The second contest in the global Surf Web Series – The Rip Curl E-Pro Online Surf Event South Africa, kicks off on the 1 August and will run through to a final on 15 August. This is the second event in the global tour, and is exclusive for South African surfers. The first event has already run to completion in Mexico. Due to the recent run of amazing surf in South Africa, competition organisers have allowed competitors to enter any waves that were surfed from 1 March 2019 until 25 July 2020.
Featured Image – Kody McGregor ©
The Rip Curl E-Pro has an R10,000 first prize and an R5,000 runner-up prize. Red Bull has also stepped in to reward our surfers, and there is an R10k Red Bull Best Tube Ride award specialty prize. It is up to surfers to work with videographers, and share their prizemoney.
Surfers such as Chad Du Toit, Max and Jake Elkington, Eli Beukes, Luke Slijpen, Dan Emslie, Mike Frew, Surprize Maphumulo, James Ribbink, Davey Van Zyl, Beyrick De Vries, Dylan Lightfoot and Dan Redman have already entered, along with a bunch of other top South African surfers. The rest will be announced soon. Any other surfers who wish to enter can mail Craig Jarvis on info@craigjarvis.co.za to express their interest.
It is a simple format, with surfers entering one wave (one clip) per heat. Every heat they advance they have to utilise another wave and another clip. This is where the strategy comes in, with surfers deciding where to drop their best clips.
The Surf Web Series is a direct response to the current challenges the sport is experiencing under COVID-19. Primarily it is all about having some fun, showcasing some excellent clips and some incredible South African waves as well as the best surfers in the country.
In South Africa, the footage can be any free-surfing wave filmed in South Africa between 1 March 2019, up 25 July 2020. South African surfers, South African waves. One wave per heat. For this event, the wave heights cannot be bigger than eight-foot, so if you’re holding any bangers from Dungeons or Sunset, then bank them for the upcoming big wave events and tour.
Surfers have from now until 25 July to mail / wetransfer / Whatsapp their entries, as single rides, to info@craigjarvis.co.za. If you have any excellent clips in the bag, speak to the videographers and get them ready to go.
After the South African event, the tour moves to Japan, and will then head out for the rest of the tour. It culminates with a world ranking, and a Global Final, where surfers from different countries will come up against each other for the Surf Web Series World Title. Details of the full tour can be found on the website https://www.surfwebseries.com/.
The first event of the series was held in Mexico and was a great success, with many people watching and commenting. The Mexican Contest can be viewed and analysed on the @surfopenleague Instagram account, and interested parties can follow how that surf event played out, all the way through to the action-packed final.
For this first event, it is a Combined Tour, with both men and women allowed to enter. Still, the tour founders and event organisers are committed to introducing a Women’s standalone tour soon, along with a Longboard Tour, Big Wave Tour and Bodyboard Tour.
The Rip Curl E-Pro is supported by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is the recognised governing body for the sport in South Africa and is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), the African Surfing Confederation (ASC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).
