You can see them of Durban's beaches, mostly at week-ends, as they hurtle shorewards in a flurry of foam and water. The riders of the surf are generally viewed with awe by the casual spectator as he sees them slide gracefully and with uncanny balance across the waves.
Once this exclusive sport of the kings of Hawaii, surfboard riding has developed into a world-wide cult - a contest between man and nature.
It is exciting, compelling and dangerous. And it is the fastest growing sport in the world. Its devotees now number more than 200,000.
To its exponents surfing is like a drug. Once the surfing bug has bitten it is very hard to find a cure. Most surfers are fanatics.
What is it about surfboard riding that exerts such a provoking, almost hypnotic attraction?
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"SURFING TRAMP"
Perhaps the answer in provided by a psychiatrist who gave up his practice and became a "surfing tramp", wandering the world's surfing spots with his surfboard.
"The sea is akin to all of us." he says. "It has a rhythm, a texture, an attraction for us, perhaps from some deep primal memory of the oceans aeons ago. Watch children; they understand ocean waves the first moment they see them. While I can, I want to enjoy them, too. Later I'll get back to my practice."
Surfboard riding is an old sport, having been originated by the Hawaiians, particularly the royalty. Captain Cook was one of the first Europeans to see it.
But it is only in the last few years that the sport has been developed into an art. So technical has modern surfing become that
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it can be compared to bullfighting. The manoeuvres and variety of stances are specifically termed in surfing jargon.
Modern surfing was developed in California, by such well-known riders as Phil Edwards. From America it spread to Hawaii and Australia. These are the top three surfing countries.
It is only in the last year or so that surfboard riding has progressed in South Africa, and in Durban, particularly. Durban is the centre of surfing in South Africa. There are about 350 riders in Durban and on the South Coast. And the number increases every week-end.
South Africa is gradually catching up to California, Hawaii and Australia, according to Max Wetteland, who recently represented this country at a world surfing championship in Australia.
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