written by Pierre Marqua
Wedged between two massive cold fronts, in the midst of the most brutal Cape Winter in decades, the Eagle Lighting Tand Invitational 2024, presented by Jack Black Brewing Co, was bestowed with a day of blessings.
On Thursday, 25 July, the warm African sun shone down on the Onrus local and multiple world champion Tristan Roberts, who came out all guns blazing to dominate the competition, claim his fourth Tand trophy, and walk away with the R30,000 winner’s cheque.
Due to the special ‘one day only’ format, the event consisted only of seven heats, which allowed for the competition’s more focused action and faster pace.
The stars aligned and the Tand played her part. Every heat was jam-packed with high-scoring rides, big barrels, and sky-high aerial manoeuvres.
In turn, this created a vibe that engaged well with the hundreds of spectators, who one way or another, found a way to take a random Thursday off work or school, to attend an event at a remote location – miles from normal cell phone range.
Their sacrifice was solidly rewarded with nonstop action, and plenty of lead changes. The use of the live heats system and constructive beach communication kept everyone on the edge of their seats, with blow-by-blow updates of who did what and why.
Heat 3 was possibly the most anticipated heat in the event, as this was when the greatest bodyboarder of all time – Hawaii’s Mike Stewart hit the water to take his place in the lineup, and in the annals of South African Bodyboarding history. Today was the day Mike Stewart came to town and took on Tand.
On to the Semifinals. The sun beat down, the rocks warmed up, the layers came off, and the ocean kept on delivering.
The low tide allowed Tand to really show her teeth, as the boys started to jockey deeper and deeper behind the rock. The ‘mellowness’ – if you could call anything witnessed thus far mellow – of the high tide, had long been forgotten, and the focus shifted to wave selection and direction.
A mistake now, would result in a sudden trip to the dentist’s chair for a mandatory root canal.
Semi-final number one was an outright slugfest; no quarter was given. Tristan Roberts and Mark McCarthy went head-to-head, matching one another wave for wave.
With the combination of top two waves counting into their heat totals, all the scoring rides for athletes in first and second position were in the scoring range ‘Excellent’. However, Tristan’s combo of an 8 and a 9 point ride, beat Mark’s 8.16 and 8.73. Yes, it was that close. This is contest surfing at its absolute best.
Feeling a little left out of the action, Benjy Oliver replied with one of the longest and deepest barrels completed at Tand in a good few years.
Taking off way behind the rock, he vanished below sea level as the tube swallowed him up, and spat him out halfway across the bay a few moments later. This epic ride is what earned Benjy ‘Barrel of the Event’, and a bonus cheque of R2000.
Aden Kleve threw everything – and the kitchen sink – into his heat. Following his sacrifice of life and limb, he put his body on the line, but ended the competition without a final position.
Lucky for him, after witnessing a bone-crunching wipeout, and spending a few moments underwater inspecting the crayfish stocks, he managed to earn himself Wipeout of the Event, now known as the ‘Cavity Cleaner Award’, and a Buell wetsuit to compensate for the gnarly sinus flush.
Following tradition at Tand, the spectators joined the final in the water, giving any brave soul the chance to experience this unique wave from a perspective usually reserved for water photographers, seals, and sharks. Safety for the public was a priority and the water patrol managed the frothing crowd like Border Collies sorting out the sheep.
The late afternoon Prize Giving signalled the end of a perfect day. The winning athletes were awarded their trophies and joined the fans in the car park for an incredibly special post-event beer with Jack Black Brewery.
With the pressure off and the gees (Afrikaans for mood) high, it was the ideal way to close out another successful Tand Invitational.
The celebration eventually moved back into town, to the sleepy seaside village of Paternoster at the infamous Panty Bar, where athletes and fans kuiered (that’s Afrikaans for partied) till late hours of the evening.
The Eagle Lighting Tand Invitational 2024, presented by Jack Black Brewing Co. was made possible by Deon Meyer. In his final year of working with us, we thank Deon for all his hard work over the years as we say goodbye – wishing him luck on his new journey.
But, in the end come new beginnings, and we welcome the new Tand organiser, James Plumstead.
For the last three years James, from What Goes Around SA, has had a massive influence on the organisation and media presence of Tand. He has put a professional team together, that passionately grind away in the background, making sure the Tand dream stays alive.
This event is being well cared for and will continue to grow in the future.
Both Deon and James, would like to thank all the friends, family and fans that made the trip up the coast to support the riders, and the event.
A special thanks also goes out to all the smaller sponsors who helped fill in the gaps of running a successful event: Jackery SA for the electricity in the middle of nowhere, Redbull SA, Kifflab , Ryan Boon Meats, Ornate Signs, Fabricant , What Goes Around SA, Urban Hippy, Traeger Grills, Kestrel , Smit Steenwerke, Buell Surf, Protect The West Coast, Paternoster Rentals, Sea Shack, Webodyboard, Boardtalk, ZA Boogie, Wavescape. And that’s a wrap, till next year folks.
1) Tristan Roberts: R30,000
2) Mark MacCarthy: R10,000
3) Dylan Muhlenberg: R5,000
4) Luke Staniforth: R3,000
- Best Barrel: Benjy Oliver: R2,000
- Cavity Cleaner wipeout award: Aden Kleve winning a Buell wetsuit.