15 September 2006

South African surfing is going through a boom period, with the country's performers turning in top results all around the world. A nucleus of young surfers is at the forefront of the revolution, and their efforts in this eye-catching sport have now been rewarded by surf magazine Zigzag.

With R95 000 up for grabs from Zigzag in the prestigious Oakley Big Air Awards, Ricky Basnett, Jordy Smith and Shaun Joubert boasted the biggest "airs" in their respective categories to walk away with welcome cheques for their efforts.

The photography and video competition rewarded those surfers and the men behind the lenses who captured the biggest, most "radical" aerial movers.

Daunting task
Entries for the unique event opened on 1 April, with final footage accepted at the end of August. Then, a panel of judges was faced with the daunting task of going through an unprecedented amount of entries to name the ultimate winners.

The competition was open to all South African surfers, and the waves could be filmed or photographed anywhere in the world by photographers of any nationality.

"For this year's Oakley Big Air Awards we had double the amount of entries (we previously had) and for the first time ever we introduced a 'grom' division for surfers under the age of 15," said Zigzag publisher Mike Frew. "This was a contest like no other which encouraged surfers to push the boundaries of surfing as we know it."

Won hands down
In the Unassisted Air category, Basnett won hands down, pocketing R30 000 for his radical front side 360 air that he landed cleanly. Videographer Kaleb Loevendie won a cheque for R10 000 for capturing the winning air on video.

In the Assisted Air category, which entailed being towed onto the wave by a Jet Ski for extra speed, Smith flew to victory. He was praised for landing a clean frontside air to reverse and also left with R30 000 in cash for his performance on that wave. Cape Town videographer Quinton Jones submitted the footage and took home R10 000.

In the inaugural Grom Air category, Shaun Joubert won R10 000 worth of Oakley product for his huge aerial that he performed in the Maldives. Videographer Jason Hearn from Cape Town won Oakley products to the value of R5 000 for being on hand to catch the action.

For more on all the entries and the winners, check out Zigzag Surfing Magazine.

SouthAfrica.info reporter

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