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Thursday, December 2, 2004
Oakley Big Wave Challenge presented by Zigzag
May 1 to October 31, 2004
Jason Ribbink wins 2004 Oakley Big Wave Challenge
Jason Ribbink has won the Oakley Big Wave Challenge
powered by Zigzag surfing magazine by riding the
biggest wave recorded on film in South Africa
during 2004 after plenty of deliberation over two similarly huge
waves that were in contention for the grand prize.
Ribbink and Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker (Durban) rode
their respective waves on different days, months apart, at
SA’s premier big wave surfing location of Dungeons,
near Hout Bay, which is on the West coast of the Cape
Peninsula on the Southern tip of the continent.
It was then the task of the crew at Zigzag, together
with a group of independent experts, to calculate the size of
the wave face in each of the photos in order
to determine which wave was the bigger of the two. Using a
combination of mathematical equations and a pair
of calipers for accuracy, a legitimate method of calculating
the height of the wave was finally determined.
Twiggy’s wave was calculated to be 9.43 metres
(approximately 31 foot) from trough to crest at the instant the
photo was taken, while Jason’s wave came in at
10.92 metres (approximately 36 foot).The difference between
the two was 1.49 meters.
Ribbink, an all-round watermen who includes the
1999 SA Open surfing title, the world #2 rating for longboard
surfing in 2001 and the captaincy of the 2002
and 2004 SA surfing teams on his resume, therefore picks up the
R50 000 (approx US $8 500) winner’s prize-purse
for the 2004 Oakley Big Wave Challenge.
And Jared Hartman (17), the photographer who captured
the winning moment, now finds himself R20 000
richer.
In Zigzag’s possession is a frame grab of Jason’s
wave that further cements the fact that this was indeed the
winning wave. Taken from a different angle the
frame grab shows the wave before it had broken and when the
trough to crest measurement was approximately
45 foot. The video clip arrived after the closing date of the
Challenge and therefore was not eligible for
the prizes.
The competition made no comparison between surfers
paddling or being towed into waves. The criteria was
simply that the winning entry would be the biggest
wave captured on film in South Africa during the May 1 to
October 31 period that was being ridden by a
South African surfer in South Africa.
Jason Ribbink can be contacted via jason@biltsurf.com or via mobile phone at +27 (0) 83 500 1555