Selling the surf The branding of Jeffrey’s Bay

There’s little more you can say about Jeffrey’s Bay. Every aspect of this burgeoning surfing town has been documented, freeze framed and archived over the years and today it stands as the ultimate monument to modern surfing and the surf industry in South Africa.

That Jeffrey’s Bay is now one of the fastest expanding towns in South Africa bears testament to the drawing power of one of the world’s best waves and the cold-hearted, some would say shameless, approach of the marketers and developers that are now looking to exploit and cash in on one of the surfing wonders of the world. For a community that was founded on the core values of surfing, Jeffrey’s Bay’s continued assimilation into the corporate world of modern surfing has a been a hard one to swallow for many locals.

A quick drive down the main drag of Da Gama reveals retail and factory outlet stores for every major surf brand. Any spare wall space carries with it a crude painting of a reeling wave: branded, logo’d, bold and brash. Any vacant land with a hint of a sea view is now a building site whilst out of town a new shopping mall is being built, with rumours circulating that it will even house an IKEA.

When you see what has become of the surf spot they found, it is easy to see why many of the older and original local surfers, who sacrificed everything to move here and surf these waves, get protective and at times aggressive in their bid to maintain some sort of decency and respect for the waves and the ocean, and to uphold the original values from which the community sprouted.

It’s this strong sense of community, and a staunch disregard for the corporate, that will be Jeffrey’s Bay’s saving grace. That many of the original surfers have remained and continue to instil a sense of passion and heritage in the up-and-coming youngsters will ensure that the area does not go the way of so many other surf destinations and will hold onto the romantic idyll of the laid back, liberal surf town that cares little for the outside world and the pace of modern life.

No where is this spirit more evident than at the Supertubes Foundation, to be found in the Supertubes Park just behind the world famous section of the point break that bears the same name. The Supertubes Foundation represents all that is positive in uniting local surfers into a single movement: instilling pride and passion for their beach and community whilst embracing the need for responsible and creative development in the Jeffrey’s Bay area.

The original idea for the Supertubes Foundation came from revered local surfer Koffie Jacobs. Koffie founded the JBU, or Jeffrey’s Bay Underground, in response to the growing number of blow-ins desperate to ride one of the world’s best waves, irrespective of who they burned to get there. Throughout the late ’80s and ’90’s they sported white rash vests and buffalo horn decals on their boards to ward off any tourist hassling them on the point. The JBU were responsible for enforcing the law in the water and were not shy of dealing out some heavy-handed punishment to those who chose to disrespect the rules.

It was fellow JBU member Tyron Smith who took on the responsibility for founding the Supertubes Foundation, originally recruiting the J-Bay Boardriders to help in beach clean ups and running awareness campaigns to encourage surfers and non-surfers alike to take care of their beaches and all the indigenous flora and fauna supported there-in.

However the foundation lacked funding and the absence of a concrete infrastructure meant that it was hard to focus on any long-term goals. Alison Kuhl, co-ordinator for the scheme, remembers how the foundation nearly collapsed two years ago. “We had no infrastructure,” she says. “We needed some sort of system but we didn’t want to loose the authenticity and the spirit for who and what we were representing. We didn’t want to be too corporate.”

Alison helped establish the Supertubes Foundation as a bona fide operation. Far from being desk-bound, she set up the basic infrastructure needed for the Foundation to function efficiently and then set about broadening their approach.

“We have big dreams, but you have to start small,” she tells me over lunch after a highly successful Billabong Pro 2008, during which Billabong put on a pro-golf day to help raise funding that will support the Foundation for another full year.

Supertubes Park was established and became a re-planting ground for indigenous plants and shrubs rescued from the development sites up and down the coastline. From its modest incarnation, the park is now a pristine area housing several species of rare and endangered indigenous plant life. Bins, painted by local artists, were placed up and down the beach at Supertubes whilst the decking and walkways were cleared of alien vegetation allowing the local aloes to flower for the winter and the visiting WCT Billabong Pro.

The Foundation also became increasingly active in fighting new and irresponsible development plans and is now an important environmentalist voice for the Jeffrey’s Bay community, recently helping to defeat plans for a proposed golf course development in the national park at the bottom of the point and now fighting preposterous plans for a Nuclear Development off Cape St Francis (see HUCK story by Miles Masterson and join the petition at www.supertubesfoundation.com)

The Foundation also stepped up work within the Pelsrus Township; providing bins, replanting flower beds, laying veggie gardens and providing running water and functioning toilets for the under funded Makakanye School. Such work represents the Foundation’s broadening social impact as it recognises the need to break down the barriers created when this throwback surf town became a staunch Afrikaans holiday retreat during the ’80s and ’90s. Many of the “old regime” received golden handshakes on leaving office and were offered homes in Jeffrey’s Bay. Slowly the liberal, carefree atmosphere that Jeffrey’s Bay was founded on was eroded and divides were formed. The surfing community stuck to the Point, the town centre became Afrikaans and the coloured and black population were forced north to the Pelsrus Township that overlooks Kitchen Windows.

The continued work of the Foundation within the townships is just one of many factors that has seen Jeffrey’s Bay begin to recapture it’s original aesthetic, and is another reason for hope and optimism in the local community as once again members from all sections of society mix in relative harmony.

It is this new approach and the success of their numerous projects that has brought the recognition of one of the largest of the surf industry giants, Billabong. For many years now Billabong has had a fruitful association with Jeffrey’s Bay; sponsoring the WCT event, housing several factory outlet stores around the town and using images of J-Bay’s perfect waves in its various marketing campaigns to sell products across the globe. Billabong is everywhere in Jeffrey’s Bay however it’s presence in the surfing community, and indeed the community at large, has until recently been slight: in an area brimming with local talent relatively few surfers, especially those from the townships, benefit from association with one of the world’s biggest and richest surf brands. However now, following years of hard work from Cheron Kraak who recently ceded the reins in a change of management, it seems that Billabong are set to add their considerable muscle into helping keep Jeffrey’s Bay alive and well. The proceeds from the pro-golf day organised at this year’s Billabong Pro will ensure that the Foundation can run for the next year, and with future long-term funding looking like a very realistic possibility these are exciting times for the small and dedicated crew that have worked so hard to get this far.

This is a very positive step in the right direction, not only for Jeffrey’s Bay but for the surf industry as a whole. Surfing is a sport with extremely close links to the environment and, as surfers, we should be seen and encouraged to lead a responsible lifestyle. The surfing boom of the last few years has seen the sport drift away from its roots. Brands have exploded and developed into huge multinational corporations, more fashion brands these days than the providers of surf essentials that they started out as.

Such development has polarised opinion as to where the sport is going and where the soul now lies but, while these discussions still have their place, the over-riding concern is that these newfound riches, drawn in by the brands and placed in the pockets of the surfers that founded them, be put to good use protecting the beaches and waves that inspired their now CEO's to take to the water in the first place. It is now time for the multinational corporations to set the tone and support grassroots movements such as the Supertubes Foundation. With Billabong now leading the way there could be exciting times ahead.

Support the Supertubes Foundation at www.supertubesfoundation.com

And join their petition!

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