh) Chad du Toit (Durban), Chris Leppan (Umhlanga), Dale Staples (St Francis), Dan Redman (Durban North), David van Zyl (Durban), David Weare (Durban), Devyn Mattheys (East London), Frankie Oberholzer (Warner Beach), Gavin Roberts (Scottburgh), Grant Baker (Durban), Greg Emslie (East London), Jason Ribbink (Durban), Josh Redman (Durban North), Lyle Bottcher (Durban), Matt Bromley (Cape Town), Michael February (Cape Town), Paul Canning (Durban), Ricky Basnett (Durban), Royden Bryson (Cape Town), Rudy Palmboom (Durban), Ryan Payne (Cape Town), Sean Holmes (Cape Town), Shane Thorne (Cape Town), Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay), Simon Nicholson (Durban), Slade Prestwich (Durban), Warwick Wright (Durban).
