3 Waves We Dig

So, there’s less than one month left in the Striped Horse Challenge. 26 days to be exact. If you don’t include today. And the entries have been pretty damn sick thus far. We’ve been showered with entries from all round the country. Thank the lord South Africa fires with any hint of a swell. Our taxes go into many a corrupt politicians black hole wallet, but damn we’ve got good waves. 

As the days draw longer, the nights shorter and jocks wear snugger Woolworths board shorts, aviator sunglasses and tanks to show off their Creatine powder muscles, we know summer is upon us. But alas, do not let the Men’s Health muscles bring you to sadness! Because there’s still time to save Summer. Some of our best swells for the last couple of years have happened mid December. Keep those step-ups waxed. With climate change at its peak and cows farting all over the place, who knows what the hell Mother Nature might deliver.

 

Chris Oliver – Noordhoek

Noordhoek is a difficult wave to surf. It wedges at you and throws quick. If you’re looking for an easy roll in, bottom turn to kick stall into the pit, my man, Noordhoek ain’t the place. Most waves will find you sprinting down the thing and dropping in under the lip. That combined with the fact that there are probably icicles wrapped round your joints, make the place that much more challenging.

And that’s why we dig Chris Oliver’s throaty beast of a backhand pig dog. That homie paddled into that thing, threw his hand in the air like he don’t care, then doggy doored a monster closeout like it was nothing. Certainly an entry we dig.

Sequence: Neil Bradfield

 

Mikey February – Down the Beach

Mikey February at that spot we all love to pretend is still a secret. Hell I’ve seen German tourists from the heart of Stuttgart take trips over the falls there. But let’s keep it secret lest Zuma sells it to the Russians.

There’s almost no justification required for Mikey’s barrel. A triple overhead beast from the ocean deep, surfed like a man on the top echelon of competitive surfing. So stylish, so smooth. Mikey made that thing look easy. And he had no business doing that. Cause that wave was heaaaaaaavyyyyy. 

View the full sequence here.

 

Derek Horlock – South Coast

Was this filmed on an iPhone!? Or maybe a camcorder!? Regardless, we’re still into it. It’s like a throwback to Taylor Steele’s first VHS productions. Derek Horlock gets served up a spicy barrel down the South Coast, but he handles the chilli with relative ease and makes the barrel.

Derek was the first month’s winner of the Striped Horse Challenge, and rightfully so. Greg Emslie, one of the judges, described why perfectly,”It was thick, scary, not easy, very deep, and when that one section came over, I thought he wouldn’t make it.”

Filmer: Peter Horlock

   

 

*The Striped Horse Challenge presented by Zigzag in association with Hurricane Surf will be rewarding the winner with 30k cash, a return flight to Hawaii and 10k to the photographer/videographer that captures it.

Find out more about the Striped Horse Challenge here.