Some impressions from the contest which was held in Longbeach and Muizenberg, Cape Town
Over the past week the South African Longboard Championships were held in Cape Town and I had the pleasure (and honour I suppose, but mostly pleasure) of taking part in them. Longboarding is like the more stylish older brother of shortboarding, and is possibly one of the most beautiful, enjoyable sports to watch. The SA Champs provided a platform for some of the best longboard surfers in South Africa (and the world) to show off their skills. Even though I failed epically in my own surfing (I lost both my heats), I went down to the beach every day to take in some of fantastic surfing transpiring in the water.
Apart from the surfing, the contest was a great success in terms of organisation (thanks to some very hard-working people...so much for the stereotype of lazy, relaxed surfers...). Everything ran super smoothly and one could pretty much predict when each heat would be to the minute. Longboarding also brings a kind of calmness to the beach (as opposed to shortboarding which, I find, is more aggressive) which made for a good atmosphere and attracted many spectators. I hope you enjoy the photos...their a bit blah and don't really capture the atmosphere too well but I also made a video which I will post shortly that captures it better.
