Weekly Wrap

Was a week for the winter woolies, but not really the surfboards. As per usual, if you put petrol in the tank and went drive-about you got waves. But if you were limited to the bay you were screwed somewhat. JBay's abuzz with the pro circus that's moved into town ahead of the JBay Open of Surfing. The talent level in the line-up has gone off the richter scale, like the shot below by Robbie Irlam of Gabe Medina doing his thing. Can't wait to watch the world's best blitz the point at Supers.

Sticking with pro surfers for a minute -  Kelly Slater's new brand's gonna be called Outer Known. Um, doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it?! It'll be the 3rd brand in the Kering group, together with Volcom & Electric. Here's Kelly rock n rolling the lip in some Volcom boardies in the mean time, til he makes some of his own.

There's also a whisper that John John Florence has waved goodbye to long term sponsor Van's. JJ signs a family deal if he signs and it seemed like Van's were no longer keen to take on the whole clan when it came time to re-ink his deal. Proving blood is thicker than water JJ has walked. 

A big trip down memory lane this week with the release of Turtle Morris's compilation of vintage Super 8 footage. It was such a privilege to sift through all the hours of film I got converted onto DVD and make a lil clip of it all. Have to agree with the ballies when the say the waves were better back then. Definitely less sand at Fence and more everywhere else 30 years ago.

You can check out the Turtle's movie here: http://youtu.be/ln21CcvreqY

In a fine exhibit of why surfers are core, Twiggy surfs the finals of the Billabong Pico Alto big wave comp with a broken ankle. He sat out there patiently, and with just 10 minutes to go stroked into an absolute monster. Had he made it round the whitewash that blew out behind him halfway along the wave, he might have been in contention for a win. Now compare that to the soccer naff's in the World Cup who look like they've been downed with an AK47 every time sometime nudges them.

Friday night saw the Cottonfields lay down another foot-stomping gig - this time to celebrate the 4th of July. The band is fronted by lead vocalist and local surfer Jean du Toit, backed up by Steven Carter (aka Joff) local graffiti guru and spray artist, and Megan Du Toit and Dameon van Antwerpen.

If you haven't got round to seeing these guys perform you're missing out. Check a snippet from their gig below. And make a plan to check em out next time they're live.

Whilst everyone's bitching about the cold, local Brad Beck continues on his Maldivian adventure. This week spent some time on a very un-feral like surf boat. Styling digs, top-end chow and amazing waves - yeah - he's hating his job right now. Says he'd much rather be stuck in a windowless office all day!

The weather man had called for it to be really kak on the weekend - which didn't actually transpire. Yeh, it blew a bit and there were a few drops of rain, but nothing impressive. Other than another perfect Sunday evening...

© Robbie Irlam