Hellman, journeyman and funny man
Duncan in his office. By Damea Dorsey
Age: 35
Local Spot: Seals and Avo's/Clubhouse if it's on
Weapons: Full quiver from grovel boards through to longboards, SUP's and hydrofoils. Riding for Jason Ribbink's Bilt boards
Wheels: Nissan double cab equipped to tow ski's, complete with rooftop tent for West Coast missions
Graft: Professional surfer and journeyman - for ONeill Europe & Van's Europe
Favourite surfer: Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds
Favourite spot: Apocolypse, Panatian Island in Indo
Local Crew: Usually tow with Matt Elliot and Kimble Whitfield here, Thomas King in Cape Town, and Al Mennie & Paul O'Kane in Ireland.
Achievements: WQS for 4 years. Best result a 9th in the HIC contest at Pipe. Nominated for biggest wave in Billabong XXL 2008, and USA's Surfer Magazine Poll finalist for Heavy Water (Big Wave) Performance category (2009). Pioneered big wave surfing at Aileen's & Mullaghmore Head in Ireland. As a freesurfer I've been lucky to surf & explore 50 countries from the equator to the Arctic Circle.
Local Spot: Seals and Avo's/Clubhouse if it's on
Weapons: Full quiver from grovel boards through to longboards, SUP's and hydrofoils. Riding for Jason Ribbink's Bilt boards
Wheels: Nissan double cab equipped to tow ski's, complete with rooftop tent for West Coast missions
Graft: Professional surfer and journeyman - for ONeill Europe & Van's Europe
Favourite surfer: Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds
Favourite spot: Apocolypse, Panatian Island in Indo
Local Crew: Usually tow with Matt Elliot and Kimble Whitfield here, Thomas King in Cape Town, and Al Mennie & Paul O'Kane in Ireland.
Achievements: WQS for 4 years. Best result a 9th in the HIC contest at Pipe. Nominated for biggest wave in Billabong XXL 2008, and USA's Surfer Magazine Poll finalist for Heavy Water (Big Wave) Performance category (2009). Pioneered big wave surfing at Aileen's & Mullaghmore Head in Ireland. As a freesurfer I've been lucky to surf & explore 50 countries from the equator to the Arctic Circle.
For those of you who might not know Duncan...
He's a PE boy made good - anyone who's successfully managed to avoid 9-5 employment whilst getting paid by ONeill to surf around the world for the past 14 years deserves our deepest respect!!
Duncan left Grey High 18 years ago to study at UCT, and since completing his degree has put it to good use by developing a myriad of ways to avoid actual work. To all you groms out there, this should be a fine example that education is a valuable commodity. It equips you with the smarts to work out how to get paid to surf instead of work, without necessarily having to be blessed with extraodinary surfing talent.
Duncan left Grey High 18 years ago to study at UCT, and since completing his degree has put it to good use by developing a myriad of ways to avoid actual work. To all you groms out there, this should be a fine example that education is a valuable commodity. It equips you with the smarts to work out how to get paid to surf instead of work, without necessarily having to be blessed with extraodinary surfing talent.
So Duncan,where'd it all start?
We spent all our holidays on the Krom, my dad had these homemade longboards we used to stand on in the river. I was actually more into windsurfing at that stage, and wanted to upgrade from the standard board to a "proper" one. My dad said his usual "Get 3 quotes" so off I went to Oceans (Ed - big surf shop in Rink Street back in the day) to do just that. Whilst there I saw this Instinct poster that said "This is why!" with Barton Lynch barreled at big Pipe. I took one look at that and went, "I wanna get barreled!" so right then decided to leave windsurfing and pursue surfing instead.
Just double click the pics to see the full size slideshow.
So what you up to at the moment?
I moved back to SA a little while ago. I was in Newquay (UK) at the time, although was spending most of my time in Ireland or somewhere else in Europe chasing surf. I'd been thinking about moving to Ireland actually, but then worked out I could rather come back home - spend the winters chasing slabs and big waves here (and of course spend time with Sarah - Ed: John Elliots daughter and Matt's sister) and then go across to Ireland for their winter - so basically the Endless Winter!
I'm paid by ONeill's adventure/exploration division to travel the globe doing general purpose free surfing - from amazing & unusual locations to big heavy waves.
I'm paid by ONeill's adventure/exploration division to travel the globe doing general purpose free surfing - from amazing & unusual locations to big heavy waves.
How'd the whole Ireland big wave scene come about?
I was heading up Oneills wetsuit division in Europe at the time. Jughead, a mate of mine (Ed - big wave hellman from Aus, Shipsterns specialist), was towing into ridiculous stuff in Aus - it was the start of the whole tow surfing era. I'd towed a bit whilst in Hawaii - on the day they ran the Eddie actually, but nothing really since. I had surfed a lot with Jughead in Hawaii, and was excited by the direction his surfing was going.
So I went over to spend some time with Jughead in Aus working on towing, as I realised this could be the next big chapter in my surfing. We surfed places like Crackhead reef and Deadman's, just working out all the tricks of the trade. Big learning curve and got an idea of the responsibilities, as well as the capabilities of a ski.
But then it was back to England, sitting looking at the crappy mush at Fistral. Out of the blue I get this call from Micky Smith, a Cornish photag (the equivalent of slab-seeking AVG back in SA). He's going, "I've found a wave you'll like, fly over here (Dublin) tonight". So we got into Dublin then drove through the night across to the west coast, the Cliffs of Moher.
Next day we hike down this hectic goat-trail for 40min. First parts ok cos it's zigzagging, but the last portion is straight down on this slimy muddy path, hectic. This is an 800ft cliff we're talking about. Then it's a mad scramble over these huge boulders the size of mini-buses, and trying to time your jump off through a massive shorey so you don't get splattered against the cliff.
But there it was, a perfect A frame going off at a solid Hawaiian 12ft. I had this epiphany - just realised I didn't need to go to Hawaii anymore to get my big wave rush. Ireland was the next heavy water frontier.
Things grew from there, we got sorted with some ski's, coupla guys formed tow teams. Al Mennie, Paul O'Kane, Mikee Hamilton, Cotty - those were the regulars I worked with. The day we surfed massive Mullaghmore - which got us the Billabong XXL nomination - it was 45ft faces at least. The bouys 10 miles out were showing 48ft at 18 seconds. The Ireland Met Office said it was the biggest swell they recorded. It's this ridiculous left point that doesn't even break until it gets to 15ft.
So I went over to spend some time with Jughead in Aus working on towing, as I realised this could be the next big chapter in my surfing. We surfed places like Crackhead reef and Deadman's, just working out all the tricks of the trade. Big learning curve and got an idea of the responsibilities, as well as the capabilities of a ski.
But then it was back to England, sitting looking at the crappy mush at Fistral. Out of the blue I get this call from Micky Smith, a Cornish photag (the equivalent of slab-seeking AVG back in SA). He's going, "I've found a wave you'll like, fly over here (Dublin) tonight". So we got into Dublin then drove through the night across to the west coast, the Cliffs of Moher.
Next day we hike down this hectic goat-trail for 40min. First parts ok cos it's zigzagging, but the last portion is straight down on this slimy muddy path, hectic. This is an 800ft cliff we're talking about. Then it's a mad scramble over these huge boulders the size of mini-buses, and trying to time your jump off through a massive shorey so you don't get splattered against the cliff.
But there it was, a perfect A frame going off at a solid Hawaiian 12ft. I had this epiphany - just realised I didn't need to go to Hawaii anymore to get my big wave rush. Ireland was the next heavy water frontier.
Things grew from there, we got sorted with some ski's, coupla guys formed tow teams. Al Mennie, Paul O'Kane, Mikee Hamilton, Cotty - those were the regulars I worked with. The day we surfed massive Mullaghmore - which got us the Billabong XXL nomination - it was 45ft faces at least. The bouys 10 miles out were showing 48ft at 18 seconds. The Ireland Met Office said it was the biggest swell they recorded. It's this ridiculous left point that doesn't even break until it gets to 15ft.
How'd you get into surfing big waves to start with?
I started getting into it more when I moved to Cape Town. John McCarthy (the editor of The Bomb) had just got back to SA after a stint on the QS. He was spending winters in Hawaii and then travelling on the QS with the first post-Apartheid crew. GUys like Jason Ribbink, Warren Dean, Carl Roux and Seth Hulley. Myself, Grant Preller and John all went to surf Crayfish Factory. It was a heavy 12ft-15ft big, messy swell. Stuck 2 leashes on my board and off I went. Hung about on the shoulder for a while checking it all out, but eventually threw myself over a heaving ledge. This amazing sensation of dropping down faster than ever, staring into this massive bowl - I was hooked for life! It was all the fun of surfing but just amplified - bigger, better, faster. John was going, if you like that, get yourself over to Hawaii.
Any cool near death experiences?
Worst one was at Sunset in Cape Town. Hadn't surfed it before, and Davey Stolk was looking for someone to go out there with him. Sunset was the biggest it'd been in 9 years. He lent me his 9ft8 (my gun was "only" a 7ft6). At Sunset you need length and volume. Rob Schermbrucker (my mate from UCT), Davey and I had to paddle through this 8ft shore pound down the other end of Long Beach. It's about a 10 minute paddle to the peak through heaving ocean, about a km out to sea.
It's a triangular reef with a real shifty peak. So we get out there and I ask Davey for the line-up, he goes "There isn't one". So I reckon I'll be safe if I sit on the shoulder about 50m wide of Davey. The problem is there's so much water moving about that unbeknownst to me he gets pushed off the peak and I'm actually sitting slap bang on it!
The next thing the whole horizon just lifts, it's a kak sight! We start paddling about 45 degrees out and wide, we kept paddling for like 2-3 minutes, full speed. This monster swell would just feather, then back off, feather again, then back off. I was 3/4 way up the first wave of the set, just reaching the vertical part which was about 25ft and this thing just threw - I went over backwards in the lip! Think "Oh F**K" in slow motion.
Board was gone. I hit the reef, which is at least 20ft deep. The problem with Sunset is that it has this apex which just pushes you down and keeps you right in the impact zone, so it pushes you DOWN not IN. Everything was pitch balck. I waited til the churning stopped and started swimming up, and up and up. It felt like forever. I couldn't even see if I was getting closer to the surface cos I have contacts and can't open my eyes under water.
Eventually I broke the surface, managed a gasp of air, and as I opened my eyes the next lip was literally 50cm above my head and I'm staring straight at it. I got absolutely drilled again. Rinse and spin cycle just like before. Like a barbie doll in a washing machine. I took another 5 like that on the head, each time getting literally a second or two to gasp a breathe. By this stage I was buggered, I'd started seeing stars and getting tingly fingers and had a little voice going "this could be it" which was overriding the other voice going "panic is your enemy".
Thankfully I survived the set and managed to swim the km to shore. I flopped up on the beach just puking my lungs out. Didn't speak for 3 days after that. But that set the benchmark for bad. Since then I've never experienced anything like that. Sure, plenty of bad beatings, but nothing like that relentless nightmare.
It's a triangular reef with a real shifty peak. So we get out there and I ask Davey for the line-up, he goes "There isn't one". So I reckon I'll be safe if I sit on the shoulder about 50m wide of Davey. The problem is there's so much water moving about that unbeknownst to me he gets pushed off the peak and I'm actually sitting slap bang on it!
The next thing the whole horizon just lifts, it's a kak sight! We start paddling about 45 degrees out and wide, we kept paddling for like 2-3 minutes, full speed. This monster swell would just feather, then back off, feather again, then back off. I was 3/4 way up the first wave of the set, just reaching the vertical part which was about 25ft and this thing just threw - I went over backwards in the lip! Think "Oh F**K" in slow motion.
Board was gone. I hit the reef, which is at least 20ft deep. The problem with Sunset is that it has this apex which just pushes you down and keeps you right in the impact zone, so it pushes you DOWN not IN. Everything was pitch balck. I waited til the churning stopped and started swimming up, and up and up. It felt like forever. I couldn't even see if I was getting closer to the surface cos I have contacts and can't open my eyes under water.
Eventually I broke the surface, managed a gasp of air, and as I opened my eyes the next lip was literally 50cm above my head and I'm staring straight at it. I got absolutely drilled again. Rinse and spin cycle just like before. Like a barbie doll in a washing machine. I took another 5 like that on the head, each time getting literally a second or two to gasp a breathe. By this stage I was buggered, I'd started seeing stars and getting tingly fingers and had a little voice going "this could be it" which was overriding the other voice going "panic is your enemy".
Thankfully I survived the set and managed to swim the km to shore. I flopped up on the beach just puking my lungs out. Didn't speak for 3 days after that. But that set the benchmark for bad. Since then I've never experienced anything like that. Sure, plenty of bad beatings, but nothing like that relentless nightmare.
When did you first go over to Hawaii?
Well after my first surf at Crayfish with John I was hooked. So it was scrimp, save, sell everything I had to get to Hawaii in the December varsity holidays. Got over there and the contact that was meant to hook me up for the Rusty Pro Maui had bailed to Japan. So I hitched to the beach and camped there. This fisherman guy took pity on me and fed me. The surf was wild and I had heavy locals like Titus Kinimaka and Rainos Hayes in my heats. It was so big at Hookipa for the trails that it sunk the rescue ski. Afterwards I got back to Oahu, and managed a 9th at the HIC contest at Pipe.
Surfco Hawaii sponsored my ticket over the next year. Since then I've done 9 winters in Hawaii.
Surfco Hawaii sponsored my ticket over the next year. Since then I've done 9 winters in Hawaii.
Tell us about your time on the QS.
I started after varsity and based myself in LA, as at that stage it was before the digital era - so you had to be near the photag's and the epicentre of the industry to get sponsored. I was living next door to Pete Johnson (Jack Johnson's brother) who was the Hawaii O'Neill rep, and he got my CV to Shaun Tomson who was marketing manager for ONeill at the time. So I get this call from Shaun going come for a surf with me, I want to check you out!
So off I went to Upper Trestles, and surfed with Shaun, Shane Beshan and Mike Lambrezi. Surfed my guts out. Remember just hanging on to this layback hack - the big move in those days. Anyway, get out the water and Shaun is like, "OK, gotto go." No feedback, nothing. Then 2 weeks later I get a call to say I've got a sponsorship. Just started out with entry fees and clothing.
The QS was all about volume in those day, the more comp's you did the more points you got, the higher your ranking. Reckon I topped out at around 150 somewhere. My sponsorship eventually developed into what I have today which is essentially a swell chasing contract. Contract territory is stated as "the globe!" All I have to do is represent the brand as a positive role model and generate coverage for O'Neill.
So off I went to Upper Trestles, and surfed with Shaun, Shane Beshan and Mike Lambrezi. Surfed my guts out. Remember just hanging on to this layback hack - the big move in those days. Anyway, get out the water and Shaun is like, "OK, gotto go." No feedback, nothing. Then 2 weeks later I get a call to say I've got a sponsorship. Just started out with entry fees and clothing.
The QS was all about volume in those day, the more comp's you did the more points you got, the higher your ranking. Reckon I topped out at around 150 somewhere. My sponsorship eventually developed into what I have today which is essentially a swell chasing contract. Contract territory is stated as "the globe!" All I have to do is represent the brand as a positive role model and generate coverage for O'Neill.
Any feral stories from those days on the tour?
My 1st year on the QS I had a comp in Newquay. Chris Harris, a Boland shaper, was based there - those days still working in the bar at the Bay Hotel overlooking Fistral. I couldn't afford the few pounds for taxi fare from the station to the hotel, so ended up dragging by 6 board coffin across town! I slept in the broom cupboard at the hotel, in amongst a bunch of broken chairs! Chris was like "If you hear someone coming just keep quiet!"
Freakist thing I ever saw was whilst getting lost in Portugal on the way to a comp with Simon Nicholson and Dave Pfaff. We were in these small alleys and next thing we look down the one lane and see this kid humping his dog! We ended up driving in circles and came upon him again a full 15 minutes later and he was still at it!!
Freakist thing I ever saw was whilst getting lost in Portugal on the way to a comp with Simon Nicholson and Dave Pfaff. We were in these small alleys and next thing we look down the one lane and see this kid humping his dog! We ended up driving in circles and came upon him again a full 15 minutes later and he was still at it!!
I remember seeing a shot of you in Surfer years ago surfing a heat on a lilo!
Yah, that in Zarautz in Portugal. The OP Pukas Pro. It was 1ft. I was sleeping on this lilo whilst I was there, and reckoned I had as much chance on that as I did surfing a real board cos it was so stupidly small. Seth Hulley ended up daring me to surf my heat on it. So I did. They freaked out, the contest director threw a tantrum about how I was bringing surfing into disrepute! Luckily Clyde Martin, an ex-Saffa, was the ASP director at the time so he told them there was nothing in the rules about choice of equipment!
I've done other interesting stuff like surf the tidal bores in the Severn River in the UK and the wavepool in Japan. I also did Iceland recently.
I've done other interesting stuff like surf the tidal bores in the Severn River in the UK and the wavepool in Japan. I also did Iceland recently.
What's the story behind the ad above?
It was for my sponsor's, Vans. It ended up being part of a big poster campaign, so I was plastered all over the subway walls! We went down to Morocco to shoot. So there I was in the middle of the desert with my suit and martini glass! Work is hell.
What's the potential for big waves around PE?
Marc Jucker and I have been out to Bell Bouy to check it out. Had a few rides out there, but nothing great yet. The problem with Bell Bouy is that it's so far offshore and there's about a 3km fetch - so when the west blows you have this massive chop coming up the face. Normally as the face jacks up on big waves it tends to clean up the chop and smooth out, but at Bell Bouy you still have massive ribs of chop right in the lip as it's feathering. It makes it hard for the ski, not only the surfer. You probably need to look at it when it's slightly onshore actually.
We're sussing out some other spots along the coast as well, but they're off the radar for now. They need a perfect combo of conditions, much like the Cortez Bank in the States. One of those places you might only surf twice in 7 years.
We're sussing out some other spots along the coast as well, but they're off the radar for now. They need a perfect combo of conditions, much like the Cortez Bank in the States. One of those places you might only surf twice in 7 years.
 A big frothy one at Clubhouse. Image by Steve Noakes. |
 Towing at Clubhouse. By Steve Noakes. |
Thanks Duncan! That's all we have time for today....but we'll get you back in future to hear some more of your crazy adventures!
 Avo's. Image by Luc Hosten. |
 Avo's. Image by Luc Hosten. |
Some background as to how Dunc's came to be in the hot seat....
Our paths have crossed a couple of times over the years. Duncan used to be best mate's with our next door neighbours when we were lighties and was at school with my boet. Years later he ended up on my physio table with my elbow stuck in his back! Luckily he still talks to me after that. Then last week the surf was cooking at Avo's and Luc sent me some great shots (featured above). I was battling to identify one of the surfers and happened to ask Johnny Bakker who it could be. He said Duncan Scott. I argued no ways cos I knew Duncan and "unless he'd put on lank weight" this wasn't him. Johnny in a moment of pure tactlessness (no doubt coupled with delight at the possibility of stirring the pot) relayed my remarks straight to Duncan, who confirmed it was indeed him. Needless to say I dropped straight off the Christmas list. Well, it turns out photo's can lie, and I'm happy to say that Duncan is as slim and trim as ever and in future will remember not to do his "puffer face" look on waves. Plus the fact that anything other than black wetsuits tend to make us look larger than life!
