And just like that Round 2 is done and dusted. This round we received some of the craziest entries we’ve seen in a long time. The surfers threw the kitchen sink at it and pushed each other all the way. Every round is tough for the judges to pick a winner but this one seemed just that much harder as it was stacked with banger after banger.
Firstly, the public had their say. With thousands of votes over five days it came down to three surfers. In the end it was Luke Slijpen (Round 1 Winner) who took the public vote followed closely by Tide-Lee Ireland and Murray Armstrong.
The judges then debated amongst themselves and eventually decided on who they thought was the best.
This is what Monster had to say:
“Holy Sh*t, we thought the first month had some quality entries, but the bar was definitely raised in month two! The SA Surfing scene is alive and kicking. There are so many amazing clips, that it’s hard to name them all, but the one that stopped us dead in our tracks was the backdoor bazooka from James Ribbink. Just getting a wave like that in Hawaii is Clutch, let alone making it over the ledge, the behind the peak drop, holding the rail, having the lip miss guillotining him by millimetres, and riding that monster clean gets our vote. Luke Slijpen’s Backdoor bomb was a close second, and coming out after the spit is always a sign of how deep one can get in a barrel, but the sheer size of Jame’s wave is what tipped the scale in his favour.
On the local hero side, riding a backhand barrel no handed shows skill and wave size, Murray Armstrong’s mastery of both gets our bow of respect.
Looking into the final month ahead, where are the air’s at? Show us what you got Mzansi…”
The Zigzag team deliberated amongst themselves and finally came to a decision. Zag Publisher, Andy Davis said this:
“Are you kidding?! What a crazy round of entries. We wanted to announce the winners a few days ago but it was so hard to make a decision that we decided to sit with it for a few days. For us at Zag we just couldn’t look past James Ribbink’s Backdoor bomb! That thing was so heavy and his late take off made for a dramatic watch. Definitely the most eye catching entry of the round and is our winner.
For local hero we agree with Monster. Not many guys can ride a backside tube without grabbing rail. Murray Armstrong took the risk and was rewarded with a stand up barrel and the Local Hero prize!”
The last judge to vote was Monster team rider Matt Bromley:
“I think James Ribbink’s Hawaii back door barrel is mental. That’s my winner. The late drop, sneaking under the hood into a deep cavern and then getting spat out…. That was very impressive.
My local hero is Murray Armstrong with that deep grab rail pit. Big barrel and really well ridden.”
So in the end it was James Ribbink’s backdoor bomb and Murray Armstrong’s no grab pit that took out the win!
Final Vote Tally:
James Ribbink #53 – 3 Votes
Luke Slijpen #57 – 1 Vote
Local Hero
Murray Armstrong #54 – 2 Votes
Murray Armstrong #55 – 1 Vote
We’re now into the last month of competition. We’re expecting big things… Make sure to send in your entries!
Send to: online@zigzag.co.za
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