Steve Pike

NORTH versus South rivalries are as old as the hills. You get them in sport, in war and between cities. Examples of course are the Blue Bulls against Western Province, the Yankees versus the Rebels, or simply Joburg versus Cape Town.

At the risk of generalising, northerners often look down on us southerners.

So it was with some interest that I read a press release by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) this week saying a committee of experts had deemed a wave measured in the North Atlantic to be a world record.

Apparently, at 8am on the February 4, 2013, an automated buoy called K5 had captured a 62.3 foot (19 metre) wave between Iceland and the UK after a strong cold front and 44 knot winds.

Firstly, I asked myself, only 44 knots? That’s nothing. Secondly, how come it took you three years to figure that out? And thirdly, not so fast, we can also lay claim to fierce storms and giant waves down here in the Cape, and we have the evidence.

WMO Assistant Secretary-General Wenjian Zhang was excited by their belated bit of hindcasting. “This is the first time we have ever measured a wave of 19 metres. It is a remarkable record.”

He went on to say how important it was “to ensure the safety of the global maritime industry” and “despite huge strides in satellite technology, sustained observations from moored and drifting buoys and