Thousands #LiveTheLegacy at golden Ballito Pro

The 50th edition of the Ballito Pro pres. by Billabong was one for the books, with thousands coming out to enjoy the golden sands at Willard Beach and the hospitality of the Dolphin Coast.

This year’s contest marked the 50th anniversary of the world’s longest running professional surfing event.

Fitting to this year’s theme – #LiveTheLegacy – Ballito’s father of surfboards Johno Hutchison AKA “Hutch” said it was a great honour and a privilege to be the contest director at the 2018 Pro.

A record field of 112 of the world’s best male surfers duked it out at Willard Beach for top spot, including all of the top 32 in the global rankings, providing beachgoers with non-stop surfing action throughout the week.

They were joined by 32 of the world’s top women who showed some of the men how it is done.

Aside from all the surfing, the Pro is a huge boon for Ballito as the streets were flooded with visitors. The event was also streamed live to the followers of surfing around the world.

Event coordinator Colette Bundy said it had been a stellar event, outstripping previous Pros.

“In terms of spectators and visitors to the beach, we nearly doubled last year’s numbers,” Bundy said, telling
the Courier about 130 000 people came out to support the surfers and enjoy the Dolphin Coast’s sunny beaches.

In addition, more than 10 000 people attended the two free concerts at Salt Rock beach last Thursday and Friday.

“It was the best Pro I’ve ever been to,” said Ballito resident Johan Botha, who told the Courier he has been to the last four events.

Mo-Zam-Bik’s Brett Michiellin said it had been a bumper week for restaurants, with 22 percent more business for them compared to last year, which saw Mo-Zam-Bik reel in about R160 000 in just one week.

Bundy thanked all the organisers and volunteers who came together to make the 2018 Pro such a stunning event, as well as all the surfers, spectators and KwaDukuza Municipality.

Ilembe Chamber of Commerce CEO Cobus Oelofse told the Courier one could not overstate the impact of the Pro on the local economy.

“We are a holiday town, so especially in terms of occupancy it helps a lot. If you look at Durban, their occupancy was hovering around 40 percent, while ours was above 60 percent.”

Oelofse said the events staged on the North Coast during the mid-year break are expected to add significantly to the normal holiday tourism.

One wrinkle on this year’s Ballito Pro was an international outcry over gender inequality following the announcement of the winners of the junior series.

In a photo shared on the Ballito Pro Facebook page, it was seen that the male winner – Rio Waida from Indonesia – received double the prize money that SA’s second-placed Zoe Steyn received – R8000 to her R4000 for winning the women’s event.

The prize money discrepancy is a common occurrence in the sporting world. The Ballito Pro event organisers said prize money and rankings were determined by The World Surf League (WSL).

“The Ballito Pro maintains its stance as a pro-gender equality competition, which is evident from the ongoing development of the women’s series year-on-year,” said Bundy.

“Based on this commitment to equality, we are meeting with all relevant stakeholders to discuss how any potential discrepancies can be resolved going forward.”

The World Surf League said this is an important topic for them and that they are “committed to providing a platform for the best surfers in the world, regardless of gender, and recognize that prizing is an important factor in creating that platform”.

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