Bodyboard GOAT heads to the West Coast for the Tand Invitational.
Some of the world’s top bodyboarders, including the GOAT Mike Stewart, prepare for the Tand Invitational event at a remote spot up the West Coast, organisers have announced a special collaboration with Protect the West Coast (PTWC).
Rider: Robbie Berman. Photo: Tsevi Rosenthal.
As some of the world’s top bodyboarders, including the GOAT Mike Stewart, prepare for the Tand Invitational event at a remote spot up the West Coast, organisers have announced a special collaboration with Protect the West Coast (PTWC).
The event will be called on a day between July 1 and 31 when the dangerously shallow rock slab they call the Tand near Titiesbaai shows its teeth in the form of a challenging but clean open ocean swell. Other puns are used to describe the event – tand means tooth in Afrikaans – such as “visits to the dentist” and “toothy swells” or waves that break with a “nasty bite”.
Tand Invitational organisers want to ensure a minimal environmental footprint to look after this remote and pristine coastline, which is why they have enlisted the assistance of PTWC, while also pledging to create more awareness and funds for PTWC.
Organisers James Plumstead and Deon Meyer said they were stoked with the collaboration for a number of reasons.
“PTWC are the go-to guys when it comes to custodians of the West Coast. They are doing amazing work to stop illegal beach mining that has destroyed the fragile bio-diversity of some areas. Events like the Tand Invitational are a powerful way to protect and sustain the West Coast by adding sport tourism to the growing list of activities PTWC wants to promote,” said Plumstead.
Some of bodyboarding’s biggest names, including the GOAT, Mike Stewart, and another Hawaiian legend, Jacob Romero, will be in attendance. Aged 60, Hawaiian Stewart has cemented his place in the sport’s history, straddling the 1980s poster era and the current Instagram influencer era. He is joined by Maui’s high-flying Jacob Romero, who makes his second trip to South Africa. Internationally respected for his positive energy and powerful surfing, JROM should crack a few hoots at the toothy slab, which is perfect for his aerial game.
Rider: Luke Bruton. Photo: Craig Kolesky.
The third international invite has been accepted by Italy’s underground big wave hellman, Simone Macera, who hails from Livorno, on the Tyrrhenian Sea in Toscana, Italy. He has earned a reputation as a fearless XXL rider at monstrous waves like Nazaré in Portugal.
Bodyboarders invited to the Tand Invitational have fulfilled specific selection criteria. If you won the event last year, you’re in. If organisers see that you have spent plenty of time at Tand, you’ll be invited. You’ll be at the event if you performed well at competitions around the country and the world, sponsorship allowing. It helps if you are known as a hellman, with a fearless approach to heavy waves that want to bodyslam you onto the reef below.
The South African contingent is led by a multiple world champion Tristan Roberts, fresh off a win in South America. Roberts is firing on all cylinders and will be hunting down 2023 Tand champion Wesley Coetzee – the quiet charger from Ramsgate in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Wesley is joined by 2024 Cape Town Pro champion Hankus Loubser; 2023 Walker Bay Pro winner Benji Oliver; and SA Champ Aden Kleve. Robbie Berman, the IBC World Tour contender (third at Tand last year), returns with local legends Mark MacCarthy, Sacha Specker and Rupert la Grange. Mark represented South Africa on the world tour for many years, and Sacha won a World Drop knee title in 2012 at Pipeline.
This year, two bodyboarders were drawn as wildcards after a short video motivation on Instagram and a popular vote – first-timers John Caitlin and Dylan Muhlenberg. Competitors in 2023 Luke Stainforth and Luke Bruton secured the last two wildcards.
Rider: Robbie Berman. Photo: Seth Phitides.
“We are super stoked to be partnering with the Tand Invitational in 2024,” said PTWC CEO, Mike Schlebach. “These kinds of events showcase the West Coast in its best possible light and show how we can utilise the beaches and benefit local communities in sustainable a way that has little to no negative impacts, unlike most mining operations. The addition of legends like Mike Stewart just adds to the publicity and draws more attention to our organisation and its fight against illegal mining. Every inch of the coast is under threat, so we need to act now to ensure there is a coastline left for these kinds of events to thrive.”
The action will be live-streamed on YouTube, building on the miracle of 2023, when it was proved possible to run a successful live stream event in a remote location, far from traditional infrastructure. All angles will be covered in and out of the water.
Come down to Titiesbaai, meet the legends, grab a coffee, and watch the action live from the rocks that line the amphitheatre in the Columbine Nature Reserve. It is an experience to be ticked off the bucket list, and 2024 will be the biggest and best yet.
Follow the Tand Invitational on social for updates on the event.
Alerts about the opening ceremony, amber and green light calls, and the live stream can be found here: Instagram: @tandinvitational/ Facebook: @TandInvitational/
A team from Protect the West Coast (PTWC), including activists, filmmakers, legal experts, and !Ama leaders recently travelled to the Richtersveld to document the catastrophic damage from mining, while engaging with the community about solutions to their plight. The devastation they saw prompted an urgent letter from PTWC to the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), Dion George, to raise the alarm.
Fish by the Sea has again applied to prospect on the beach for diamonds near Brand-se-baai, adjacent to an area designated as critically biodiverse. This application adds more potential for beach mining on the West Coast, which is already under severe pressure. The new application is a revised submission of the same area, replacing what was publicised by Protect the West Coast (PTWC) in July. Thanks to public input, the first application was deemed inadequate. The revised version is now open for public comment.
