“DIE PRO VAN PELLSRUS” THE JOSHE FAULKNER STORY

It’s a cold, blustery winter’s evening on the West Coast of South Africa. We’re in Lambert’s Bay post Vans Surf Pro Classic with a group of South Africa’s top Billabong riders for a photoshoot. The house Bong hired is falling apart at the seams but there’s a fireplace in the kitchen, a curry brewing on the stove and the vibes are high. With the fire crackling away, we whip out some cards for a game of Warlords and Scumbags. Game explained, we set off. Joshe catches on quick as lightning. Like a swindler he uses his position at the table and his opponents’ slower comprehension to his advantage creating distractions and causing confusion and using their bewilderment as leverage. It was like watching someone from first world suburbia being pick-pocketed. Amusingly, his opponents don’t even realise they’d been duped and the game proceeds with Joshe in the lead.

For the Faulkners, surfing runs in the family. Joshe and younger cousin Angelo were walking home from school when they ran into older cousins Bertie Stuurman and Dominique Abersalie (absolute shredders in their own right) on their way to the beach. Bertie and Dominique convinced their younger cousins