Home of, The Regular Guy and Adventure
Matt Bromley has been traveling to score the biggest waves on the planet for his current movie project. While putting in ridiculous performances at some of the world’s biggest waves, his exploits have been filmed and featured. HE also got 3rd place in the Mavericks Big Wave Awards, rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in the sport. Check out the video above and follow Matt to see his mind blowing new film soon…
The South African big wave community have been charging both at home and around the planet for many years. Surfers like Grant Twig Baker, who just won the Nazare Challenge, focused the eyes of the world on the spots in and around Cape Town. Sunset Reef and Dungeons are the focal point of that attention. Satori, the new film by Rick Wall, tells the stories of the surfers who have pioneered these spots and that of the new generation of chargers.
The big waves of the Cape have a fearsome reputation for good reason. Giant, powerful swells out of the Antarctic Ocean slam into the Cape Peninsula, the water is frigidly cold and the world’s biggest oceanic predator, the Great White, petrols the waters. The surfers who push themselves in these waters are a special breed. Satori will take you into their lives and their passion for big waves.
The movie does not just cover surfers who are famous world wide, like two time Big Wave World Champion, Grant Twig Baker, and adventure legend, Chris Bertish. It will also show you into the somewhat mystical pioneers, like Pierre De Villiers and Mickey Duffus. The new school of guys like Matt Bromley and Jeremy Johnson are also covered. This film will take you into the tight knit community and show you their lives.
You can watch the premier of Satori this Saturday in Cape Town – Go to this LINK
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.
WOW, what an incredible day of big wave surfing. South Africa can be proud as we watched Matt Bromley charge one of the biggest tubes of the day before the contest started, followed by Grant Twig Baker charging into the semi finals – which will go down today! Check out the highlights video below, i know its 16 minutes, but it is so worth it, I promise!
PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Oaxaca/Mexico (Friday, June 24, 2016) – South Africa’s Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker started his campaign for the 2016/17 World Surf League (WSL) Big Wave Tour (BWT) title with a solid second place finish in his Round 1 heat of the Puerto Escondido Challenge in Mexico on Friday.
Held in monstrous 10 metre (30-foot-plus) unruly waves and challenging beach break conditions, the 2013 BWT champion from Durban showcased his big wave skills, finding several huge hollow tubes, and demonstrating his commitment and bravado by taking several bone-crushing wipe-outs.
Will Skudin (USA) claimed the heat win with a 22.07 heat total over Baker by only 0.74 points. Rogercin Ramirez (MEX), event wildcard and local favorite, opened Heat 2 with a huge barrel, pulling off a technical exit to earn an authoritative 9.00, which brought the large hometown crowd to their feet.
Ramirez held the lead against the field, but with 15 fifteen minutes left in the 75 minute heat, Skudin and Baker fought back to secure the first and second positions. Skudin, Baker and Ramirez advanced to the Semifinals while BWT heavyweights Billy Kemper (HAW) and Damien Hobgood (USA), along with local wildcard Coco Nogales (MEX) were knocked out of the competition.
“It was hard to find those corners out there,” Skudin said. “It was big and heavy, and I just put my head down and kept on going. I was hoping that eventually I’d lock one down and make a good barrel. Unfortunately, I didn’t make a really good barrel, but I made it through the heat.”
Reigning BWT Champion Greg Long (USA) led the field with back-to-back solid scores in Round 1 Heat 1 and was the first surfer to secure his place in the Semifinals. Long set the pace for the opening heat of the event by picking off multiple right-hand barrels to earn a 20.01 heat score (out of a possible 30).
Albee Layer (HAW) secured a 12.83 heat score and the second position. Kai Lenny (HAW) and Gabriel Villaran (PER) battled for third place, but it was Lenny who showcased full commitment as he pulled into a deep barrel and edged out Villaran by only 3.10 points.
“The waves are really good right now and there are a lot of corners if you know where to sit,” Long said. “I actually deliberately rode a much bigger board than I ever do out here. There is a lot more volume so I could cover the ground that I needed to. It is something new for me, but in a heat if you can’t catch a wave, nothing else matters. My strategy was to keep moving around wherever it was clean and I locked in four waves.”
2014/15 BWT Champion Makuakai Rothman (HAW) charged through Heat 3, with Pedro Calado (BRA) and BWT veteran Carlos Burle (BRA) close behind. Rothman, last year’s BWT runner-up, locked in a near-perfect 9.50 and a solid 7.80 back-up score. Calado fired with an excellent 9.07 and 6.93 to earn the second position. With only 0.29 points between Burle and event wildcard Angelo Lozano (MEX), Burle’s 23.56 heat total was enough to advance to the Semifinals.
“This is my second time to Mexico and the waves are really fun,” said Rothman. “I was just in the right place at the right time. I am not thinking about the end result. I am just thinking about my first wave tomorrow morning and hopefully I am in the right spot. The local boys charge.”
Jamie Mitchell (AUS) netted the highest single-wave score of Round 1, a perfect 10.00, with an extremely technical barrel ride in Heat 4. Mitchell’s final heat tally, a near-perfect 29.03, was the highest of the day, earning him the heat win and a place in the Semifinals. The bout also saw high-scoring rides from local wildcard Jimel Corzo (MEX) and Rusty Long (USA), who will also progressed to the Semifinals.
“I think we were all worried about the fourth heat with the wind coming up, but I think we scored the best conditions of the day,” Mitchell said. “The tide was dropping, the winds stayed glassy and the swell was peaking. I found an early right hander and nearly made it out, which put me into a good rhythm. I found that left and didn’t think I was going to make it, but somehow I pulled out of that. It was an historic day. Incredible surf and incredible barrels.”
Event officials will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. local time (about 3pm SA time) for a possible 7:30 a.m. start.
For more information, log onto WorldSurfLeague.com where the Puerto Escondido Challenge will be webcast LIVE.
Got sent this great mash up of surfing around SA and Namibia from my guy, Josh Rowe. Great little edit celebrating surfing. Pretty funny because I am in it driving a van in the desert and you can hear me say, “Frothing” in the Donkey section. Check it out!
A collection reminding us why we surf. Namibia, Robben island, Dunes, Sunset, Dungeons. Benji Brand, Matt Bromley, Emi Erickson, James Lowe, Natxo Gonzalez, Andrew Marr, Jurie Muller, Jason hayes, Mike Schlebach, Jeremy Johnson just to name some of the crew.
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.
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.
The whole world seemed to be going, the parking looked like Cavendish Mall and the swell arrived bigger than ever. Matt Bromley was there with camera guy, Steve Michelson in tow, to capture one of the biggest days ever surfed at Donkey Bay. Many tales of horrid thrashings came out from this day and of people being sucked off the beach by rogue white waters. So all in all it was a difficult day for both surfers and the media guys. I reckon the boys are pretty happy with the results though.
African Skeleton – With MONSTER ENERGY’S Matt Bromley from steven michelsen on Vimeo.
Time for another epic Friday Mix of action sports video from the week. I have been bombarded with good edits this week and it was tough choosing my three favorites, but these are them.
First off we go down to Java, Indonesia, with bodyboarder Joshua Garner and the Paradise Paradox. Deep and super thick pits with mental air game and a good backstory make this a winner. I am pretty sure most Bodyboarders will be booking tickets to Java soon…
Next up we go skating for a day round Sydney, with Josh Pall. Super relaxed and and clearly in an area he skates plenty, you can but help appreciate this video shot on a RED.
Lastly we go round the planet with Cape Town charger, Matt Bromley, as he throws himself into big pits and perfect waves. Edited by Steven Michelson.
Enjoy the mix 🙂
Paradise Paradox from Sherwood Studio on Vimeo.
DOLPHIN DAYS #3 – JOSH PALL WEEKEND from Riley Blakeway on Vimeo.