I’ve decided to something a little different with this blog and to post my speeches from the XXL awards and the SA Surfing Awards a few weeks ago....It was a crazy time for me and often difficult to be accepting awards when I know there’s waves somewhere but as it turns out I had a great time doing them and occasions like these don’t come around as often as we like.
Billabong XXL Speech – Overall performance (http://www.billabongxxl.co
Hello Southern California and thanks for this honour.
Wow, this is nerve racking to say the least; thank goodness the boys have been feeding me Tequila all night otherwise I would never manage to get through this.
I don’t know if you all noticed the big double decker bus outside but if anyone’s interested it’s heading back to San Clemente after the ceremony and there’s a house party at Rusty’s digs for the rest of the weekend and everyone’s invited.
Seriously though, it’s a great honour to be up here in front of my peers and hero’s and to be receiving this award especially in front of a bunch of my friends from South Africa that made it tonight....
Thanks guys.
I guess the performance of the year award is the one that everyone wants to win because it says much about the waves that you surfed over an entire year and the good calls that you made during this time and for me 2008 was pretty much the best year of my life for waves.
From the Cortez Bank mission to coming second in the Mavericks event , my Dungeons contest win followed by our first real surf out at Tafelberg , going to Chile and Ireland for the first time and the Mavericks thanksgiving weekend ,2008 was definitely a year to remember for me.
But without the support of my friends and family and without the help of my amigos around the world this type of travelling and surfing would never be possible and I would like to thank the following people for making 2008 what it was.
Firstly Rob Brown, Mike, Brad and Greg for including me in the Cortez mission, all the Cape Town locals for making me feel a part of what’s gone down the past ten years in big wave surfing in South Africa, Ramon and the boys in Chile for showing me such a good time down there. Mickey, Fergal and Pete for sharing their amazing all be it freezing waves in the Atlantic and the Mavericks locals for their hospitality when I join them in Northern California.
And those are just the big wave missions but I’ve been blessed to surf good waves at the same time with my friends in Mozambique, Tahiti, J-bay and Namibia and I would like to thank Mitch, Simon and Naude for their hospitality at these spots.
But like I said without the support of my family and friends in Durban and the rest of South Africa this would never be possible and my major driving force is to know that I am making them proud back home and doing something special for surfing in South Africa.
So I would like to dedicate this award to my sister and her family , my mom and Tich, my aunt Cheron and first and foremost my girlfriend Kate who is my no 1 fan, I could never do this without your support....Thank you.
Billabong XXL Speech - Biggest Wave (http://www.billabongxxl.co
Well what can I say about catching the Biggest wave in the world this past year except I’m really glad we won because there wasn’t much in it for me looking at the other nominations and I wouldn’t have been surprised if any of the other guys had won....Bad luck boys but I’m sure happy to beat the Aussies in something for a change, let’s just hope the Sharks can take out the Super 14 this year as well.
Firstly I need to thank Greg for towing me into this wave, it was a crazy day out there and we had never caught a proper wave on this reef before and if it wasn’t for his experience and wave knowledge things could have gone very wrong but as it is we caught the one that counted and here we are.
As we all know tow surfing is pretty much a different sport to surfing with luck and balls replacing skill and finesse but it still takes much preparation and knowledge to put yourself in position to tow into a wave over 60ft and this day was no different.
Tafelberg is the outer reef indicator for Dungeons and most days it’s just a mushy foamy that lets us know when the sets are coming to Dungeons but we have seen it on occasion turn into a massive roping wave on the biggest swells that come from the perfect direction and it was just last year that we felt ready to tackle it. Basically we had to wait for the lowest point of the tide and leave huge Dungeons behind and go and sit for 2 hours in the middle of the sharkest waters in the world for this one wave but I guess standing here right now with U$15k in my pocket it was well worth it.
I would also like to thank my sponsors who support me to do what I love.
Firstly my Aunt Cheron and Country Feeling Surfboards, she has been my major supporter over the years and always encouraged me to surf even when I was working for her and I could never have done this without you Auntie.
Also Grant Ross and Pete Cabrinha from Cabrinha Kiteboarding, this sport is my second love and to be a professional kiteboarder right now is a dream come true....Thanks guys.
Now some of you don’t know this but I have worked for Billabong for the past 18 years, starting off in one of their production factory’s making boardshorts with my mom in 1991 and then joining them as an agent for Durban in 1993 until I resigned last year and now at the ripe old age of 35 as a sponsored surfer and I owe everything to this company.
It’s so refreshing in this day and age of global corporation madness to be able to be associated with a huge company that still has surfing and its core values as its main priority and I believe it’s mostly thanks to the guys in charge like Paul Naude and Gordon Merchant and I think we should all take our hats off to these men who have made our amazing sport what it is today.
Oh, and also for this crazy party tonight...thanks guys.
SA Surfing Awards Speech – SA Surfer of the year (http://www.zigzag.co.za/si
Hello everyone,
It’s obviously a great honour to be up here in front of my friends and peers in South Africa and to be receiving this award....A few short years ago I would never have imagined this being possible so thanks guys.
I guess the SA Surfer of the year award is something that everyone wants to win because it says much about the waves that you surfed and your performance in these waves over an entire year and for me 2008 was pretty much the best year of my life for waves.
But the one session I would like to touch on would be the Big Wave Africa contest last year. It was something to behold and I have never seen such courage before from the surfers who competed and just to put that event into context there were 15 boards broken, a concussion, a dislocated shoulder and some broken ribs during the event and I would like to take my hat off to all the competitors who put their lives on the line out there.
Guys, we need a sponsor for this event to keep the momentum going in Big Wave Surfing in South Africa and I would like to appeal to all the companies out there to try and come up with a solution?
Ok....some thanks are in order and without the support of my friends and family and without the help of my amigos around the world this type of travelling and surfing would never be possible and I would like to thank the following people for making 2008 what it was.
Firstly...Mitch, Naude, Dave Malherbe and the J-bay and Cape Town locals for their hospitality at their spots, thanks boys.
And then of course I would like to thank my sponsors.
Firstly my Aunt Cheron and Country Feeling Surfboards, she has been my major supporter over the years and always encouraged me to surf even when I was working for her and I could never have done this without her.
Also Grant Ross and Pete Cabrinha from Cabrinha Kiteboarding, this sport is my second love and to be a professional kiteboarder right now is a dream come true....Thanks guys.
Now some of you don’t know this but I have worked for Billabong for the past 18 years, starting off in one of their production factory’s making boardshorts with my mom in 1991 and then joining them as an agent for Kwazulu/Natal until I resigned last year and now at the ripe old age of 35 just last week I signed a sponsorship deal with them. And I would like to say it’s so refreshing in this day and age of global corporation madness to be able to be associated with a company like Billabong that still has surfing and its core values as its main priority.
But like I said without the support of my family and friends in Durban and the rest of South Africa this would never be possible and my major driving force is to know that I am making you all proud back home and doing something special for surfing in South Africa during my travels.
So, on that note I would like to dedicate this award to everyone who surfs in and loves South Africa as a country but especially to my sister and her family, my mom and Tich and first and foremost my girlfriend Kate who is my no 1 fan, I could never do this without your support baby....Thank you.
See ya
Twig
Grant "Twiggy" Baker is a former Mavericks Surf Contest champion and special contributor to TheExtremeScene.com. Twiggy's official sponsor is Billabong.
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