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Red Bull Big Wave Africa
Surfing South Africa (SSA) Specialty event
Dungeons, Hout Bay , Cape Town , South Africa
22 May - 12 June 2005
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A huge weather system covering most of the South Atlantic ocean and predicted to generate swells between 15 and 20 foot in height has prompted the organisers of the 2004 Red Bull Big Wave Africa extreme surfing event to put the 12 invited athletes on standby for a possible start on Wednesday morning.
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Ideal weather and tidal conditions - light NW offshore winds and low tide at 12h30 - are forecast and with arguably the best field of specialist big wave surfers to grace the event, everyone involved is keen to get out in some sizeable Cape surf and crown another Red Bull BWA champion. |
LOCATION: Dungeons, a shallow reef located under the towering cliffs of the Sentinel Mountain at the mouth of Hout Bay , on the West coast of the Cape Peninsula at the Southern tip of Africa . The combination of open ocean swell generated in the Roaring Forties, between South America and Africa , a deep-water channel outside the break and the steeply sloping reef produces immensely powerful waves, the equal of any of the notorious big wave spots around the world. Dungeons features strong currents, cold water, kelp (seaweed) and is adjacent to the Duiker Island seal colony. The venue is accessed via a 15-minute boat ride from Hout Bay harbour
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Contest director Gary Linden will be on the Sentinel Mountain at first light on Wednesday in order to visually check the conditions. He and Cape Town big wave legend Jonathan Paarman, who will be out in the break on an inflatable boat, have until 11am to make a decision on whether to give the event the Green for Go status. |
The event requires three hours of competition to determine the winner with the top three competitors in each of the two one-hour semis advancing to the 60 minute final, which will be held approximately half an hour after the second semi is completed. The champion is then announced back on the quayside in Hout Bay harbour.
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The line-up for the two Red Bull BWA 2004 semi-finals is as follows:
Heat One
- Grant 'Twiggy' Baker ( Durban )
- Darryl 'Flea' Virostko ( Santa Cruz , California )
- Jason Ribbink ( Berea , Durban )
- Jamie Sterling ( Oahu , Hawaii )
- Andrew Marr (Kommetjie, Cape Town )
- Carlos 'Coco' Nogales ( Puerto Escondido , Mexico )
Heat Two
- Greg Long ( San Diego , California )
- Sean Holmes (Wilderness, Western Cape )
- Carlos Burle ( Rio de Janeiro , Brazil )
- Mickey Duffus (Kommetjie, Cape Town )
- Grant Washburn ( San Francisco , California )
- Justin Strong ( Camps Bay , Cape Town )
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For more details on all aspects of the event, including surfer profiles, weather and wave predictions, the daily log of happenings and uploaded images and how to watch the event both virtually or from the shore or water, visit www.redbullbwa.com
MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS: A comprehensive website covering aspects ranging from the status of the event through competitor profiles to daily updates of text, images and video footage can be found at www.redbullbwa.com Interested parties are encouraged to log on to stay abreast of the latest developments in the event.
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Media Enquiries
Taryn Cheadle
Red Bull Communications
Mobile : + 27 (0) 82 566 6877
tcheadle@jmc.co.za
Photographs courtesy Red Bull & Tostee.com
Compiled & distributed by:
Life's a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272 , Kommetjie, 7976 South Africa
Tel / Fax: +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Mobile : +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email: lifesabeach@mweb.co.za |
