by SFT | Jun 16, 2024 | St Francis
All photos © Andrea Paarman
Jonathan Paarman From Nexus Yachts Wins Legend of the Sea Award, Roger Paarman wins Service Excellence Award
The annual SABBEX Boating Industry Awards took place with much fanfare. In its fourth year, and following a brief hiatus due to the Covid lockdown, the South African Boat Builders Annual Industry Awards Dinner has now firmly established itself as the industry’s premier event. Vanessa Davidson reports on an evening filled with honour, festivity, pride, and camaraderie for the 260 attendees.
by SFT | Jun 16, 2024 | St Francis
What’s Hot
These beautiful winter days when the sun is beating down by 11 am, families are on the beach, kids are surfing, beers are out after 12, and a general joie de vivre vibe is around, maybe from the beers. Sometimes it’s hard to tell that it is even winter.
What’s Not
Bitterly cold St Francis mornings, early alarm clocks, and rushing around in the freezing house trying to get kids ready for school, pack lunches, feed the dogs, and find your warmest shoes—not to mention the fact that summer is about five months away.
Submitted by Jessie
See also: Three New Stores Coming To Town: Rumour
by SFT | Jun 16, 2024 | St Francis
JEFFREYS BAY, Eastern Cape, South Africa – Luke Thompson and Sarah Baum won the World Surf League (WSL) J-Bay Classic Trials Presented by Corona today in two-to-three-foot surf. With this win, Thompson and Baum get to compete against the elite field of invitees in the J-Bay Classic Presented by Corona Specialty event, which runs from 17-23 June.
Thompson Secures Main Event Slot, Overcomes Stacked Local Field
The waves were pumping for the Semifinals, and it was an exhilarating heat to watch Cape Town’s Luke Thompson (RSA) and local favourite Dale Staples(RSA) go excellent to secure their spot in the Finals, alongside top contenders Tide-Lee Ireland (RSA) and Adin Masencamp (RSA). Unfortunately, that was the best part of the day, as Supertubes slowed down, bringing long lulls and small waves.
Luke Thompson surfing in the Finals at the J-Bay Classic Trials. (Photo by Pierre Tostee/World Surf League)
It was anyone’s game in these conditions. Still, Thompson scored the best wave for a 6.00 point ride (out of a possible 10) for a combination of big turns on the Supertubes canvas. With a small backup ride of 3.33, it was enough to take the win over Ireland, Staples and Masencamp.
So Nervous
“I was actually so nervous in my first heat today, probably the most nervous I’ve been all year,” Thompson reflected. “In the Final, my game plan was to wait for the sets. I fell on my first wave, which worked out to my benefit because I got second priority, and I could go for that wave where I got the six. Afterwards, I sat wide and hoped a set wouldn’t arrive for the other guys.”
“I just want to surf as many heats as possible out here. The forecast looks perfect this week, so I can’t wait to surf perfect J-Bay with just a few people. I’m not even considering it a competition; I just want to surf!”
South Africa’s Olympic contender and top female surfer on the WSL Challenger Series, Sarah Baum (RSA), went excellent in her Semifinal clash to advance to the Finals. Baum picked off the best waves, showing her experience from competing at Supertubes as a wildcard in the Corona Open J-Bay last year. She unleashed her backhand, committing to huge turns in the cascading lip to get an excellent heat total of 16.17 (out of a possible 20).
In the Final, Baum stayed patient and waited for the set waves, surfing smartly to bank two good waves. Not pushing too hard, but completing her rides, it was just enough to fend off a commendable performance from Sarah Scott(RSA), who finished in second place. Natasha van Greunen (RSA) and Zoe Steyn (RSA) round out the results.
Expression Session
After the Finals, a handful of competitors grabbed a twin-fin surfboard specifically shaped for the J-Bay Classic presented by Corona and headed out for the Dawn Patrol Wine Lines expression session, the first of many expression sessions planned for the duration of the competition window period.
Jordy Smith (RSA), Dale Staples (RSA), Sage Erikson (USA), Coco Ho (HAW), Sarah Baum (RSA), Michael February (RSA), Luke Thompson (RSA), Tide-Lee Ireland (RSA), Faye Zoetmulder (RSA) and Shane Sykes (RSA) had the Supertubes lineup all to themselves to have some fun on the beautifully crafted twin fins from SMTH Shapes, Spider, Channel Islands, Timmy Patterson, ELS and Fishstix.
While there won’t be a live broadcast, fans will be able to follow updates on the WSL J-Bay Classic presented by Corona on the @wsl and @jbayclassicsocial media channels and catch up on all the best highlights from the day on WorldSurfLeague.com.
The J-Bay Classic, presented by Corona, holds a competition window from Friday, June 14, through Sunday, June 23.
The J-Bay Classic presented by Corona is proudly supported by Corona, Kouga Municipality, Eastern Cape Provincial Government, House of Mandela, The Freedom Project, Red Bull, Sealand, Grit and Surfing South Africa.
by SFT | Jun 16, 2024 | Notes From The Editor
Notes From The Editor
Someone recently called a retail outlet’s head office to see if their much-publicised speedy delivery service is available for St Francis Bay. The very polite person at the end of the line said that the advertised service is unavailable as we are in an outlying area, but they offer a third-party delivery service.
As the conversation trails off, the person drops a tantalising hint, suggesting that we might not have to wait too long for a store to grace our village.
Three New Stores Coming
How soon? The answer wasn’t exciting, as the timeline was vaguely put as ‘within the next two years.’
So the person called another retail outlet to find out about their delivery service, only to have the same answer about outlying areas and too far to use their super-speedy service. However, you can ‘order and get it in a day or two.’
But now the caller is fore-armed and asked the question upfront about the possibility of any retail outlets coming to the area.
Focused On Food
The answer was again a confirmation, but this time, there would be two such stores coming to our sleepy little town in different areas, with construction based on a similar two-year timeline. One shop would be sooner, small, and more focused on food.
Wow.
This careless whisper of three new shops coming to town is the funny little rumour going around the village at the moment, and most people, including me, don’t believe a word of it. We are pooh-poohing** the idea as silly and not worth worrying about.
But is it a silly notion?
Development is inexorable, and we can expect our town to grow. Retail outlets would only move here and set up shop if they knew that their stores would get the traffic, be well-supported, and ultimately make a profit. As our population has grown so much, perhaps more shops will come? KFC is getting plenty of customers and will undoubtedly thrive over the season.
But with more retail outlets, are we rapidly losing the charm and tranquillity that drew us to this village in the first place?
Still, I love those little Woolies‘ savoury BBQ chicken pancakes.
** (I have never been able to use pooh-poohing in an article before, and I am pretty chuffed that I finally managed to use it.)
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