These guys are nuts! I have watched my bodyboard mates splatter themselves on sandbars and rock slabs for years - never quite figured it out. But hell, it makes for good viewing. Thats why I will definately be going to watch this lot -
After years of shrouded mystery, secret road trips, blind-folded drives in the boot and turf wars we have come to this, the pinnacle of bodyboarding events in South Africa...
Welcome to the TAND Invitational 2011
Let me paint you a brief picture before we get down to the nitty gritty details.
A heavy flat bottom reef on the West Coast unloads with unprecedented force in the middle of nowhere with nothing surrounding you but rugged beauty and the sound of wild waves ringing out. For years, even until this present day the locals continue to dominate and blow minds. Every other top bodyboarder in South Africa has used it as a proving ground. Jared Houston attributed it to his success in his aerial assault on the world tour and one of his favourite spots in S.A. Mark McCarthy used it as a training ground for the Shark Island Challenge in Australia where he went on to place 2nd! Top international riders have made wild statement calling it the best wave in S.A and they can’t wait to come back and surf it.
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| Tomas Degenaar |
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the amphitheatre for the biggest, heaviest bodyboarding contest South Africa has yet to lay its eyes upon.
The brainchild behind this event, Jarret Johnson, took a step out into the unknown wilds and approached me with this concept, asking for help and ideas. A good few hour’s worth of banter and a few crazy thoughts later we went for it and committed. The local boys gave us
the go ahead, which was the main thing and it was all on from there. The Facebook page went up and within a few days we were an internet spamming sensation rivalling the likes of Rebecca Black.
Then one cold evening Jarret received a phone call, it was a +44 number....England!! It was Mr Billy Thiel, South African bodyboarding legend and international travel guru. Well known amongst the international bodyboarding community; His knowledge of all things boogie is almost infinite. He recently started up his brand new board label, THIEL BOARD CO., which we had heard about so we knew that this wasn’t a small fry phone call.
After a few minutes of shaky voices and stuttered words, long story short, this man is committed to South African Bodyboarding in a BIG way and has a vision for it that extends way beyond any selfish need. He wants to see it grow to levels that haven’t even been dreamt of yet.
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| Mark McCarthy |
He is so committed in fact that THIEL BOARD CO. has come on board the TAND Invitational 2011 as the main sponsor and thrown into the golden pot a massive R10 000 in cash!!!! Yes, you heard right!
Now that your jaws are on the floor, we’ll get down to details.
16 riders. 4 Locals, 4 Western Province, 4 KZN and 4 Speciality entries.
This is the 1st event of its kind in South Africa, being an invitational event with riders being voted in by their peers.
We are running it in a standard 4-man knockout heat format, with the top 2 riders from each heat advancing until finally the history books are written!
We have a 2 week waiting period to allow for the best possible day to run the event. It will last only 4 hours enabling us to have the best conditions of the day.
ALL finalists will be receiving moneybags worth of cash, with obviously the winner being rewarded with more cash than he could think of, all courtesy of THIEL BOARD CO.
