Red Bull Big Wave Africa Surfing Event – Dungeons Cape Town

The Red Bull big wave surfing event finals at dungeons reef just off the sentinel in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa went off today and my boy and me were there to witness the action. Now as a general rule I don’t post about my activities or what I do on a weekend because I’ve tried reading about other bloggers lives and personal stories and most of it bores me to tears! But this I have to write about, a spectacular big wave surfing event that grows bigger each year they hold it and gains popularity as an awesome spectator surf event.

Going to watch the Red Bull Big Wave Africa has been on my “To-Do” list for a couple of years and when they gave the green light this morning on the official event website my Son and I jumped in the car and headed out. Took us about 45 minutes to get there, we parked in the harbour car park and were just in time to catch the next boat out. Good Golly! Awesome, truly bloody A-W-E-S-O-M-E! We spent one and a half hours on the boat as close as the captain could get us without putting everyone on the boats life at risk and witnessing some of the biggest waves I have seen ridden by a human being. The lip on the 15-25 foot waves throws out so far that produces a tube on those waves you could drive a double decker bus through! The surfers are completely dwarfed by these natural monsters and I have new found respect for big wave surfers that risk their lives surfing waves this size, these guys are nutta’s!

After the two heats we watched, the boat brought us back to the harbor and we decided we wanted more. We grabbed some calamari and chips and then parked the car again to get the free shuttle which drives spectators up as far as possible on the sentinel where we got out and walked for about 10 minutes before reaching the viewpoint. There were no fewer than 150 spectators watching the final from the cliff from where you could see the event but really no comparison to the “close to the action” boat experience we had earlier. Anyway, we watched the final, cheering along with everyone as more monstrous waves were paddled into and ridden by the big wave surfers before heading on down to get the free shuttle back to the car park again.

Back to the car and we decided to go and see the surfers come in and watch the prize giving presentation. Glad we did, it was really great. As the boat pulled up to the harbour wall they started throwing the broken boards off the boat, I counted six broken boards but I heard there were more. Few broken bodies as well with Jason Ribbink suffering concussion, Mike Schlebach with a dislocated shoulder and Charles Reitz breaking his ribs. The winner of the 2008 Red Bull Big Wave Africa was South Africa’s Grant “Twiggy” Baker with Carlos Burle from Brazil taking second and Greg Long from the USA coming in third.

While we were in the harbour waiting for them to set up the prize giving podium I was standing next to Ian Armstrong. Ian is a legend in and around Cape Town and well known for his big wave surfing ability that has been documented in past newspapers and on television a few times. He almost snapped his spine the one year after a horrendous wipeout at dungeons. I really wanted to have a quick chat with him but I felt a little intimidated and also he was with his family so I didn’t say anything, oh well, another wasted opportunity goes by!

All in all a fantastic day, it seems as though this is already a major event on the South African surf calendar which is certain to just gain in popularity year after year and it was so impressive to see such smooth and proffessional organisation and safety measures in place for both surfers and spectators alike. My Son and I have already agreed that whatever we do next year, the Red Bull Big Wave Africa Surfing Event at Dungeons, Cape Town is top of the list.