Wildside TIMES #2

THE JBAY SURF FESTIVAL UPDATE

The return of the JBay Surf Festival has given this part of the world much to celebrate. After the festival was put on hold for two years as we all rode out wave after wave of the COVID pandemic, it is now set to return with a new look and feel. The three old favourites that are always the most popular events at this festival are the Funduro Motocross day, the Skins Fishing Tournament, and the Live Entertainment.

Funduro The Funduro motocross day is always entertaining, with entire families coming to the exhibition event. Organised by Slake Adventures, it is open to riders of all ages and skill levels. Highlights of this fun day include the Slake Pit obstacle course, which is highly technical but loads of fun, and the Expression Session, which brings out the best in the riders. The Funduro is the one event that embraces lousy weather, and a bit of rain and a lot of mud seems to heighten the excitement. There’s nothing like mud and slurry to make all the challenges that much more intense from a rider and a spectator’s point of view. If you’re not competing and it looks like cloudy skies, then bring some rain gear and a covered braai and enjoy the spectacle along with everyone else.

Skins Fishing Tournament The Skins Fishing Tournament has always been one of the most popular tournaments within the Festival, with entire families getting involved. This contest has strict rules and regulations, with tag and release and the fishing only allowed within the demarcated areas. The tournament organisers always make sure that there are plenty of prizes, and everyone who enters walks away with some sort of prize. Records have been broken at this tournament. However, more records could fall if the Musselcracker and Kabeljou are biting. All competitors will need a valid fishing licence to enter.

Live Music at this early stage of the festival’s planning, several local bands and artists will be performing. Still, we cannot announce them, as nothing has been confirmed yet. However, there is talk of one massive band coming to the festival, the sort of band that will see a packed audience and sold out tickets. As soon as we can confirm this, we will make the announcement. For those of you who are into live music and want to rock out like in previous years, keep your eyes on this one as it looks like it will be a very exciting year for live music.

Then we have the surfing, and it is a different look competition with a smaller, more intense field of men and women. The Corona Open JBay, the ninth stop on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), will return to Jeffreys Bay after two years. This year there’s even more at stake with a reduced field of 22 men and 10 women who will have made the Midyear cut-off. In addition, the 2019 Corona Open JBay winner, Gabriel Medina(BRA), will return to Supertubes after he was awarded the men’s 2022 WSL CT season wildcard. This gives him entry into all Championship Tour events following the Mid-season Cut. In 2019, Medina became the first goofyfooter in 35 years to win in Jeffreys Bay. After taking a long break from competition, the three-time World Champion will not only be looking to defend his win at JBay but also his World Title.

South Africa’s Jordy Smith, a two-time event winner in Jeffreys Bay, will hope to score a solid performance in front of his home crowd. This is a wave he has proven his knowledge, experience and expertise on. While a Final 5 finish might be out of reach for Smith, he could play spoiler for those closer to the cut-off.

Carissa Moore (HAW), current world number 1, will also be back in J-Bay to defend her title from 2019. The fourtime World Champion will face tough competition from an in-form Tyler Wright (AUS) and 2019 runner-up Lakey Peterson (USA).