MEDIA RELEASE : 23 April 2008

Jetski assistance was paramount to the success of the Quiksilver Pro Durban, as was the spot on forecasting from Spike from www.wavescape.co.za, and the steely resolve of Quiksilver's Barry Wolins not to run the event yesterday, despite receiving some flak for his decision. Well, his decision was vindicated today, and no doubt highly praised by the R75,000 – richer Quiksilver Goodwave 2008 winner Shane Thorne from Durban.

The day dawned with some six-foot plus sets pouring through at the New Pier, and some incredible rides in the earlier rounds, including a mind-blowing 10-point ride (out of a possible 10 points, a perfect ride) from Rudy Palmboom Jnr from The Bluff.  Rudy took off deep, pulled in on the first barrelling section, and the wave just took him for one of the most intense rides of his life. "When I took off on that wave I didn't think it was going to be that good," said a very stoked Rudy on the beach afterwards. "Then it sort of got more intense while I was inside. I was in the barrel for so long I thought that there was no way I was going to come out." Rudy completely disappeared from view from everyone on the beach and was in the tube for so long that most people had turned their eyes away from the wave, before punching through the whitewater in the mouth of the barrel for 10 point rides from all five judges.

The barrel rides and high scores were the order of the day in the earlier rounds, with Sean Holmes from Cape Town also getting an excellent 9.5 ride for two barrels in his heat, and New Pier locals Shane Thorne and Simon Nicholson getting some great tubes in their heats respectively.

Then the conditions changed slightly, and the light southerly wind crumbled the lip and the barrels became few and far between. The surfers still in the contest changed their attack in accordance and shifted the hunt for barrels to full-rail gouges and turns. Simon Nicholson and Shane Thorne were two surfers who highly impressed the judges with their power rail surfing to join the big guns and advance through to the semis.

The first semi was a mix of backhand smashes and a few forehand barrels, with the goofy-footers emerging unscathed. Paul Canning, who has been out the water with a tendon injury for a few weeks, went ballistic on his backhand to smash the grinding walls to pieces, scoring a 7.60 and a 8-point ride to win the heat from fellow goofy-foot surfer Dan Redman. Frankie Oberholzer and Dane Logie were eliminated.

"I took the 6'5 out, and with the jetski and the bigger board I didn't get too tired out there," said Paul on his strategy. "I had that one big wipe-out on a big floater that took my breath away, otherwise I was feeling strong out there."

The second semi-final was a melange of massive hits and huge floaters, as powerhouse surfers Shane Thorne and Sean Holmes found their stride and went to town on the six-foot grinding waves. It was Cape Town resident Sean Holmes who emerged victorious against Shane Thorne, with Simon Nicholson being eliminated.
"I was up against some of the best surfers in that semi so I took it like a final and pushed hard on all my turns," said Sean. "It worked for me, and I am amped for the final."

In conditions that continued to grind through, the final was the battle of the natural-footers against the goofy-footers. Paul and Dan representing for the goofy surfers and Sean and Shane for the naturals. Sean Holmes was going for broke but falling on a few of his big turns, while Dan Redman clawed his way to victory early on in the heat, and hung on, despite one huge wipe-out. In the dying seconds it was Shane Thorne who scratched into a final wave of the contest and went for broke on it, executing giant turns all the way to the Dairy Bowl for a score of 8.75, the 2008 Goodwave title and the R75,000 cheque.

"I prayed for a wave towards the end," said Shane of the final wave. "And a wave was sent to me. I decided if I got another good wave I was going to surf it as best I possibly could, which I did and managed to get the score. I am so stoked. This is the one event that I look forward to the whole year, and this year was my year."

To the screams of his local fan club Shane Thorne hoisted his victory cheque of R75,000, a great reward for a day's worth of surfing.

Final results

Semi-final one
1. Paul Canning
2. Dan Redman
3. Frankie Oberholzer
4. Dane Logie

Semi-final two
1. Sean Holmes
2. Shane Thorne
3. Simon Nicholson
4. Rudy Palmboom

Final
1. Shane Thorne (DBN)
2. Dan Redman (DBN)
3. Sean Holmes (CT)
4. Paul Canning (DBN)

The Quiksilver Goodwave will be featured on an upcoming episode of Boardriders TV, the cutting edge locally-produced surf, skate and snow show.

The Quiksilver Goodwave is presented by Virgin Mobile in association with Resolution.

Disclaimer
The Quiksilver Goodwave is an invitational surfing contest and participation is by invitation only. Contestants are selected by Quiksilver in its entire discretion and Quiksilver's decision shall be final. All of Quiksilver's rights are reserved.

For more information contact
Greg Swart
Tel: 031 3131479
Fax: 031 3131489
Mobile: 27 82 579 2929
Quiksilver,
4th Floor San Angelo,
218 Stamford Hill Road,
Durban,
400

Craig Jarvis
Media Liaison
Quiksilver South Africa
082 376 4443
media@quiksilver.co.za