Tag: dale staples

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Beyrick De Vries and Friends Tour Africa in “Higher Light”

Beyrick surfing close to home in South Africa. Image: Alan van Gysen

Its taken a while for Beyrick de Vries to premier

Beyrick de Vries comes across as a funny guy. Believe me, he is very, very funny. Just follow him on Instagram to find out for yourself. But, underneath the humour and laughs lies a very serious competitor and a perfectionist. Hence, it took a bit longer to get his signature film out than planned, because it had to be perfect.

Brendan Gibbens blasts away at a lip in Senegal. Image: Alan van Gysen

A serious cast of surfing talent

I was fortunate enough to be in the water at a few locations where the film was shot. Beyrick was a standout at every session.

Joining him in the varied African lineups was a tight crew of his friends, who all happen to be some serious rippers themselves. Brendon Gibbens is probably the most famous free surfer to ever come out of South Africa. Shane Sykes is one of the most talented of the younger generation, hailing from Salt Rock in Ballito. Then you have perennial charger, Dale Staples, in the mix.

All in all, a stacked lineup of South African surf talent.

Beyrick de Vries contemplating life as an African surfer in Senegal. Image: Alan van Gysen

Location, location, location – Beyrick de Vries chose well!

You cant have a good surf film without some dam good surf locations. Beyrick de Vries knows this, so for “Higher Light” he took the crew to some of Africa’s top wave destinations. The crystal clear waters of Mozambique, deadly tubes of Namibia and the fun, exotic destination of Senegal give the film a real African flavour. Then you add some thundering tubes on the East coast of South Africa and the frigid waters of the Cape and you have all the ingredients for an A grade film.

Watch the film, you will enjoy it!

The crew under the direction of, Steve Michelson and Monster Energy have put out an incredible film. So sit back and enjoy one of the best South African surf productions to date!

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West Kegs – Wild Tubes on Africa’s West Coast

Davey Van Zyl finds some glorious West Kegs on the far West Coast of South Africa.

West Kegs are Best

With a large crew of SA’s top surfers up on the West Coast, I decided to take my video rig with for the Vans Surf Pro Classic at Lamberts Bay. We had some insane waves over the event and the forecast for the far reaches of the coast just after the event were looking magical.

We found a heaving beachbreak, easily overhead, but with shifty peaks, loads of current and some heavy, heavy sections. The boys tried hard to find the nugs though and were rewarded with some gaping Kegs.

This coastline has so many spots, especially when the NE and East winds blow. You just need to drive along the coast and look for the lip lines. Great accomodation is easy to find and the locals are always ready to help, or feed you incredible food. They are so happy to see people, they literally open up their doors. While some crowd and fight at the more well known spots, many score by simply going a little further.

Check out Davey van Zyl, Shane Sykes, Justin Sykes, Dale Staples, Calvin Goor and Brian Furcy getting their fill of heaving, West Kegs. All footage and the edit by myself.

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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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The big man is back! Jordy Smith rips Durban & Mozambique

2015 is a year Jordy Smith will want to wipe from the memory banks, with recurring injuries and a less than stellar year on tour. Coming home to SA for the holidays he finally got over his injuries, scored some epic waves at home and managed to sneak a quick trip over the border to Mozambique. He says he is feeling great, hungry for victory and ready to assault the World Tour in 2016, as he got the injury wildcard. Watching this video, I find it hard to doubt, especially when the first stop on tour on the Gold Coast resembles the waves he is busy destroying right here. So watch this and I almost guarantee he is going to make a quick appearance in your Fantasy team.

Go Jordy!

Jordy Smith in Mozambique and Durban from Jordy Smith on Vimeo.

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Kelly & John John dominate Day 3 at the Volcom Pipe Pro

Kelly Slater and John Joh Florence put on a show at Pipeline and Backdoor to firmly stamp their intentions on winning the Volcom Pipe Pro in 2015. The defending champion, Slater was in classic form, taking off deep on backdoor bombs and making impossible tubes. JJ was not to be outdone and as the swell waned later in the day he took to finishing his tubes with massive airs. SA surfer, Dale Staples, got through his Round 3 heat behind Kelly, but could not carry that momentum through Round 4.

With a pretty variable forecast, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the Volcom Pipe Pro plays out.

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Epic Donkey Bay

Everyone by now is aware of the crazy session over a few days that happened at Donkey Bay, in Namibia. Most have see the odd Gopro photo or sequence, one or two photos, but no real video. Well roll up your sleeves and get involved as Matt Bromley, the Payne brothers and Dale Staples charge it over the swell, with Dane Staples there to get all the action.

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Best of South Africa 2013 – Surfing

I hope you guys and gals had a great Xmas and New Years and welcome to 2014! It’s going to be a mental year of action sports in SA, but as we get underway I thought I would look back at 2013, and first up the world of surfing.

Best Surfer – Grant Twig Baker

Starting the year looking down the barrel of a gun financially as he lost his major sponsor and the year’s big wave season stuttered and started very late, Grant Baker came back guns firing! With the announcement of the ASP Big Wave World Tour, twig looked me in the eye and stated with total sincerity and focus, “I am going to be the Big Wave World Champion”. The nay sayers would say he is getting too old, his time is passed, etc etc. Twig shrugged it all off, trained his ass off and when the waves finally arrived in late winter, blew minds with his commitment and focus. (While watching the Dungeons segment below, make note of John John Florence on the boat in the channel and what he says watching one of Twig’s waves!) When the first official big wave event on the year was called on in Europe, many of the big names chose to remain in Hawaii, where they had just arrived. Twig got back on a plane and missioned across the globe to dominate the event and take the number 1 spot on the ASP BW World Tour. The kids going on tour this year like Beyrick de Vries, Slade Prestwich, Mikey February and Dane Staples need to take a leaf out of Twig’s book. If your mental game is on, your body fit and ready for anything and you believe in yourself so much you intimidate your competitors, you can be the champ! The ball is rolling for Twig out of 2013, lets see what 2014 brings…

Twig: A Calculated Madness from SURFING Magazine on Vimeo.

Best Tour Surfer – Beyrick de Vries

I checked Beyrick getting a lot of flack through the years. I don’t think people took his challenge for the tour seriously. Those people, all have egg on their faces now though! An incredible year of results, culminating in what has been called the best tube ever ridden at Sunset and a solid Triple Crown showing has put Beyrick on the cusp of qualifying and with a a super seeding for 2014. Now the pressure really starts as the World number 49 heads out as the number 3 South African seed on tour behind Jordy and Travis. With an able support cast in Dale, Mikey and Slade, I am really looking forward to watching the Qualifying Tour in 2014.

Best Junior Surfer – Slade Prestwich

The big kid made big name in 2013. Long touted as the heir to Jordy Smith’s power game, Slade came right after a rather shocking start at the first Billabong Pro Junior at the beginning of the year. His big break came winning the Volcom Pro Junior in Durban and getting a slot in the competition at Fiji. With the powerful lefts of Cloudbreak as his pallet, Slade proceeded to slash and burn the competition in front of a global webcast audience. A massive win for the kid from Scottys and suddenly his head was back in the game. For me his best surfing was to come at the Junior World Champs in Brazil, where he lost to Gabriel Medina in the Quarter Finals (Medina smoked every heat in the competition), where more importantly it came to a last minute count back by the judges as Slade was the only surfer to challenge Medina the entire event. Slade has the skill, he is an immensely nice guy and he has the support of some great sponsors. My feeling is that with the right support and management he can go all the way!

My 2014 Wildcard – Dale Staples

Ducky has more than proven himself in big surf and tubes. Name made on the North Shore, a proven track record out at Jbay in front of a home crowd (Not long now till the return…) and a solid bag of tricks in the small stuff. The World number 71 has a decent seed going into 2014 and after speaking with him, he definitely has the desire to get onto the Championship Tour. Put Dale Staples on the Dream tour and watch magic happen… Now he just needs to go out there and qualify!

All in all we are poised for a massive year in professional surfing in South Africa. We have some serious firepower hitting the Qualifying Tour and make no mistake Travis Logie will go about business like he does every year. The biggest question on everyone’s lips must be, “Will Jordy Smith win a World Title this year?” He has looked me in the eye and told me there is nothing else more important to him than that exact goal and I believe him. I have put the bottle of champagne on ice in anticipation…

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Vans World Cup of Surfing 2013 Preview – Sunset Beach, Hawaii

This is one of the oldest running contests in Professional Surfing. Actually it predates the professional tour. Another fact worth mentioning is that South Africans have always done well at Sunset, ever since a young Gavin Rudolph pitched up at the Smirnoff in the 70’s and blew everyone out the water to win it. What we need now is for one of the young crop to do the same thing. My pick must be Dale Staples. He had a great show of form through Haleiwa and was in my opinion very unlucky to get knocked out in the Round of 32. He is a power surfer, loves his forehand and has shown he is not scared to take on the World Tour guys. If Sunset is big and open walled, I would like to see Ducky go all the way!

The Forecasts are looking good with swell arriving today on the North Shore, so hopefully Sunset makes up for a very lacklustre first event and we see some incredible bravery and massive turns at bowling 10-12ft Sunset Beach. One thing is for sure, winning Sunset will put you in the race for the Triple Crown and will make your name!