Dane ‘Patto’ Patterson, age 26.
Patto has a busy life these days. With the serious responsibility of Marketing Manager at Quiksilver South Africa, he finds less time to surf. Before his life got hectic, Patto and his brother, Luke, dominated surfing events countrywide for a number of years. A born and bred Durban surfer, Patto was a stand out at the Dairy Bowl as well as at his home break, The New Pier.
It surprised everyone except Patto when he won the first event of the year on the domestic South African circuit, the Baggies Pro PST event at Warner Beach, just south of Durban. Patto, whose responsibilities include team management for Quiksilver, was there early in the morning and decided to enter the event on a whim. “I had just picked up two new BILT boards and they looked sick. I was there anyway, so I figured I’d enter just to give the boards a go and have a surf.” Ever modest, Patto went on to win every heat he entered, including the final, against some of the country’s best surfers. The win put him in the lead of the domestic circuit for a while. Not bad for someone who just wanted to try out his new BILT boards.
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