Andy Marr : photo Nic Bothma

O'Neill Raw Courage Awards

Massive Storm Swells in the Cape  Produce Last Minute
Nominations for O'Neill Big Wave Raw Courage Awards

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 23 May, 2008 : - - The Cape of storms produced some ferociously large waves with faces in excess of 50-60ft; resulting in a flood of entries from the weather which battered the coast, producing some of biggest entries ever seen for both the paddle division and the tow-in division for the O’Neill Raw Courage Awards. The cut off date for entries was May 20, 2008.

"The swell ridden by some of our top big wave riders over this last weekend was incredible. Without a shadow of a doubt, there were many of the biggest waves ever ridden in South Africa and possibly in the world.

The most important aspect to me is that the boundaries of the sport were challenged, huge waves were ridden, new ground was broken and the level of performance was raised and everyone came home safely at the end of the day,” commented Chris Bertish O'Neill South Africa Brand Manager.

The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 25th May from 3.30pm onwards just off Long Beach, in Kommetjie, Cape Town. The event awards presentation will take place in the ocean, making the O'Neill Raw Courage Awards even more unique and part of South African surfing history, as no other surfing event has ever had an awards ceremony in the ocean.

Bertish added, "Holding the awards ceremony in the water is our way of staying in touch with the core roots of the brand and the cold water elements of the sport, which is O’Neill. We pay our respects to the Ocean, Nature and other past watermen that have lost their lives accepting nature’s challenge, as we call nature to play, as this is one of the cornerstones of the brand."

All the new nominations including some huge, wild tow-in waves by Andrew Marr, Simon Louw, Jake Kolnick & Rheinard Fourie all from Cape Town and one really impressive entry from Grant "Twiggy"Baker (Durban) and some phenomenally clean, big Dungeons paddle waves from Sunday & Monday along with many more, can be viewed on the website.

A new Slideshow has also been recently added. To view all the latest nominations from the last huge swell from the weekend click the following link: http://www.oneillsa.com/News/Raw-Courage-Awards-Slide-Show.asp The after party, with a slide show and video footage from the last big swell will take place at Kommetjie's, Seven 8 Three Restaurant (by invitation only), after the awards ceremony, which  is to take place in the water off Sunset Reef (weather permitting) on Sunday afternoon 25th May 2008.

Co-sponsors for the O'Neill Raw Courage Awards include, DaKine, Corona Premium Beer and ZigZag Surf magazine. The O'Neill Raw Courage Awards was launched to credit all South African big wave riders who are charging and pushing the boundaries of big wave surfing in South Africa and abroad.

www.oneillsa.com
www.oneillsa.com/Events/Raw-Courage-Awards.asp 

 

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Olivia Jones 

Big Wave - Surfersvillage