Tag: billabong

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Rolling Retro once again the Surf Event of the Year

Ten Years of Retro

Celebrating ten years of surf heritage and vintage South African surf craft, Llandudno beach lit up for the Rolling Retro on Saturday. Once again, contest director, Captain Kai was under huge pressure as the morning started grey, cold and raining, but as per usual he called it right and it turned into a perfect day. The waves were a little on the wild side, but everyone had a good time and some spectacular surfing was seen over the course of the day. 

Surf fans from all over the world came down to surf a piece of surf memorabilia, from Vudu Surf’s massive collection, and to enjoy what is hands down the biggest surf event in Cape Town. Over 150 surfers entered and there were around a thousand people watching from the beach. The Llandudno lifesaving club kept them well fed and hydrated, while the waves delivered once again. 

Llandudno always delivers for the Rolling Retro.

The Kneeboarders Charged

The morning started with the rather large kneeboard crew hitting the line up and surf commentators, Stan Badger and Captain Kai could not pick a best one, so we just left them to have fun in the hollow conditions. It was a record entry of 18 kneeboarders, including long time Llandudno local, Guy Joubert. 

Next up the bodyboarders and bodysurfers shared the line up and another Llandudno local, Markus Phitides, normally seen bodyboarding, put on a stellar performance with the hand gun to win best “Body Surfer/Bodyboarder” of the day. 

Ocean Pledge and their team of environmental warriors had the beach signing up to end the use of single use plastic and cigarette butts – with a record number of pledges signed, showing that Rolling Retro fans care about the planet and our oceans. 

Paddleski Returns at Rolling Retro

The crowd on the beach must have thought they were back in time for the next heat, as a flotilla of paddle skis hit the lineup for the first time ever at Rolling Retro. A couple of fun chirps from Badger, such as, “We going to see one moerse Omlette shortly” were made, but the guys charged hard and were very entertaining. A big shout out to, Mike Wessels who put it all together. He has been charging some heavy days in the Gat lately and it paid off as he took the honours for the ski heat. 

In the ladies it was a mix of Log and Short and some very notable performances. Young local, Mary Slijpen really impressed the commentators, as did local lifeguard, Tasmin Du Preez, who won best female Logger. Natasha van Greunen stole the show with some solid lip hits. 

Raphael Nagalo brought some Philippine Flavour to the Log Heat.

Hailing all the way from the Philippines, Raphael Nagalo, put on a very smooth performance in the heavy conditions to be awarded the best Log award. He was super stoked to be in Cape Town and even more stoked with the win. 

The short boarders hit the lineup for the rest of the day and as the tide started dropping out, the conditions got pretty heavy. Contest Director, Captain Kai, found himself scratching into an absolute beast in the Gat and as the beach held their breath there was a moment where he looked like making it in, before getting absolutely destroyed. His consolation was being awarded the best wipeout of the day. 

Joshe Faulkner was ripping in the Pro Heat.

Billabong team rider, Joshe Faulkner, put on an electrifying performance, with some crazy turns and two huge, clean backside airs. His first air was so big and clean, especially in the heavy conditions, that the boys awarded him the best Move of the event. 

A huge keg won Josh Brodie the wave of the day award.

One Llandudno local always stands out when the Gat is heaving and Josh Brodie pulled the rabbit out of the hat in the final heat of the day again. He found a huge clean wedge out of nowhere and back door charged the tube to the wild ovation of the crowd and into his second consecutive Best Wave award. 

Ricky Basnett doing what he does best – ripping!

Rolling Retro Best Surfer

Out of many great overall performances, one guy stood out. Coming all the way from the bluff, Ricky Basnett was on fire and it was a unanimous decision to give him the best surfer of the day award. He promptly thanked his Vans team mates, gave them all his beers and rum and made a quiet exit. But he had already made all the noise he needed in the water. 

The Dinosaurs rocked the party!

The Red Bull after party kicked in, with psychedelic surf rockers, The Dinosaurs, ripping out a killer set before DJ duo Mix n Blend got the party people jumping. Ice cold draughts flowed, thanks to Striped Horse, the frozen daiquiris from Suncamino were everywhere ensuring the party was well and truly going off. The sun set, the smiles were huge and the party went late into the night. It was the perfect way to end another incredible Rolling Retro. 

Huge thanks to everyone who helped, came down and had a blast and who have supported the event over a decade of seriously good times. 

Big thanks to our sponsors Striped Horse, Red Bull, Vudu Surf, Billabong, Hurricane Surf, Von Zipper, Amazonia, Suncamino Rum, Ocean Pledge, We Care Collective 

All Images: Ryan Collins 

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Make It – The fresh surfing of Joshe Faulkner

Hailing from Jbay, Joshe has a deadly backhand attack!

Joshe Faulkner has a deep well of Talent

Joshe Faulkner grew up in Jbay and has honed his talent in the competitive lineups and on the strong South African junior series. Some big results over the years, but it is watching him free surf where you really gain perspective on how deep his talent runs. This is why I asked Billabong to give me some time with him to film and boy am I glad I did.

The Kid seems Quiet

When you need Joshe he comes off as this super quiet and reserved human. But travelling with him for two weeks I got to find out he is pretty sharp, has a dark sense of humour and once he feels comfortable around you he actually loves a chat. The main thing I learnt about him though, is that he literally loves surfing more than anything else. He will surf for hours, as in 6 hour session, come out and eat and go straight back in for another few hours.

Make It is just the start

This is our first project working together, but plans are already in motion for a bigger and more radical film to be shot this year. So watch this space, give the young man a follow on social – Joshe on Instagram – and I will keep you posted as we look to make the best free surfing film out of South Africa ever!

In the meantime enjoy this, our first project together…

Make It – Joshe Faulkner, South Africa from Kai Linder on Vimeo.

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Rolling Retro 2017 – The Perfect Day

People will remember many things about the Rolling Retro this year. There was incredible weather, more hot girls in bikinis than the Playboy mansion, one hell of a party and of course there were insane waves! Stand out performances from the likes of Dale Staples, Josh Brodie, Robbie Schofield and Jacques Smit had the crowd on the beach screaming for makes and groaning for wipeouts. Enjoy the video and make sure that next year you dont miss this event…

Big thanks to the other sponsors: Red Bull, Billabong, Striped Horse, El Jimador, Hurricane Surf, Vudu Surf, Von Zipper

Music: The Runaway Nuns

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Bromdog’s Risky Business – Watch Now

I watched this film and simply marvelled at how how big Bromdog’s balls actually are! He is not afraid to go over the ledge in big waves and thus this short film deserves your time…

Risky Business from Guy Mac on Vimeo.

“…the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved…” “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” – Jack Kerouac

Step out of your comfort zone; explore new places, meet new people and throw all caution to the wind – you never know where you’ll land up! Risky Business is all about putting yourself out there, and the rewards found at the end of the road less travelled.

Risky Business captures the journey of South African surfer Matt Bromley and filmer Guy Macindoe while they travel to some of the riskier places on earth in their pursuit of surf perfection; from surfing between icebergs in Iceland, to charging massive mountains of water at Jaws in Hawaii, to dropping into near-dry tubes over unforgiving ledges in Africa. The idea was to produce a contemporary surf film, one that showed the risks behind the reward of chasing global swells on a shoe string budget, all the while living every surfers dream for a year between South Africa, Europe, Hawaii, Iceland and Indonesia. The hope is that Risky Business will inspire its audiences to stretch the boundaries of their own capacity, flee their comfort zones, and chase all things bigger and better. Matt and Guy both stretched themselves to make this film a reality; traveling in debt and in fear of not knowing what was around the next swell. All their equipment was stolen in Portugal and they suffered many other hardships along the way, but as Matt reports, “It was worth every moment of risk, and made the journey and experience that much more unforgettable.”

Listen to the call of the road, and follow. Risky Business. This is their story in 25-mins.

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Billabong Junior Series fires on Day 1 in Jbay 2015

To be honest I was a little bleak we were on at the same time as the Jbay Open yesterday, but that feeling dissipated real fast as the Under 16 and Junior Boys heats took to the water at Magnatubes in Jbay and the level of surfing went through the roof! Top junior surfers like Matti Mcgilivray and Dylan Lightfoot battled with international super juniors like Seth Moniz and Griffin Colapinto. Matti landing a hail mary air in his quarter final to get a 10 point ride and Griffin getting the first perfect 10 of the event in his Round 1 heat. Check out the video and be impressed! Seriously I reckon you would have been more entertained at the Junior event than at the main event at Supertubes.

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The Ballito Pro 2015 – Ladies Finals & the Trials

We had an action packed day 1 down at the Ballito Pro with both the mens trials and the ladies competition surfing to completion. In the trials we saw Brazilian domination with Roberto Santos taking the win from Flavio Nakajima, who both got wildcards into the main event. In the ladies it was Nikita Robb taking the win from Faye Zoetmulder in the final and walking home with a R10’000 payday. We also caught up with top junior surfer, Ntando Msibi and ladies competitor, Tarry Chudleigh. This insert was broadcast on the Expresso Show on SABC 3.

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Donkey Bay Fires for first time in 2015

The world’s best wave? It sure blew my mind. I was lucky enough to finally make it to Donkey Bay for a proper swell and got to witness a great crew charge 3km long tubes down the sand bottom point. The wave weaves and warps much like it warps your mind. I hope the video can do it some justice, but to be honest unless you witness it yourself it is pretty difficult to understand just what you are dealing with. It is also super heavy and your average surfer is going to struggle to make the drop and the sections. Did I mention it is 3km long and there is now no lifting at the point, so that means a very long walk between waves and it is possible to have a “freshy”, or not catch a wave and be washed down the point. Granville West cracked a rib early in the day and soldiered on, getting at least one epic wave for his trouble. The standouts were Aritz Aranburu, the Brand brothers, Ari Kraak, Etienne Potgieter, Matt Bromley and it was great to see young surfer, Ntando Msibi giving it a go (See my next video.) All in all the Donkey should be voted a World Wonder! Keep your eyes pealed for the Day 2 video.

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WSL Big Wave Awards – Ride of the Year Nominees

The awards for the most mental surfers on the planet approaches and these are the nominees for the Ride of the Year. While Brad Domke is pretty spectacular on his finless wonder, I think it is a 2 horse race between Shane Dorian, that drop at Puerto is crazy, and Dean Morrison, as if we are remembering it is the “Big Wave” awards and his wave at the Right is absolutely insane. I will be posting the awards nominees during the day and week.