Blog
John Whitmore – South Africa’s Hobie Cat King
Much has been said and written about John Whitmore’s influence on South African surfing. But far less is known among the broader public about John’s influence on South African Hobie Catting. Along with his trusted lieutenants in his Cape Town Coast Catamaran factory...
Whitmore Protégés: Donald and Johnny Paarman
"Uncle John, are we out of South Africa yet?’" – Johnny Paarman. The story is as old as surfing itself. Young grommets in the shorebreak stealing lost boards, picking up scraps of waves, before the older guys come wading toward them, retrieve...
1960s Surfing Prohibition: The Muizenberg Banning Saga
John Whitmore would play an important role in negotiating with the authorities to fight those behind the surfing prohibitions as best he could.
Whitmore Protégés: Margaret Smith – First Lady of South African surfing
Any encyclopedia of South African surfing history would be incomplete without the inclusion of 1960s women’s Cape Town surf star and John Whitmore protégé, Margaret Smith. Among the second generation of early South African surfers, ‘Margie’, as most knew her, was a...