Vissla South Africa is proud to announce that they have signed up dynamic young Durban surfer James Ribbink onto their team. James will be wearing Vissla threads, as well as sporting Vissla wetsuits in the water.
“James is a great addition to the Vissla family in South Africa, and we’re very happy to have him with us,” said Arno Lane from Vissla South Africa. “We have known James for a long time, and his great style in the water and on land, his fun personality, and obviously the fact that he rips make him the perfect rider to represent our brand. Last year we saw James blowing up at Supertubes, and everyone was very impressed with his relaxed approach when it got a bit bigger, combined with his focused rail game and air moves. James has a great future ahead of him and we’re proud to be a part of his journey.”
The 14-year-old surfer has a string of excellent results behind him in his own age group and was recently nominated as an alternate invite to the Cell C Goodwave invitation-only surf contest at New Pier in Durban, the youngest surfer in the country to be considered for the event. Apart from winning surf tournaments, James is well travelled, having visited Indonesia many times, recently surfed the famous Donkey Bay in Namibia with last year’s 5th rated Championship Tour surfer Jordy Smith, and often heads down to Jeffreys Bay to meet the south-west swells heading up the coast from Cape Town.
“I’m really stoked to be part of Vissla in South Africa,” said James of his new sponsorship. “It’s great that a brand like Vissla supports surfing in our country and also worldwide, and I aim to represent the brand in a positive and inspiring manner going forward. I’d also like to thank Arno and the rest of the team at Vissla for allowing me this opportunity.”
James will join World Surf League Longboarding World Champion Steve Sawyer from JBay, and the two of them will be the marquee surfers representing Vissla in the country.
