With a focus on improving Zag’s online offering, as each year barrels towards its conclusion, we like to take a look back at what piqued our readers’ interest most throughout the year.
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We often think, perhaps, that a fresh wave discovery or some incredible feat of surfing will top the list this year, but it’s always the dramatic stories that tend to grab our attention most. Like last year, and the year before that, articles about sharks that we published were near the top of the ‘most read’ stats.
According to Google Analytics, zigzag.co.za received well over a million page views in 2015, and it has been visited by 392,069 surfers from around the world. And of the articles we published this year, these are six of the *most read posts from 2015. Check out the list of most watched videos here, or 2015’s most viewed photo galleries here.
1. Andre Botha Praised for Pipe Rescue – 22 611 reads
As if two world titles weren’t proof enough that Andre Botha is a freakin’ champion, the Durbanite was praised for his heroic efforts in rescuing fellow surfer, Evan Geiselman, from a life or death situation following a heavy wipeout at Pipeline. Read it here >>
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2. Surfers Attacked with Pangas at Sandy Bay – 16 463 reads
Yip, you read that right! After a fun session at Cape Town’s secluded Sandy Bay, filmer Steven Michelsen and Kommetjie pro Mikey February were attacked by two panga-wielding thieves who were after their stuff. Read it here >>
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3. Cape Town Poo Poo Problem Open To Public Participation – 10,189 reads
While on one of his regular marine patrol flights on 28 April, environmental photographer Jean Tresfon captured the image above showing a plume of what he suspected to be sewage. Further investigations revealed it was, and the photo made headlines locally and caused quite a stir. The public were then invited to share their suggestions on what could be done about the problem. Read it here >>
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4. Shark City – 7,535 reads
Cape Town is unique in the way that sharks and humans co-exist side by side. But it’s not always a comfortable arrangement – as detailed in this excellent article by Will Bendix, who dives deep into the details with ‘Shark City’. Read it here >>
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5. Nobody Wins J-Bay Open – 7191 reads
We’d already written three quarters of our final day report from the J-Bay Open by the time we, along with thousands of others who were right there on the beach at Supertubes watching the final between Julian Wilson and Mick Fanning, witnessed a shark surface in close proximity to the 3-time world champ. The original report was scrapped, and we waited quite a while for our heartbeat to settle after what we’d just seen, before producing one of the shortest – and most difficult to write – reports of 2015 (long after the news had already spread around the world wide web). Read it here >>
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6. Lost and Found: Cape Surfer Rescued from Giant Seas – 4,486 reads
While Cape Town was being hammered by a powerful swell on Saturday, 30 May, three friends paddled out to ride a heavy shorebreak at Camps Bay. Trouble started when they become stuck in a rip current and ended when Arthur Sierra (34) was rescued by the NSRI more than one nautical mile out to sea and drifting towards Sea Point. We spoke to Arthur shortly after the heavy situation to hear what happened. Read it here >>
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Ed’s Choice:
Expecting to become a father for the first time in April 2016, I’ve been preparing myself. And I enjoyed reading this article, in which we asked some stoked parents of young surfers for a few tips on how to nurture a future champ:
Raising a Supergrom – 2,095 reads
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* We’ve left out reports on shark attacks, which generally feature on this list.