Boland Surf Guide

Stellenbosch might well be landlocked, but it is quite centrally located which means if you watch the charts and are willing to put in the kilometres there are plenty of options for the Maties surfers. The secret is knowing your spots and getting the call right, because there are few things are frustrating as driving around looking for waves when it’s onshore and flat.

Strand

Maties Surf Champs at Strand

The nearest but not necessarily the best option is Strand. Strand or St. Rand, is a rather average (at best) beach-break set-up, conveniently only 22 kilometres from Stellenbosch. It works best in wind-still conditions, but it you’re not too fussy it can still be fun in anything from light to moderate winds. The prevailing summer South Easter is onshore to cross onshore and the winter North Wester is more cross-shore than off. The main break at Strand is located on the Western edge of the beach-front and is known as Pipe. Its name is taken from a rather unfortunate waste water pipeline rather than the form of the wave itself. At its best Strand Pipe can be punchy and fun with lefts and rights running across the sand-bars. The Pipe works best when the swell is in the three meter range, but when the swell crests four to four and a half meters the outside banks begin to play havoc with the lines, reducing the spot to a mushy mess.

Moving east along the beach from Pipe you’ll find Ducks which is roughly in front of the life-saving club house. ‘Ducks’ can handle a bit more wind and a little more swell that Pipe and is also generally a little heavier when it’s working. Further down the beach towards the town centre you’ll find Silkies which works in big swell when the outside banks start to break-up the lines too much for the other spots to break decently. It’s generally a last option spot but it can be fun if you’re not expecting too much.


Click for Strand Surf report. This covers the region from Strand to Koelbaai. 

Surf for Life 2011

On Saturday the 22^nd of October, the Strand Pipeline will play host to Natural Energy’s Surf for Life contest a fundraising event for Natural Energy’s Tarryn Pratt who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

All proceeds from the contest will go to assisting Tarryn with the costs of her treatment and to help her start a charity to support other surfers battling cancer.

It’s undoubtedly a worthy cause and with six surfing divisions it promises to be a great day of surfing too. For the competitive surfers entries are open until the 18^th of October and the entry form can be downloaded here.

The contest is divided into an Open men’s division, an over 30’s division, a junior event, an open ladies division and events for both ladies and gents stand-up-paddleboarders.

2012 Committee

With 2011 drawing to an end the Surf Club put the new committee to a vote on the 4^th of October. Current chairman Andrew Mandy is set to graduate come December so his boots needed to be filled.

Leadership positions in the Surf Club tend to be filled more by necessity than a hunger for power, and 2012 will see Peter Thorpe take over the burden of organising the ragged group of nearly 150 university surfers.

Breaking-Up Of The Seli I

Seli I, In One Piece Two Years Ago. Photo: Jaclyn Archer

The massive swell of Friday the 2^nd of September was the death blow for the stranded Seli I. The abandoned vessel had been driven fast by a late winter cape storm nearly two years ago and with the owners, insurers and the City of Cape Town all failing to remove it, the break-up was inevitable.

The Seli I, 4 September 2011

Rebel Sessions Day 2 Video

Rebel Sessions

Mike's Cover Shot

With the demise of the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event a few years ago a void was left in competitive big wave surfing in South Africa. But with an exciting new concept Rebel Media have launched the Rebel Sessions event, which is aiming to fill that void.

The event is staged over the ten best days of surf from July to October at either Dungeons or Sunsets. With prizes for the best paddle-in wave surfed (R50 000), the biggest tow-in wave surfed (30 000), the biggest paddle-in wave (R20 000) and the biggest wipe-out (R10 000) being awarded.

Elandsbaai

The Point and the Crowd

If you’ve ridden a surf board in South Africa you will know there are two places which loom large in the imagination of all South African surfers: The iconic Jeffreys’ Bay on the East Coast and its West Coast incarnation, Elandsbaai.