Passions in South Africa have run high over the fact that despite being offered a ‘free’ event by the WSL BWT, the local surfing population of Dungeons, which has more or less been distilled into The Cape Big Wave Trust, have said, thank you but no thank you.

Social media exploded with commentary to the effect that through this action they may have just shot themselves in the foot, denying SA surfers an opportunity onto the world stage and South Africa the opportunity to host a BWT event.Truth be told, if the price of commentary on social media was to catch just one wave at Dungeons with your own bare hands, the banter might look a little different. I’ve paddled out there a few times and the place scares me senseless. Despite the beauty of the location, which is breathtaking, the wave is complex, unforgiving and if it catches you out, breathtaking in the real sense of the word.

That said, why the debate, why all the fuss?

Well, the South African surf community may be small relative to its international counterparts, but it is a passionate and tight knit community. The legacy of South African Surfers charging goes way back to Gavin Rudolf, Johnny Paarman and Shaun Tomson charging in Hawaii in the ‘70’s. Since then there have been some notable performers on the international stage and a great many underground chargers at home. Despite only a fraction of our surfing population having ever paddled out at Dungeons we feel ownership in our big wave brother’s exploits because they make us proud as South Africans and proud of that reputation which has consistently been upheld over the years.

In trying to understand how the decision NOT to hold an event this year came about I spoke to and emailed both Gary Linden, founder of the Big Wave World Tour, and Barry Futter the spokesman for The Cape Big Wave Trust, I also contacted both the regional and international offices of the WSL for an official statement on their position. As a previous World Champion and as SA’s only full time representative on the BWT I also contacted Twiggy to get his view.

image © Jimmicane

Gary Linden is no stranger to South Africa having spent nearly a decade involved in the running of the Red Bull Big Wave Africa event. He is well known and liked locally. In my communication with both Gary and Barry I sensed nothing but mutual respect for each other. I asked both men the hard questions and while Gary didn’t answer my questions directly, he was forthcoming with the following response:First up the questions I asked Gary Linden:

JM: What happened at Jaws, why did the event not run, despite being called on?

JM: How could the WSL come up with a Transparent, fair and practical qualification process for the BWT?

JM: The issue of local wildcards into the event will be an issue at all venues around the world, is there no way the WSL could entertain the idea of an open expression session at all events as the first heat of the day to determine who the wildcards on the day should be?

JM: The South African Surfing community is deeply divided over this decision not to hold the event. All kinds of issues have been raised locally as to whether the Cape Big Wave Trust is even authorised to negotiate with the WSL or sanction/block events at Dungeons. That aside you have a lot of personal relationships with this community. Through respect, discussion and mediation is there no way we could reach agreement looking forward to ensure that we create a win/win for the WSL BWT and the communities that host those events about the MO of the tour and thus address the key concerns that have prevented this years event from happening?

JM: If you could address the Cape Big Wave Trusts concerns timeously and comprehensibly could we save this event this year? My point being, why the deadline? Why the hardheaded approach?

Gary’s response is as follows:

Hi John

I received the questions you sent regarding the current status of the event planned for Dungeons and its subsequent cancellation. I thought perhaps a look at the past might shed some light on the future. I had the utmost pleasure in directing the Red Bull Big Wave Africa for 9 of the 10 years it took place. Surfing Dungeons every year and the camaraderie that developed was the highlife of my year during this time. The events that were run allowed the concepts and format for the Tour I later founded to be developed and tested. This process of course included the invitation list as there where no ranking systems in place and only room for 24 surfers.

When Big Wave Africa ended in 2008 I took it upon myself as a personal challenge to bring an event back to Dungeons at some point. This did not prove to be an easy task. Even though I was able to get the Tour going, individual event sponsors were in fact very difficult to come by, especially for a venue so far away from the rest of the World.

After 5 years of operating the Tour on my own resources the opportunity to have the Tour become part of the ASP (now the World Surf League) was amazing. Finally the funding necessary to take the sport to the next level was available. More money and more people making decisions became part of the learning process that continues to this day. The important part is that we have a strong foundation to build upon and a great team to do it with.

The mystic of Dungeons by then had spread to all corners of the Big Wave sector and the proposal of an event there met the board with great enthusiasm. Unfortunately the first year on the calendar did not produce the surf conditions necessary for the running of an event, which brings us to where we have arrived this year. An awkward position to say the least with two groups of friends trying to figure out what is best for the future without the aid of conversation. That makes for an unbearable handicap. The WSL has no intention of running anything other than a win/win event for all stakeholders. The Tour as a whole is the most important thing for me in the big picture. It allows for the best surfers in the World to compete in a consistent format from which a deserving Champion can be declared. This requires a certain amount of give and take from all involved but I personally believe the rewards far offset the equation. If there were an opportunity at some point to discuss personally the future of an event at Dungeons I would welcome the occasion. Communication has the ability to provide solutions.

Best Regards,

Gary

I must ad that in the telephone conversation I had with Gary, while he was disappointed in their decision he was very respectful of the local Cape Town Big Wave surfers. When I pushed him about the possibility of overcoming The Cape Big Wave Trust’s objections to running an event this year, he seemed of the opinion that it would be better to let the whole thing die down before exploring if the event could be held moving forward.

When I pressed him about the WSL’s response to having their offer of a ‘free event’ snubbed by The Cape Big Wave Trust he conceded that it would be more difficult to convince the WSL to finance the event moving forward and that they were already making plans to include alternative venues on the tour. However should there be a willingness from the local community to have the event again, he’d welcome the opportunity to have those discussions in person.

I then contacted Dave Prodan, Graham Stapleberg and Peter Mel from the WSL. I asked them for comment on the following issues to include in this piece:

1. The Perceived unfairness of the current qualification system for the BWT.
2. The number of locals included in a BWT event.
3. Timeous and open communication with local interested parties and official governors of the sport within those countries.
4. Why the Jaws event did not run.
5. Why there is no event in Australia.

image © Quiksilver

As commissioner of the BWT Peter Mel responded as follows.PM: The World Surf League’s BWT is committed to showcasing the world’s best big wave surfers in some of the planet’s premiere big wave regions. The Cape Town region of South Africa has a fantastic big wave community and excellent big wave locations. We’re disappointed that Dungeons is not on the schedule this season but remain in communication with all the stakeholders in the local community, including the CBWT, and we’re hopeful it will be back in future.

Working with our athletes and big wave communities around the world, we endeavor to have a consistent competitive format that will encourage the very best big wave surfing at our events. As part of the refinement process, the Big Wave Group discussed altering the wildcard numbers in the format. However, allow me to be clear that it was communicated at length with Barry Futter and the CBWT that they would have six local wildcards as well as one alternate – same as all the other BWT events – which is a significant amount in a 24-man field.

As with all events, we’re in constant communication with the local communities that support the tour. After offseason discussion with the Dungeons community stakeholders, including the CBWT, it was determined that the location would be removed from this year’s schedule. It is disappointing as we think the wave is more than worthy, and we’re hopeful it will return in future years.

Again, the process of discussion and subsequent refinement with our athletes and local communities is ongoing with the goal of consistent formats promoting the very best big wave surfing.

For the 2015/2016 Big Wave Tour, Dungeons will not be on the schedule. Again, we remain in constant communication with the community stakeholders, including the CBWT. That said, we have had several exciting conversations with communities of excellent big wave venues and we’ll be announcing this coming season’s schedule on April 1.

As always, and with all our tour products, we are in a constant refinement mode of ensuring the very best performances are happening in the live arena. This requires the best surfers, the best waves and a valid qualification process to guarantee that we’re developing the best talent. On the Big Wave side, we’re reviewing our qualification process to ensure this is the case.

On the Qualification Process:
The dual avenues of the ProveIt video submission contest and the Oregon qualifying event were our options last season – it’s unfortunate that there was not suitable surf for the Oregon qualifier. This, and all parts of the BWT, are undergoing constant refinement and revision.

On Jaws:
Unfortunately, we didn’t have any swell systems manifest last season for Jaws that would have provided a full day of competition as far as BWT standards go. There were moments, we called the event on once, but the swell didn’t produce. We’re hopeful we’ll have a crack at Jaws during the upcoming season.

On Australia:
The Big Wave Tour is actively looking for venues in Australia and around the world that will enhance big wave surfing.

image © Barry Futter

I then sent Barry Futter the following questions, which he did answer directly.JM: When The Cape Big Wave Trust made the decision not to welcome a BWT Event to Dungeons this year did you expect that decision to spark the fierce debate within the SA Surfing community that it has?

BF: There has been a lot of discussion on social media about the Cape Big Wave Trust voting against an event at Dungeons this year. Most of the comments have come from uninformed opinions and we need to state our case and set the record straight. This is not the clichéd story of old locals trying to resist change and protect their spot from outsiders. We are holding the WSL accountable to create an organised and quality Big Wave Tour with a transparent qualification system. We believe that we have some of the best big wave surfers in the world and require a competition that allows us to showcase the depth of our talent. If any organisation, business or individual is genuinely interested in developing big wave surfing in South Africa it would be hard for them to argue with our point of view.

JM: Surfing in South Africa has two recognised governing bodies, the local office of the WSL and Surfing South Africa. On what basis does the Cape Big Wave Trust feel that it is authorised to negotiate with the WSL regarding the running of a professional surfing competition in South Africa?

BF: As a democratic organisation that represents ALL the surfers that consistently surf big waves in Cape Town we are the interested and affected parties. In 2014 the BWT approached us to discuss their needs and our requirements to run a successful competition at Dungeons. I had a productive interaction with Gary Linden, we came to a mutual agreement and laid the foundation for a great event fully supported by the CBWT. I cannot answer for WSL Africa or Surfing South Africa but I am not aware of any involvement by either organisation in Big Wave surfing in South Africa for the last decade or more.

JM: If the WSL were able to overcome the objections raised by The Cape Big Wave Trust would the position of the Trust change and welcome an event to Dungeons this year?

BF: We are open to relooking at their proposal, however we feel that major changes are required for the BWT to gain any significant international credibility. The current structure lacks certainty and transparency as to how a competitor qualifies for the BWT and how he progresses from one contest to the next and one year to the next. If a South African surfer does well at Dungeons will they get into the next event as well as the A Grade event like Jaws where there are a lot of locals? We need to see a real and sustainable benefit for South African Surfers. When the Red Bull was running there were 12 South African surfers in the event plus a number of South African alternates that often got to compete. Last year after a really positive interaction with Gary Linden and the WSL we agreed to 6 South Africans and one wild card. This year in an unrelated Big Wave Article the WSL stated that there would be only 4 local contenders in each event. This was quite a surprise after they had previously told us how much they wanted our input and how they wanted to learn from the big wave communities around the world. This was further exacerbated at the J- Bay competition last year when Peter Mel indicated to one of our members that the plan was for 4 locals at each location in the 2015 event and only 2 locals in each event from 2016 onwards!! How is having 2 South African surfers in an event at our own spot of any help to the development of Big Wave surfing in South Africa when there are already probably 8 people who are skilled enough to be very competitive on the tour? At what point do you stand up for what you believe in and say this is unacceptable? If we roll over on this issue we are effectively reducing any potential development of big wave surfing in South Africa as well as handing over the fate of Dungeons to be determined by people who do not actually live here. By standing our ground on this issue we are encouraging the BWT to raise the bar of the whole tour. This year we saw a crew of six CBWT surfers in Hawaii and they were surfing Jaws alongside some of the top chargers in the world. After all of their performances it became quite clear to see that we have world-class talent in our ranks. 
On their return or via e-mail correspondence they totally agreed with, and were partisan to, the decision taken by the members of the Cape Big Wave Trust (CBWT) on the NO vote. They have total faith that The Trust is all for developing the big wave talent in SA and giving everyone, especially the younger guys the opportunities they need to make it big. They were most vocal about the problem lying with the WSL qualifying system for the BWT. There is no formal structure in place for them to make it onto the tour and for this reason they are making a stand, alongside the Mavericks crew and chargers from Australia and Maui, to say NO to the competition for 2015. This courageous vote was made in solidarity with big wave surfers from other communities around the world in the hope that the WSL can change their format to accommodate local surfers from various locales around the world so that they can have a better and clearer opportunity in the future. There is No point in pleasing a few people in the short term and the tour goes on as is. We need to make a stand now so that the future opportunities for our local young guys like Josh, Frank, James Lowe, Matt Bromley and other current chargers and future chargers can have a better shot at making a career in big wave surfing as much as someone of the caliber of Grant “Twiggy” Baker who has.

JM: Why the deadline and who imposed this, was that the WSL or was that The Cape Big Wave Trust?

BF: When I first questioned Gary Linden about the drop in South African surfers in the event I was told that this was the system at each of the locations and it was not negotiable. The CBWT then met and unanimously decided that the negatives outweighed the positives for having an event. Gary offered to fly over here but the WSL didn’t grant him a flight. It was then that the offers from the BWT started coming thick and fast, but it was unclear if these offers had even been sanctioned as the communications to me were radically different to the communications to the contest organizer. Ultimately the WSL BWT really needs to get organized, make the changes that they have spoken about and once everything is clear and in place then we will happily consider it again.

JM: Before you answer this question consider that it has taken mainstream professional surfing 30 years to reach the level that it has on the men’s and women’s WQS and WCT tours. Now both men and women on the WCT can expect to make a reasonable living out of surfing, but the creation of that took 30 years to build. The pioneers of these tours, guys like Shaun, Rabbit, MR, Wendy Botha, Martin Potter and many others made very little money out of them at the time, yet they paved the way for what was to come. I get it that the qualification process for the BWT is not 100% transparent. I get it that communication from the WSL regarding entry into events etc. has been less than ideal, I get it that there are issues with the BWT tour in general (no Mavs, no Eddie, no Jaws), but is it reasonable for the Cape Big Wave Trust to expect the WSL to deliver a perfect solution to the BWT within 12 months or boycott/block the event?

BF: It is important to note that the BWT is a completely different beast to the WCT and we believe the WSL are trying to force it into a mold that doesn’t necessarily fit. We don’t necessarily have all the answers to what it is going to take to make it successful, but what we have seen is that wherever there is competition proposed there seems to be great unhappiness from the locals, chaos in the line-up and generally miscommunication from all parties involved. It is for this reason that there is no BWT at Mavericks, Australia told them to get lost and even the Jaws locals shut down the competition AFTER the BWT had given the green light. These happenings on a global scale create confusion for us locally when trying to evaluate the pros and cons of hosting an event in our own back yard, which is not even owned by us and over which we have no control. Ultimately we feel the BWT needs to learn from the locals at big wave locations around the world rather than dictate to them. I believe that by all these communities around the world saying no to an event that we are forcing the BWT to up their game and get their house in order rather than settling for mediocrity or a convenient solution.

JM: Is it true that Barry Futter is the ‘Fast Eddie’ of Cape Town? Only kidding! Note to readers here: Barry is one of the most hospitable, humble, hard charging Capetonians you’ll ever meet. He is not a hothead, heavy, aggro local. He lives a stones throw from Dungeons and surfs it pretty much every time it breaks. He has seen first hand, the best of the best and the worst of the worst out there. If anyone has an informed opinion about the going on’s out there, it is Barry. So Barry, NOT as a representative for The Cape Big Wave Trust or any other organisation, but as an individual and a local surfer what do you think, would you like a BWT event at your local or not and why?

BF: I have deliberately avoided engaging in the Facebook rants, although the lies and hypocrisy have made it tempting.

This is partly out of respect for Gary Linden, because I know how much effort he has put into the creation of the BWT. As a community, our main motivation in all of this is that we love surfing, and we love to charge hard. Hawaii is the epicenter of the surfing universe. I’d be happy to see the politics stay there! Personally I’m not anti the WSL the BWT or an event at Dungeons. All I would like to see is that it is properly organised and of real benefit to the South African surfers both in the event and going forward on the tour.

JM: Don’t you think that by not having the event you limit the development of the younger surfers, after all this event was the training ground for Twiggy and Chris to accomplish what they have on the international stage?

BF: There has been a lot of discussion about that issue on Facebook. What we need to remember is that here has not been an event at Dungeons for 7 years. In this time we have recognized Josh Redman, Matt Bromley and James Lowe are leading the charge as the next generation of South African Big Wave surfers.

I don’t believe future big wave surfers dream of winning an event more than they dream of riding a big wave. Just look at how Josh Redman bust the door down in Hawaii this year, with, at one point, three headlines on Surfline’s homepage – An XXL entry, an incredible barrel “Wave of the Day” at Jaws and a “Wave of the Winter” entry for a barrel at Backdoor. He made his presence known world wide as a charger without the aid of a competition, just because he genuinely likes to ride big and heavy waves.

Most of the older surfers have taken a junior surfer out to Sunset or Dungeons at some point and shown them the ropes. This is how the sport develops. Philip Nel, Ethan and Bas Koopmans and Jock Curry are all people who have received tips and guidance from older big wave surfers once they show they are committed. Now they are charging! Last year a number of young pros including Beyrick de Vries, Dale Staples and others came out to Dungeons all on borrowed boards from older locals.

The gist of this matter is that we believe firmly in the abilities of our surfers and we refuse to accept second best for them or the South African surfing community. Anyone who would genuinely like to see a future South African Big Wave champion follow the amazing legacy that Twiggy has created would stand up and back our decision.

image © Peter Adams

After talking to Barry, I then contacted Twiggy to get his views on the issue, because as SA’s only full time surfer on the BWT, the loss of this event for him presents a significant setback in his earning potential and his ability to accrue points towards another World Title.JM: Is it true that you are in solidarity with The Cape Big Wave Trust on the decision not to hold an event at Dungeons this year, if so why, as surely you had more to lose than gain through this decision?

T: I believe that the final decision was made based on the feeling that the negatives of a contest out-way the positives for the local surfers.

In the end, only one or two of our young surfers would be good enough to eventually make the overall tour, at the expense of the people who surf Dungeons regularly and are worried about overcrowding from outsiders.

I voted with the popular majority because of the backlash I’ve experienced about my support of the event over the years. In the end I felt the negativity it has created for me on a personal level was not worth supporting an event at Dungeons.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to surf a contest at home and it would have given me a great chance at a second World Title as well as putting a stepping stone in place for our best young surfers to fulfill their dreams. I have fought hard for this over the years. But in the end, we need to respect the vote of those locals who hopefully have the best interests of surfing in South Africa, the city of Cape Town and in particular Dungeons at heart and not get tied up in our own personal interests.

Conclusion.

While they may not be perfect the WSL have done amazing things to organize and improve the presentation and offering of professional surfing in the short time since they have taken over the ASP. A decade ago surfing (and most of the brands that propped up the ASP) traded off the influence that surfing had in mainstream youth culture. Put bluntly the money on tour was put up by inland kooks buying product that they thought would make them look cool, basically a fraudulent proposition if you think about it, and one that could never hope to endure.

A decade later we’ve finally realised that surfing is not just about youth culture and the WSL’s entry into surfing could not have come at a better time. Purists criticize them for trying to make surfing mainstream like tennis, golf, and basketball, but what they don’t realise is that this has already happened. All the WSL are attempting to do is package and present it properly. Also and I really believe this is the single most important contribution they’ve made so far, they are finally presenting surfing for surfing’s sake as a pure athletic endeavor and as a sport and not as some quasi – cool, pretentious, lifestyle orientated activity. They are doing this with their own money, taking a long-term view that if they build the tours the right way eventually surfing will be marketable to a broader audience and ultimately profitable in the way that other sports have become. Parallel to this, surfing and competitive surfing are constantly evolving. We need to factor the dynamic nature of surfing into our thinking when planning for the future. What worked for the Red Bull BWA events a decade ago is not necessarily the solution in today’s world. There was a time when to be competitive in big waves you just needed serious courage and the ability to hold on and make the drop. These days you still need that as much as ever, if not more, but you also need to be able to rip. Guys are paddling into bigger waves than ever before, linking sections and navigating gigantic tubes that 10 years ago would have been unthinkable. This will change the face of big wave professional surfing. In a telephone conversation I had with Twiggy he said he has possibly two years left before the young guys out-charge AND out-surf him. In his words “Some of the kids we have to surf against on the BWT are WCT level surfers and they charge!”

To an outsider like me the stakes in this case appear to be high to both parties. By acting the way they have the CBWT have made it clear to the WSL that there are issues that need to be addressed before they will support an event again. To go from a unanimous ‘YES’ last year to a unanimous ‘NO’ this year, clearly something has gone horribly and dramatically wrong with the WSL’s communication with the CBWT. If the WSL thought that because they were paying the bills they could do whatever they wanted, they will have realized that this is not the case. Sometimes an action communicates more effectively than dialog and negotiation. The message is, even if you are paying the bills, you can’t just steamroll the will of the local community. By making this stand the CBWT illustrated how seriously they felt about all the issues raised and kudos to the WSL, they have taken those concerns on board.

One has to spare a thought for Pete Mel and Gary Linden who are trying to build something amazing against a complex backdrop of local issues. Reading both Pete and Gary’s replies to me, it is clear that both men would like to see the BWT flourish and for this to happen there have to be improvements – which it seems they are willing to make. They would also like to see a BWT event in SA moving forward.

The local surfing community also needs to play a constructive role in this process and not just leave all the work and responsibility to the WSL. It is vital that the local community share ownership with the WSL, that way everyone is invested. With talk of a possible local ‘qualification’ event at Bayview this year, which I hear is gaining support from the local municipality, it seems as if those stepping-stones are lining up nicely.

Building something together requires positive intent from all the players as well as great communication. I’ve been privy to subsequent communication between Gary, Barry and Twiggy. I can report the result is now vigorous and constructive debate around qualification processes, exploring alternative event locations, fixing technical oversights, correcting glitches in the rule book and generally trying to figure out how best to move forward positively, whilst attempting to take a futuristic view of where big wave surfing is headed. These take into account the interests of all parties, including the non-competitive free surfers.

So, no BWT event this year might be a small price to play for the health of the BWT moving forward, and the way that competitive big wave surfing is approached within South Africa and around the rest of the world moving forward.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to surfing small, crowded, waves in Durban.”