Meet Pro Surfer Maya Gabeira

Maya is drop dead gorgeous and deadly in the big waves!

Meet the hard charging big wave hell lady, who also happens to be a tiny and gorgeous women. Maya Gabeira comes from Brazil and learnt to charge big waves on the North Shore of Hawaii. This lady is not scared, even when asked to surf naked for ESPN...

Maverick's Invitational 2013 is Green Light

Past winner, Grant "Twig" Baker, will be charging for the Saffers at Mavericks.

A long range perfect swell is charging towards California and the organizers of the Maverick's Invitational have called the event on for Sunday, January 20th. Surfline, the official forecaster reckon the swell may have some lulls, but will be big and perfect when they come through the peak at Mavs. South Africa has 2 previous winners in Twig and defending champion, Chris Bertish, who won in 2010, the last time the event was run. Frank Solomon is on the alternate list after spending time in California the last few seasons. Great to see legend, Jeff Clarke, back in charge and running his contest again!

You can watch the live webcast HERE - Mavericks Invitational

Red Bull presents Jaws Paddle Competition

Welcome to the next limit in Big Wave Surfing. Red Bull, together with team rider, Ian Walsh, present the Jaws Paddle Contest. This contest will help to significantly push the boundaries in paddling giant waves. Thus far only a few invites have been released, among them our very own, Grant "Twig" Baker. A big uproar started brewing in South Africa as Chris Bertish has not, as yet, been invited, but he was the first person to paddle into waves at Jaws and is a winner at Mavericks. We cant speculate, but perhaps his invite is in the mail.

The event will run a waiting period over the whole Hawaiian Winter and will require clean 30-50ft Faces to run. They have also confirmed they will not run on the same day as the Eddie if this clash becomes reality.  21 Surfers will be invited.

Invited so far are host Ian Walsh, Twig, Greg Long, Dave Wassel, John John Florence (Yes please), Jeff Rowley and Kala Alexander. Most of these guys being proven chargers out in the Jaws Lineup. One thing is for sure, you dont want to miss this one. Follow the event at Red Bull USA.

Captain Kai's World on www.2ov.fm - Big Wave charger, Chris Bertish and Movember SA

Chris Bertish is one of very few have won the Big Wave event at Mavericks.

This week's radio show had a very positive feeling and I chatted to two men with projects that are helping the world and us men. Chris Bertish was on the show to promote his new charity adventure, crossing the Atlantic on a SUP (Stand Up Paddle Board). This is to raise funds for kids in Africa who need meals for school. We chatted big wave surfing, the up comig O"Neill Pro in Santa Cruz and of course his upcoming documentary, Ocean Driven.

Garen from Movember South Africa was in studio to give us the low down on this marvelous annual event and how guys and gals can get involved. To start your Movember campaign just go to -
www.movember.com

TO DOWNLOAD OR LISTEN TO THE PODCAST GO HERE

Here is the teaser for Chris Bertish's documentary, Ocean Driven...

Ocean Driven - The Chris Bertish Story from Aurelia on Vimeo.

Massive Cloubreak Free Surf on Day 6 - Volcom Pro Fiji 2012

Bede Durbidge winning the 1st of only 2 heats surfed on Day 6. After this the Free Surf began... (Photo:ASP)

The massive swell arrived as expected, but the contest only lasted 2 heats, with Bede and Kai Otton winning the heats and moving into Round 3. The ASP made the call to wait for today to start Round 3, which will probably go down at Restaurants. Once the tour had puled out, the hordes of big wave charges were out there, with some of the more core Tour surfers joining the fray in solid 15ft Cloudbreak. Luckily the contest left the live feed running and we got to watch a rare free surf in giant waves. Enjoy the video...

 

Wok interviews Twig - The Haters come out!

Wok loves himself and his balls, your opinion, does not even enter his head...

By now most of you are aware of my good mate Wok and his "Self Absorbed" creation that is his blog - I am Wok. He has been putting famous surfers on the hot seat and calling the interviews, Between Wok and a Hard Place. Generally he manages to put the guests onto the back foot, almost embarrassing them, while remaining aloof and non emotional. Twig manages to break that facade and even gets Wok to crack a laugh. Twig also has some good points and you get a good feel for what his mission is all about. This is a really funny interview, but what is even funnier is the response it got from one "hater" out there in FB land (See Below.) To be honest mate, if you expected anything else from Wok, you have been living under a rock! Furthermore curry gives you Diarrhea not the Wok.

The Comment (And the backlash, haha):
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150794845785069&set=a.46030705068.67256.706145068&type=1&ref=nf

Billabong XXL Awards 2012 - The Winners

The 2012 XXL Awards went down last week (Due to my holiday, I am reporting late on this) and the ultimate prize went to Nathan Fletcher for his mind boggling wave at Teahupoo last year. I am still struggling to figure out how a wave not ridden out won, but hell it was crazy! Fletcher won the "Ride of the Year" and the "Monster Tube" awards with this wave. He also took the overall Men's Performance Award. So a good night for Nathan.

The 2012 "Monster Paddle Award" went to Hawaiian, Dave Wassel, for a huge wave earlier in the year at Jaws in Maui.There were stacks of entries from December and January from Jaws, as the world's big wave surfers descended on the previous Tow Surf Spot.

"Biggest Wave Champion" went to Hawaiian, Garrett MacNamara, for his "90"ft ride off the coast of Portugal in 2011. Many thought this wave looked very soft, but the size judges cleared it as the biggest wave caught. Garrett also took the "Verizon Wipeout of the Year" award for a horrible bail at massive Jaws. He was trying to surf the "JetBoard" and went over the falls backwards on a monster of a wave.

Captain Kai's World on www.2ov.fm - Show 31 Podcast

Frank Solomon, Anthony Raynard & Jadyson Costa - Champion line up!

 This show was so packed with Action Sports Athletes, I almost did not know who to ask what. First off we dedicated the show and 2 tracks to David, who died tragically last week in a shark attack. We also discussed the current shark debate with all the guests. First up were Jadyson Costa, the current welterweight EFC Africa Champion, Anthony Raynard, SA MX Champion and Frank Solomon, big wave surfer. All three were of the opinion that the other three were more hardcore and this led to some good laughs. Anthony came to promote the SA National Motorcross champs this weekend in Melkbos. Later Frank and I were joined by free surfer, Andrew "Roosta" Lange and we ended off the show with Roosta and his partner in music, Craig, as the "Non-violent fisherman" played us out with a great Led Zeppelin cover. Enjoy the show!

 Download the Podcast here - Podcast Show 31
(Right Click and Save as.)

XXL Biggest Wave Nominees 2012

There are some gnarly entries for this year's XXL Biggest Wave category. The two irish entries are definately super big and heavy waves, but neither of them was ridden out. The entries from Spain are both big, but pretty flat and lumpy kind of waves. My vote goes to the Oz entry from Damien Warr. that is a huge wave and he even gets the cover up at the end. Who do you think should take it?



The five nominees for the XXL Biggest Wave category of the 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards are put forth for your analysis: Andrew Cotton at Mullaghmore Head, Garrett McNamara at Nazaré, Axi Muniain at Agiti, Ollie O'Flaherty at Mullaghmore and Damien "Taco" Warr at Cow Bombie. For more details and to view all the still photos see the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com.

Billabong XXL Awards 2012 - Monster Paddle Nominees

The five nominees for the Monster Paddle category of the 2012 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards are presented for your evaluation: Ken "Skindog" Collins at Maverick's, Danilo Couto at Jaws, Shane Dorian at Jaws, Jamie Mitchell at Todos Santos and Dave Wassel at Jaws. For more details and to view all the still photos see the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com.

Personally, my vote goes to Shane Dorian. His wave is massive, he makes a crazy take off and rides it out. Ken, Danilo and Dave's waves are great, but they don't make them.  The outside shot is Jamie Mitchell on one of the biggest waves to ever get ridden at Todos for sure! Which wave is your choice?

Worst Wipeout Nominees - XXL Big Wave Awards 2012

Marc Mathews heading for the caning of his life at "The Right".

As the XXL Awards sneak ever closer I continue my previews of the nominations and this week we look at the "Verizon Wipeout Awards". There are some horrific wipes in this batch, with Teahupoo serving up ywo of the nominations and they are absolute horror wipes. Jaws and Shipstern's Bluff both have 1 nomination a piece and they will make your toes curl while watching in sick fascination. However, in my opinion the wipe of the year must go to Marc Mathews for his absolutely crazy wipe at the even crazier wave of "The Right". I don't even want to imagine what it must have felt like to be swallowed by that warping, mutant beast of a wave! What are your thoughts...

Captain Kai's World on www.2ov.fm - Podcast 28

I have to say, the &Union Beers definitely added to the humor on last night's show. Thanks to big wave charger and very funny guy, Frank Solomon, for bringing a case to the show. Myself and Tyrone Rawlins were getting pretty lubricated and having a great laugh at Frank's stories from California, being Gerard Butler's stunt double and all the antics from the North Shore winter. We also brought you the latest from the European Winter XGames, Downhill Mountain Biking World Cup and all the news from the ASP World Tour.

The Bomb Surf Mag did an interview with me yesterday, check it out here - The Bomb Surf Interview

Download the Podcast for Show 28 - Show 28 Podcast
(Right Click & Save as, if you want to download.)

Check out "Mad" Frank fighting sharks!

Jeff Rowley ‘paddles-in’ to historic 50-foot plus waves at “Jaws”

Big wave surfer Jeff Rowley ‘paddles-in’ to historic 50-foot plus (15m+) waves at Peahi “Jaws” and becomes the first Australian to ride the waves without Jet Ski tow-in. Our very own Grant "Twig" Baker was there too and you can check some great photos at Surfline - HERE