Bonani Cele's First Fish

Bonani Cele with his first fish.

If you go into the back of the Rob Allen Dive Factory you will find a friendly face, the factory manager Bonani Cele. There is an interesting story behind this man. After years at the Dive Factory he became a little more than curious about spearfishing. This lead to him taking part in the PDI course with SAUFF a short while ago, where he was introduced to spearfish and water for the first time.

This weekend he joined Dane from the Dive Facs retail store for a dive off the piers in Durban. After a while and not seeing any fish Bonani ventured off over the sand and landed up in a shoal of Gunter. Congrats to Bonani, not too many guys can claim to have a class fish like this as their first fish.

Coatesman

Report on the banning of SAUFF from World Spearfishing Champs 2012

Unbeknownst to any of the SAUFF committee member, there was a change to the registration process for competing in world events sanctioned by CMAS, from a paper submission to a web based submission.

If any “unpaid” licences for competing in previous world events where outstanding then the web based registration process could not be completed. Despite the full payment of over €4500 to the organisers, we were never informed that we have not complied fully with the CMAS process. In fact there was no communication from CMAS with regards to the payment of the outstanding licence fees. In the past there has been no problem in sorting these payments out and South African competitors have competed in zones and world events with these outstanding fees not causing issues. A number of these fees date back 4 years.

The organisers, FEGAS, and CMAS were very aware that the South African competitors where in Spain as they competed in a friendly competition weeks before the start of the event and had valid licences for diving in Spain. It is surprising that other Federations knew about this problem before any of the South African team or committee members, weeks before the start of the event. The South African side was deliberately kept in the dark and at no time did CMAS make an effort to discuss this issue with us.

Three days before the event I went to the organisers and spoke to them about the registration and I was assured that everything was in order.

That evening, Jaco Blignaut and I went to drop off the flag and we were told that there was an “issue”, the same afternoon that we had received an email from FEGAS, not CMAS, informing us there was a technical issue that needed to be sorted out.

I spoke with the CMAS disciplinary official who informed me that there was an outstanding internet submission that was required. The next morning as soon as possible I paid the outstanding amount of €485 personally and forwarded proof of payment to CMAS who confirmed the payment. With the help of SAUSF we completed the outstanding forms and submitted them.

Despite full payment they flatly refused to discuss the matter as they said there was a disclosure on the web site that these fees had to be paid 30 days before the competition. Again there was no information about this given to us, nor any communication from CMAS about this prior to the boys landing in Spain, or at any time before the registration with the Spanish Federation. One would have thought that there would have been some effort to communicate the fact that there where outstanding “issues” before the massive effort of the South African competitors.

For three days I fought to get the boys permission to be able to compete. We had complied with all the outstanding requirements as soon as we knew about them. This was the first time these requirements were implemented.

CMAS could have allowed us to compete, but decided against it due to a technicality.

I cannot explain how gutted and disappointed I was with the treatment of an issue that could easily have been resolved. The South African competitors have sacrificed more than most as we are self-funded and all full time employees. This means not only having to pay in full for the trip themselves but also having to take up unpaid leave in some instances or forgo job opportunities.

SA spearfishing was made a political example of on purpose as we are a tiny federation with little recourse and we were used as a pawn to “make a point”, but were a significant threat in terms of competing for the top spots.

Making a point of disallowing us to participate goes against the very nature of what sport is about. Putting politics before fair competition highlights how CMAS, in my opinion, has lost sight of what they are there for.

There could have been many other ways of resolving this issue positively and in the best interests of competitive sport. We are desperately unhappy with the attitude of the regulating authorities and cannot understand why this prevailing attitude should be allowed to continue. It is surely not in the best interests of building this sport for the future.

I have organised a meeting with the South African authorities on Monday the 16^th July to discuss a way forward and will keep all those involved informed on any progress.

Yours Sincerely,

________________

Iain Ewing

Chairman

SA get Barred from World Spearfishing Champs

As the CMAS World Spearfishing gets under way the South African Spearfishing team is having to sit out. The SA team was barred due to some unpaid subs from last year.... funny they let the team go all the way to Spain to give them the middle finger!

This is the message from Iain Ewing from SAUFF who is over there with the boys and tried to sort the issue out.

Hi all.
We are out of the compo. No diving for the SA boys at all.
Despite all the issues of subs and payments being sorted out the decision was taken by CMAS not to allow us to dive. it's been a hectic few days trying to resolve what we thought was a fairly simple issue. We are very disappointed! Both with regards to not being allowed to compete and the way we have been treated. We have always understood that regulating authorities are there to help with the development and facilitation of sport not the dictation and preclusion of small federations.

This is truly a very sad day for the SA side who had giving up work and huge amounts of their own cash to be there. I know Jaco was in fine form and was hungry to show the world what he could do. Maybe the Europeans are just scared??

On a personal note I think it is high time that the rest of the world break from CMAS and the Europeans
control of the sport. Thing change and spearfishing needs a change. Just like in surfing they moved the contests away from the traditional beaches with 2ft slop to the best spots in the world creating the 'Dream Tour'
Just think about that for a moment! Spearfishing competitions in the best spots with real fish not eels and palm sized Black Tail. How practical I don't know? But it will be a hell of a lot more interesting.

A big thumbs down for CMAS

Coatesman

South African National Spearfishing Championships 2012 Final Results

1st National Individual Camp Charl Blignaut

South African National Spearfishing Championships 2012 was wrapped up this weekend down in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. The windy city lived up to its name and only 2 days were divable. The 2 days were complete opposites of each other. The First Day the visability was far better than what is usually en-counted in the Eastern Cape. Making spearfishing the common species very difficult. Jaco Blignaut SA's favourite for the event came out in the lead with a small margin with only 9 weighers. 

2nd National Individual Camp  Jacob Blignaut

Day Two was a complete different affair with the wind turning from the east making the visibility really bad. Eventually sending the guys packing early on in the day, with most guys scratching to find some fish to weigh in. Local knowledge clearly made the difference on day 2 with the local guys having a clear edge at the weigh in. Carl Blignaut who was only a few points behind Jaco going into day 2 put in a big effort to come out just ahead. This gave him just enough points to clinch the title from Jaco when the points were finalised.

I could have only imagined the tension going into the last day. Jaco probably wanted another day at sea to have an opportunity to get better points on the board, while Charl was probably praying for the wind not to stop and seal the deal. 

Lohan Geel & 3rd National Individual Camp Carl Werner

The surprise in the competition was the Natal B team that stepped up to the plate from Day one. Carl Werner lead the team & proved himself by holding the 3rd spot on both the 1st and second days. And despite some good scores by some good divers on day 2, he came out in 3rd place overall.

 1st National Team Campions - EP A - Martin van Niekerk, Darryl Hiscock, Charl Blignaut

But its the local boys that had the smiles EP A although being in third position on day 1, came out on day 2 and showed the the other teams a thing or two about diving the Eastern Cape. Martin van Niekerk improved his 1st day score eventually posting a 9th overall with Darryl Hiscock coming in at 12th.

2nd National Team Campions - KZN B  - Carl Werner, Guy Le Meme, Garrick Morris 

 The Natal B team came second over all and 1st in the B division were very happy with their position. Day 2 although challenging for the Natal boys they all did well. Garrick Morris started day one in 5th and finished in 4th position over all and Guy Le Meme came in from out of the top 10 on day one to finally finish in a respectable 8th position. 

Here is a short report by Richard Leonard from the Gully Jumpers on SA Spearfishing Nationals 2012

We had 2 weeks of pristine diving conditions, 10 of the 14 days were dive-able, a phenomena for PE. The west came up the ground swell pulled in and then we started Nationals....as they say, Murphy's law:-(
To sum up the SA Spearfishing National Champs for 2012, in just a few words, most of the contestants said "One of the toughest Nationals we have ever competed in". Out of the 6 allotted dive days the competitors only managed to get in the water on a short 2 day window period between the blasting west and howling east.
Day 1 proved to be amazing, vis wise, but a desperate scratch for most divers with only 1 diver, the local legend Charl Blignaut, weighing in 10 fish. Even so this could not match the quality of fish landed by the SA Dive legend Jaco Blignaut placing Jaco just over 1 point ahead of Charl for day 1.
The big question was what was going to happen on day 2. Jaco new that this title was not going to be a steal, Charl knew the area well and with the tough diving conditions looming ahead of them for the second day's diving, local knowledge combined with great diving ability was going to be hard to beat.
With day 2 pushing up an icy theromocline making it super tough conditions it again made for some super hard diving. Jaco hit the beach with a great catch seemingly the best catch of the day until Charl beached and started hauling out a catch that most competitors would have dreamed of achieving on a perfect days diving. Charl again the only competitor who managed a full 10 weigh'ers but this time he had 5 maxi weigh'ers giving him a substantial lead over Jaco. This left Jaco and a couple other competitors in suspense for the A Team captons meeting shortly after the day 2 weigh in. The big question now was - Was this going to be the final day of the comp or would Jaco get a miracle and dive again? The decision in the meeting was well stated and, quite simply no matter what the comp situation was if there was no vis to dive in then the would be no diving. A huge bummer for the Jaco as the forecast was not good and he was desperate to challenge Charl's lead. In true PE fashion the 2 days of hard east totally destroyed the vis and any chance of a dive hence leaving Charl Blignait, the EP A team captain, the title of 2012 SA National Spearfishing Champion!
A HUGE thank you to Mares for not only sponsoring the event with 25 thousand rands worth of prizes but also for making borrie roles for the competitors and just being there in full support of the competition.
Also a huge shout out and thank you to the hosting club, Gully Jumpers, for the months of planing organising and excellent execution of the event.
Richard Leonard
Gully Jumpers Committee Member 

 Here are the final results at the end of the 2 days:


Nationals 2012 - Individuals
1   Charl Blignaut   69.75
2     Jaco Blignaut     63.9
3     Carl Werner     46.05
4     Garrick Morris     43.1
5     Devon Swart    39.95
6   Brod Whittaker   37.3
7   Kurt Roberts   37.15
8   Guy Le Meme   35.35
9   Martin van Niekerk   32.1
10   Charl Myburgh   31.15
11   Fred Bester   30.6
12   Darryl Hiscock   30.55
13   Hein Eksteen   29.1
14   Garret Staats   28.8
15   Corry Versluis    28
16   Riaan Weiderman   27
17   Angelo Spada   26.35
18   Paul Toich   26.15
19   Manus Nienaber   25.85
20   Iain Ewing   25.75
21   Terance Belinghan   24.6
22   Gary Uys   22.95
23   Hein Sigfreid   22.2
24   Eugene van Wyngaardt   19
25   Nick Horne   13.6
26   Lohan Geel   10.95
27   Max Harrington   10.25
28   Rick van der Merwe   9.35
29   Peter Jacobsen   8.65
30   Christiaan Steffers   6.7
31   Tyron Theeson 4.35
32 Paul Jooste 3.9

Nationals 2012 - Team Results
1   EP A     132.4     100.00%
2   Natal B     124.5     94.03%
3   Border A     93.35     70.51%
4   Natal A     86.6     65.41%
5   EP B     83.55     63.10%
6   Natal C     82.55     62.35%
7   Boland B     82.45     62.27%
8   Boland A     49.45     37.35%
9   Border B     38.1     28.78%
10   EPC     31.25     23.60%
11   EPD     28.25     21.34%

From what I hear the comp was well organised and a big thanks must go out to the local spearfishing club Gully Jumpers for although being in their first year have successfully organised and run a main event like Nationals. New come to the scene was Mares who with a strong presents and support at the event have put their stamp on South African spearfishing in a big way.

I guess for all competitors it back home now and get ready for the next round of trials in prep for next years National Championships. Congrats to Charl and the EP A side for cleaning up, and to Jaco for always putting in a strong appearance at any competition he enters.

Oh and of course lets not forget Carl, Garrick and Guy from the Natal B side, I am sure they will have plenty ammo at the bar for months to come as to how they beat the Natal A side.

Coatesman

KZN Spearfishing Trials

Hey guys the SAUFF guys have finalised the dates and rules for the KZN Spearfishing trials for those who want to qualify for the team next year.
Here are the proposed dates & rules.
For more info contact Iain Ewing on iain@ewing.co.za

DATE	AREA
14 November 2009	Westbrook to Umhloti
5 December 2009	Rocky Bay to Scottburgh
30 January 2010	Bluff to Toti
20 February 2010	Hibberdene area
13 March 2010	Off Durban

This is subject to conditions. Area may be moved or postponed and reserve dates to be decided depending availability of divers.
GENERAL RULES:

1. Natal Spearfishing Trials will be held from October 2009 to March 2010 to prepare and select the best team to represent the province at National Champs. National Champs are scheduled for May 2009 in KZN.
2. Refer to attached plan of scheduled Trial dates and reserve weekends.
3. Each province can select a maximum of four teams of four divers to represent their province at Nationals. In Natal we have three divers per team and sacrifice the fourth team member for a top man to handle the boat during the competition.
4. Thus the top twelve divers are determined from a series of three competitions called “Trials” held to very strict rules and regulations similar to those of Nationals.
5. The selection of these divers is orchestrated by a selection committee made up of the Natal Underwater Union (NUU) Spearfishing Officer, The DUC Spearfishing Officer and one other experienced spearfisherman (to be selected by the NUU Officer) .
6. In the event of dispute and or conflict the decision will be referred to the committee for adjudication and advice, however in the event of deadlock, the Natal Underwater Union Officer has final say.
7. Every diver participating in Natal Trials must be a paid-up member of a Club recognized by the Natal Underwater Union.
8. The Entrance Fee for trials is R400.00. To enter contact Iain Ewing 0824592812. This must be filled in and paid to Iain BEFORE the first trial.
9. The R400 will go towards the four teams’ costs during Nationals and is also a token of your commitment to competing in Trials and at Nationals.

  RULES OF THE COMPETITION:

1. Divers are required to phone Garrick between 5pm and 8pm on the Friday before a trial to confirm the dive area, meeting place and time.
2. If due to bad weather a trial has to be canceled on the Saturday it then takes place on the Sunday. Decisions on whether or not to dive will be made by 8pm on the day preceding the competition. If the weather is not suitable then the trial will be carried forward to the allocated reserve weekends (Refer planned dates and reserve weekends).
3. Remember that a lot of people are getting up early and may be traveling from afar to attend a trial so divers can be forgiven for being ten minutes late but will lose one point for every five minutes thereafter. (This will be strictly monitored.)
4. There will be a meeting to discuss the day’s proceedings, and a meeting place at sea will be decided. Once all the boats meet at sea the trial can begin. (No spearing is allowed before this time.)
5. All diving will be from boats because Nationals take place off boats and World Champs are dived off boats.
6. Each boat is allowed to have a top man to handle the boat during a Trial and no less than 2 divers may dive on a boat. Prior to a Trial commencing divers must arrange the boat they are diving on. It is not the responsibility of the organizers to do this.
7. Note that no chum or burlying is allowed.
8. All divers must dive within 40m of their OWN float. Floats must be used at all times when a diver is in the water, must be a readily visible color, be a minimum of 1.5 liters, and be clearly visible in the water during choppy or rough seas.
9. A trial lasts for six hours. Any diver seen in the water after the six hours will be disqualified. For safety reasons at the sixth hour the safety boat must be notified by radio or cellular phone that all is ok, and the boat is heading for the launch site.
10. All participants must comply with current regulations of Sea Fisheries and Marine Resources legislation
11. Points are allocated to each divers catch as follows.

• Only one fish per species is allowed. All fish may be weighed in un-gutted
• A maximum of 10 fish may be shot
• Divers may keep their fish after the weigh-in is complete.
• Each fish must weigh a minimum of 1 kg to qualify.
• Seven species that are excluded from competition are Surgeons, Angel fish, Unicorn fish, Batfish, Sea Barbel, Barbel Eel and File fish

12. After beaching all divers are required to load their fish into bliks and proceed to the weigh-in.

13. It is forbidden to exchange catches.
14. To facilitate comparison between different competition days, each diver’s points are calculated as a percentage of the top diver. The top diver scores 100%.
15. After four trials each diver’s top three percentages are averaged and thus ranked.

AWARDING OF COLOURS AND TROPHIES

1. If a diver makes the top twelve in Natal Trials they are divided into the A, B, C and Development Team. All twelve divers are awarded NUU Colors (Dolphins).
2. For a diver to get Natal Colors (Wildebeest) they must have dived in the A, B or C team at least three times and at least once in the A team or if never in the A team then they must have come in the top ten at Nationals once.
3. The Natal Underwater Union Awards three trophies each year to competitive divers based on Trials results.

• Anthony Benjamin Trophy for the biggest bottom fish. Biggest Gamefish Trophy. –
• Top of the Log Trophy for overall highest percentage.

SAUFF National Championships 2009 Individual Results

		Day 1	Day 2	Total	%
1	Brod Whittaker	36.81	69.55	106.36	100%
2	Gyula Plaganyi	43.42	56.8	100.22	94.23%
3	James Lawson-Smith	38.8	55.95	94.75	89.08%
4	Adriaan Kriel	47.73	44.65	92.38	86.86%
5	Angelo Spada	39	48	87	81.80%
6	Craig Heslop	41.02	44.6	85.62	80.50%
7	Neil Barnard	46.58	35.6	82.18	77.27%
8	Fred Bester	35.66	39.7	75.36	70.85%
9	John Girzda	38.49	36.5	74.99	70.51%
10	Richard Bruno	38.17	28.85	67.02	63.01%
11	Graham Carlisle	39.74	25.5	65.24	61.34%
12	Renier Coetzee	32.82	29.7	62.52	58.78%
13	Jeremy Williams	23.27	38.8	62.07	58.36%
14	Robert Reynolds	25.76	35.3	61.06	57.41%
15	Andrew Henwwood	18.21	40	58.21	54.73%
16	Chris West	26.87	30.45	57.32	53.89%
17	Garrick Morris	22.61	34.7	57.31	53.88%
18	Brent Borstlap	41.73	14.8	56.53	53.15%
19	Tony Heugh	30.99	25.35	56.34	52.97%
20	Garret Staats	26.82	26.15	52.97	49.80%
21	Carl Werner	22.66	27.7	50.36	47.35%
22	Rob Willes	21.58	26.1	47.68	44.83%
23	Sean O'Connor	17.09	29.4	46.49	43.71%
24	Ian Ewing	22.72	23.65	46.37	43.60%
25	Chris Swart	21.15	23.9	45.05	42.36%
26	Rick de Vries	21.96	22.15	44.11	41.47%
27	Bartho Kotze	22.34	15.55	37.89	35.62%
28	Owen Huxtable	9.73	27	36.73	34.53%
29	Greg Bisset	23.45	11.85	35.3	33.19%
30	Simon Karsten	26.65	6.65	33.3	31.31%
31	Eugene van Wyngaardt	15.57	13.4	28.97	27.24%
32	Paul Putter	16.2	12.75	28.95	27.22%
33	Hylton Newcombe	10.17	16.2	26.37	24.79%
34	Trevor Burger	16.55	9.78	26.33	24.76%
35	Hardus Bouwer	5.74	18.85	24.59	23.12%
36	Darryl Hiscock	11.91	8.75	20.66	19.42%
37	Christo Vermeulen	16.41	4	20.41	19.19%
38	John Little	12.9	5.6	18.5	17.39%
39	Craig Burmeister	4.94	10.85	15.79	14.85%
40	Dane Salmon	2.77	12.5	15.27	14.36%
41	Glen van Ooten	2.42	12.55	14.97	14.07%
42	Dave Coetzee	3.1	11.2	14.3	13.44%
43	Terrance Bellingan	2.15	12	14.15	13.30%
44	Andrew Kallman	3.11	8.9	12.01	11.29%
45	Shane Strong	2.33	6.3	8.63	8.11%
46	Stuart Jardine	7.78	0	7.78	7.31%
47	S Aiken	6.55	0	6.55	6.16%
48	Fred Snyman	3.54	2.05	5.59	5.26%
49	Grant Teubes	2.41	2.6	5.01	4.71%
50	John Kallman	0	1.95	1.95	1.83%