Earthwave surfs for sustainable living
6 August 2009
The third edition of Earthwave, a global initiative that uses surfing to promote sustainable lifestyle choices, takes place on beaches around the world – including Cape Town's Muizenberg beach, where the initiative first began – on 4 October.
Each event will stage an attempt on the Guinness World Record for "most surfers riding one wave simultaneously".
The publicity the record attempts generate will be used to highlight the effects of climate change and showcase the products and services that are becoming available to reduce our impact on the environment.
Chasing a world record
"We are really looking forward to Earthwave 2009 and will be going all-out at Surfer's Corner in Muizenberg to re-capture the Guinness World Record currently held by Earthwave Brazil," says Paul Botha from Kahuna Promotions, who co-founded the event with his son Dene at the iconic Cape Town surf break in 2006.
"Earthwave has evolved from our original attempt in 2006, when we successfully set a new record of 73 surfers on one wave, while staging a debate on sharks and raising over R10 000 for the then-fledgling Shark Spotters programme," Botha said this week.
"We will be collaborating with environmental organisations to try and run a 'green' event that provides everyone with a couple of fun days at the beach while promoting lifestyle choices that will benefit the planet."
Global event
After a successful first edition of the event in 2006, which attracted 349 participants and thousands of spectators, Earthwave went global in 2007 with events being staged on the same day in Australia, Reunion Island, England, Brazil, Argentina, Tahiti and South Africa.
Earthwave Brazil broke the Guinness World Record that year, upping the mark to 84 before shattering it again in 2008, when an incredible 100 surfers caught a single wave, generating worldwide news and TV coverage.
Earthwave South Africa
This year's Earthwave South Africa event has been expanded to two days, and takes place on Saturday and Sunday, 3 and 4 October.
A marquee tent on Muizenberg beach will feature exhibits, demonstrations, and promotions of environmentally friendly products and services.
The programme will include Longboard and Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) contests, with the Guinness World Record attempt set for Sunday afternoon, alongside plenty of spectator-friendly events like Dig For Gold, sandcastle building, and raffles to raise funds for worthy causes.
Around the world
Earthwave Brazil has expanded even more; they will be running a three-day event with longboarding and SUP at Quebra Mar in Santos.
Interest in running new Earthwave events has been received from as far afield as New Zealand, Fiji, Japan, Portugal, Holland, the USA and more.
Earthwave is the first event of its kind to be run worldwide on the same day, and is open to stand-up surfers of all ages and abilities, and on any equipment, to celebrate their lifestyle and make a statement about reducing their impact on the environment.
More information is available at Earthwave 2007, where highlights of previous years' events can be found, while Earthwave also has a Facebook page. A new website, www.earthwave.info, is under construction.
SAinfo reporter
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