by SFT | Jul 26, 2026 | St Francis, Surf Editorial
News Release
27 July 2026
When Alaïa Bay opened beneath the Swiss Alps in 2021, it challenged long-held perceptions of where world-class surfing could exist. Five years later, the iconic Swiss wavepool is hosting the first Wavepool Surf Tour event, bringing together surfers from around the world for the launch of a new international competition.
The Wavepool Surf Tour could only begin at a venue that reflects how far wavepool surfing has evolved. Set beneath the Swiss Alps, Alaïa Bay has established itself as one of the best-known destinations of the wavepool era.
Since opening in 2021, Alaïa Bay has welcomed everyone from first-time surfers to elite professionals. Built using Wavegarden Cove technology, it has become a venue for coaching, high-performance training, and international events, demonstrating the growing role wavepools now play in surfing.
Alaïa Bay, where the Wavepool Surf Tour starts.
Those qualities make Alaïa Bay the natural home of the Alaïa Surf Challenge, the first event on the Wavepool Surf Tour calendar. From 1 August, surfers will submit their best rides for judging through Surf Eye Technology, establishing the first rankings of a competition designed specifically for wavepools.
Launching the tour at Alaïa Bay also reflects the international reach of surfing today. A purpose-built surfing venue in the heart of Switzerland would once have seemed improbable. Today, it stands as one of the sport’s most distinctive destinations, illustrating how surfing has expanded beyond traditional coastlines while remaining firmly rooted in performance and community.
Wavepool Surf Tour CEO Mark Fessler at Alaïa Bay.
For decades, competitive surfing has been built around the same contest model. As the Wavepool Surf Tour’s first season gets underway at Alaïa Bay, a new competitive format is taking shape, one shaped by wavepool technology and built around accessibility, inclusivity, and performance.
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For more information, visit:
www.wavepoolsurftour.com
Alaïa Bay
https://alaia.ch/bay/
Partnership & Sponsorship Enquiries
Mark Fessler
Founder
mark@wavepoolsurftour.com
Athlete & Competition Enquiries
Clyde Martin
Co-Founder
clyde@wavepoolsurftour.com
Media Enquiries
Craig Jarvis
Head of Marketing & Communications
craig@truthcollective.co.za
FAQ’s
www.wavepoolsurftour.com/faq
About The Wavepool Surf Tour
The Wavepool Surf Tour connects surfers from wavepools around the world through a shared online competitive format built specifically for wavepool surfing. Competitors participate throughout the season from their local wavepools, with the leading performers advancing to the Wavepool World Finals, the first live event of the season.
by SFT | Jul 26, 2026 | Financial Planning, St Francis
Most of what I write about lives in the world of retirement and investing. Today I want to talk about something we tend to skip over entirely — protecting our children’s income the moment they start earning it.
When I began my career, most of us worked for corporates with a pension or provident fund, and tucked inside that fund was usually life cover and disability benefit, often without us even asking for it. Today, that safety net has largely disappeared. Smaller businesses in particular rarely offer it, which means the responsibility now sits squarely with the individual — often a 22 or 25-year-old who has never been asked to think about it.
Of all the risk benefits available, I believe income protection is the most important by far. Here’s why: you can lose your ability to earn through illness or injury and still live a long, full life. That’s not a tragedy in the dramatic sense — it’s simply a long life without an income. And when that happens, who carries the cost? The state? A spouse? Your own children one day? None of us want to be on either end of that arrangement.
Let’s look at the numbers. A 25-year-old earning R30,000 a month, with income growing at 6.5% a year until retirement at 65, will earn roughly R63.2 million over their working life. That’s the asset we’re talking about protecting. To insure it costs in the region of R300 a month — about R3,600 a year.
And the likelihood of needing it is far higher than most young people assume. For a healthy, non-smoking 25-year-old male, the risk of being unable to work for more than 14 days due to illness or injury before age 70 sits at around 92%. Permanent disability risk is closer to 15%, and critical illness around 37%.
These aren’t figures meant to alarm — they’re simply the reality our children are stepping into without the structures we once had. This is a conversation worth having early, gently, and often. Not because insurance is exciting, but because it buys the one thing none of us can otherwise guarantee: the ability to keep providing for the people we love, no matter what life throws at us.
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Dirk Groeneveld, Certified Financial Planner
t. 083 261 9287
e. dirk@clientcare.co.za
An Investment Portfolio Without a Plan is Meaningless
Five Dangers Of DIY Financial Planning
Finding The Delicate Balance In Giving
Dead Money, Living Money
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Disclaimer:
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice in any way or form. It is important to consult a financial planner to receive financial advice before acting on any information contained herein. Client Care and PWM and its directors, officers, and employees shall not be responsible and disclaim all liability for any loss, damage (whether direct, indirect, special or consequential) and/or expense of any nature whatsoever, which may be suffered as a result of, or which may be attributable, directly or indirectly, to the use of, or reliance upon any information contained in this article.
by Craig Jarvis | Jul 26, 2026 | Notes From The Editor, St Francis
One of the strangest things about living in St Francis is how quickly we stop seeing it.
Not the obvious things. We all notice a pumping swell at Seal Point or a pod of dolphins heading east. But the everyday changes are different. They happen so gradually that they become part of the background, until one day you stop and realise the place isn’t quite the same as it was a year ago.
Take the groynes.
They’re either the most talked-about structures in town or the most controversial. Everyone has an opinion, and social media has ensured we’ve heard most of them. Yet I wonder how many people have actually stood there for twenty minutes and watched the work unfold.
The coastline is changing
It isn’t dramatic. There’s no ribbon-cutting moment or overnight transformation. A truck arrives, a massive rock is lifted into place, another follows, then another. Sometimes work slows while larger armour rock is sourced from the quarry. Then it starts again. Day after day, week after week, the coastline is changing almost imperceptibly.
The funny thing about projects like this is that they only attract attention while they’re being built. A few years from now, children will scramble over those rocks, anglers will cast from them, photographers will include them in sunrise pictures, surfers will take the epic waves for granted, and visitors will assume they’ve always been there.
That’s how most good infrastructure works. We only notice it while it’s missing or under construction.
The same applies to plenty of other things around town.
A cup of coffee and an opinion
The walking paths, the harbour, the lighthouse, the bridges and even the rows of coral trees that define so much of St Francis all exist because somebody, somewhere, put in the work long before the rest of us arrived with a cup of coffee and an opinion.
Perhaps that’s why it’s worth occasionally standing still. Not to admire a construction site, but to remind ourselves that places don’t simply stay beautiful by accident. They are constantly changing, usually through the quiet efforts of people we’ll never meet, doing the hard work, finding solutions where they don’t exist.
By next summer, most of us will have forgotten how the groynes were built. We’ll simply enjoy the beaches a lot more. The best work in a town is rarely the work that gets remembered. It’s the work that quietly becomes part of everyday life.
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Read more:
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by SFT | Jul 26, 2026 | St Francis
A fresh set of aerial photographs by Barry Culligan captures the latest progress along the Long Term Coastal Protection Scheme.
The images show activity at the River Mouth Groyne (NG6), the angled groyne (NG5), the revetment and the surrounding shoreline, providing a clear view of the ongoing coastal engineering works.
Dredging operations continue consistently, while beach nourishment remains on track as sand steadily accumulates along the coastline. The latest aerial perspective highlights the gradual transformation taking place as the project continues to reshape and strengthen the beachfront.
All photographs by Barry Culligan.
Read More:
Groynes 4 months ago
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by SFT | Jul 26, 2026 | St Francis
More than a football club
For the boys of St Francis United, football is where it starts, but it is certainly not where it ends.
The local club has been recognized, by Kouga Municipality, with an Environmental Award, acknowledging its commitment to teaching young players about conservation, protecting the coastline and developing a sense of responsibility for the community they call home.
The recognition reflects a programme that combines football with practical life lessons, helping young people grow both on and off the field.
A partnership with purpose
For the past two years, SUPERSPAR Village Square, St Francis Bay selected St Francis United as its preferred community organisation to support during 2026. The partnership was built on a shared belief that investing in young people should extend beyond providing sporting opportunities.
Instead, the focus has been on creating experiences that builds confidence, develops character and encourages the boys to become active custodians of the environment.
Over the last two years, the team has regularly taken part in environmental clean-ups, hosted educational outings and community activities that introduces the team to the rich natural and maritime heritage of St Francis.
Learning from the community
The programme has taken the boys well beyond the football pitch.
Visits to the Shipwreck Museum, guided walks along the Wildside coastline, tours of the lighthouse precinct and the Osprey wreck as well as time spent at the Port of St Francis have given the boys a deeper understanding of the area’s history, fishing industry, ocean economy and marine environment.
Support from organisations such as the Kromme Enviro-Trust, the NSRI and members of the local fishing community has also helped bring these experiences to life.
Building young men
Richard Moolman, owner of SUPERSPAR Village Square, says supporting St Francis United has always been about much more than football.
“Community investment should leave a lasting legacy. Matt and his team are helping these young men grow into responsible members of our community. Football opens the door, but the lessons they are learning about respect, teamwork and looking after the environment will stay with them long after the final whistle.”
Club owner Matt Davies says the award belongs to every player who has embraced the programme.
“We want these boys to understand that they have a responsibility to care for the place where they live. Football gives us the opportunity to bring them together, but every outing, every clean-up and every conversation helps shape the kind of people they will become. This award belongs to the boys because they have taken that message to heart.”
A win for the whole community
The Environmental Award is recognition of what can be achieved when local businesses, community organisations and volunteers work together.
For St Francis United, success is no longer measured only by results on a scoreboard. It is also reflected in young people who understand the value of protecting their environment, respecting their community and taking pride in where they live.
In a town where the coastline, rivers and natural beauty define everyday life, those may prove to be the most important victories of all.
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Read more:
• The Pam Golding St Francis Jars of Hope Campaign
• Old Surfboards and Wetsuits donations
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