Red Bull Cape Fear Is On For Monday At Shipstern Bluff!

Luke Gartside

5 years ago

The Red Bull Cape Fear has been called on for this Monday at Shipstern Bluff!

The invitational event will see 20 surfers convene at the infamous Tasmanian slab, for a mixture of paddle and tow surfing.

The roster makes for interesting reading, with big wave world celebs pitted against Australia’s hardest charging work-a-day surfers. In fact, this comp might be the only chance you’ll ever get to see how decorated and highly-paid waterman like Kai Lenny and Billy Kemper fare against a crew of lunatic miners and painters in one of the heaviest lineups in the world.

From this latter category, Tazzy local James Holmer-Cross is certainly one to watch out for. He was part of the original crew to surf Shipsterns, after being taken into the bush by pioneer Andy Campbell in the early 2000’s. After a few years in the spotlight, his sponsorship money dried up and he took up a painting gig to pay the bills. However, he has continued to charge the ridiculously heavy waves along his native coastline and will be hoping to use his extensive local knowledge to great advantage come Monday.

Last year’s champ Russ Bierke is firmly pegged as the man to beat, with Laurie Towner and Nathan Florence also getting a nod from us based on their excellent form in the juice of late. It’ll be intriguing to see how Fanning fares, with a tactical upper hand from his many years on tour and the desire to prove he can dominate in ugly mutant slabs- as well as the most perfect waves in the world- no doubt looming large in his corner.

Other notable mentions from the roster include 52-year-old hellman Ross Clarke Jones, who is the oldest on the list, and novelty lover JOB, who has been training hard for the event by repeatedly sending it over the falls at a Hawaiian shore break on an inflatable sofa.

Despite all the big names in the draw, we’d love to see the event taken out by one of the handful of Aussie underdogs, that most people watching will never have heard of. Scroll down to see the full list of invitees and pick your horse.

Then, tune in on Sunday night at around 10pm British time to watch all the action go down.

Russell Bierke (AUS)
Pedro Scooby (BRA)
Daniel Griffiths (AUS)
Michael Brennan (AUS)
Mick Fanning (AUS)
Laurie Towner (AUS)
Shaun Wallbank (AUS)
Zebulon Critchlow (AUS)
Ross Clarke-Jones (AUS)
Ryan Hipwood (AUS)
James McKean (AUS)
Brook Phillips (AUS)
Jamie O-Brien (USA)
Nathan Florence (USA)
James Hollmer-Cross (AUS)
Marti Paradisis (AUS)
Kai Lenny (USA)
Billy Kemper (USA)
Tyler Hollmer-Cross (AUS)
Alex Zawadzki (AUS)