Billabong Pro Teahupo’o 2011 Update
I won’t talk too much about this, except say that this is one of the biggest days ever captured at Teahupo’o in Tahiti and as luck would have it right smack bang in the middle of an ASP event with all the cameras rolling. Check out this insane footage! 27 August 2011 will be remembered for a long time…
Plus check out this insane footage from the Phantom Cam in the earlier rounds of Billabong Pro Teahupo’o 2011. Check Adriano de Souza’s wipeout at 2:15, it just shows you with how much speed these guys are racing down the line!
And then as you’ve all probably heard by now, Jordy and Travis surfed against each other only for Jordy to be injured (rib injury from either his board or the reef – he doesn’t know), the heat to be stopped and then restarted with Jordy winning. BUT the call was made for a re-surf of the heat, because it wasn’t supposed to be standard protocol for a heat to be stopped if someone’s injured and Travis took the rematch, putting him through to the quarter finals.
We can’t really complain, a Saffa’s going through, but I damn well hope that we don’t get another Saffa duo match up for the rest of the year as this was two in a row (first in JBay earlier this year).
We wish Jordy a speedy recovery, as he has to be up and surfing at the Quicksilver event in New York by the 5th of September!
A BIG shout out also has to go to Jeremy Flores who scored a perfect 20 (two 10 point rides) in one heat. Some amazing surfing going down at the moment.
[UPDATE]
Congratulations to Kelly Slater (USA) for taking the win over Owen Wright (AUS) in a close fought battle. Kelly put one over Owen on a wave by wave showdown and some excellent tube riding was displayed by both contenders. A big WELL DONE goes to Travis Logie (South Africa) for making the semi finals and making us fellow Saffa’s proud.
For heat reviews on the ‘Heat Analyser’, visit www.billabongpro.com.
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Billabong Pro 2011 Jeffrey’s Bay
We’re really looking forward to seeing you all at the Billabong Pro Jeffrey’s Bay 2011 from the 14th until the 24th of July 2011. It’s going to be a cracker of an event and we’ll be loading some coverage and pictures ‘off the beaten track’ of the event.
The swells at the moment look a bit small, even though it seems Magic Seaweed is predicting something for Thursday through the weekend, so it might happen.
Windguru is predicting something similar, but it doesn’t look like all time firing Supers. Luckily the waiting period is 10 days, so we’ll keep our ears to the ground and bring you updates.
If you’re a photog have some images you’d like to share during the event with a link, send us a shout out.
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Kotze Takes Crown At 2010 Fox Surfer X
Some of the country’s top surf and motocross professionals descended on Durban this past weekend for what is widely regarded to be one of the highlights on the South African action sports calendar, the fourth annual Fox Surfer X.
In this unique, cross-over contest, participants show off their versatility and skills by competing in both a surfing competition on the Umhlanga coast and an MX race around the Springfield dirt race track. Points are given according to positions attained in the two contests and then those are added together to determine a contestant’s final ranking. The overall winner is the person who had managed to accumulate the most points.
In this case, the honours went to Plettenberg Bay boy Wihanne Kotze, who had a narrow win over Dylan Lightfoot to take home much of the R20 000 prize money and the title of 2010 Fox Surfer X champion.
The contest had kicked off on Saturday in idyllic surfing conditions. On Sunday, contestants were greeted by a powerful South Easterly wind and a shortened race course at the Springfield track. The wind made the race extremely challenging, with several crashes happening during the practice rounds.
But in the end, Wihanne Kotze’s performance during both events added up to victory in the Main Class, with Lightfoot in second place and Shaun Baker coming in third.
“Despite the challenging weather conditions at the track, this year’s Surfer X was as successful as we had hoped it would be,” said Jon Channing, Fox’s Marketing Manager. “The new format, with the introduction of the Pro Surf and Pro MX Class, made sure that all the races and heats were closely contested and provided more excitement for the spectators.”
The event was co-sponsored by Monster Energy and PS3.
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Shark Kills Saffa Surfer
On Saturday, Gerhard van Zyl went surfing with a friend at Outeniqua, a beach close to the Southern Cape towns of Mossel Bay and George.
Just after 3 o’clock, Gerhard became the first shark attack victim in that area in more than 20 years. After the attack – in which his right leg was completely bitten off above the knee – his buddy helped him to shore where a Netcare 911 paramedic tried to save his life. Despite the on the scene help and being airlifted to a hospital in nearby George, 25-year old Gerhard unfortunately succumbed to his injuries, becoming the first shark attack fatality in South Africa this year.
Horrifically enough, this is the second time the devastated Van Zyl family has lost a son in a beach-related incident. Only three years ago, Gerhard’s youngest brother Christo died when he fell from a cliff into the ocean on the St Blaize hiking trail outside Mossel Bay. He was 17 years old.
Although no one is sure exactly what shark species attacked and killed Gerhard, experts agree that it can probably be attributed to a Great White since they are known to frequent that area this time of year.
Ever since the movie Jaws scared the wits out of movie-goers worldwide, sharks have had the reputation of being blood-thirsty man-eaters. That isn’t actually true. According to Stephan Swanson of Oceans Research in Mossel Bay, sharks are opportunistic hunters “who investigate anything that might be edible. To determine whether an object is edible, they first smell and ‘taste’ it.”
He told News24 that shark researchers have tagged approximately 400 great white sharks in that area over the past three years, in order to determine their behavioural patterns. About 98% of these sharks are between 2m and 3m in length. The smaller sharks in particular are nomadic and migrate to Gansbaai and False Bay, returning to Mossel Bay in August and September.
Gerhard is survived by his parents and a brother, 23-year old Johan.
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SA Chicks Surfing at Roxy Invitational in Mozambique
Ten of South Africa’s hottest young female surfers are currently battling it out at the Roxy Invitational 2009 event in Ponto d’Oura in Mozambique.
The event, in which prize money of R15 000 is up for grabs, has been turned into a truly international contest with the inclusion of two surfers from the island nation of Reunion, Johanne Defay and Canelle Bullard. The week-long contest kicked off on Monday, the 4th of May 2009 and will continue until next Monday.
In attendance is the reigning champion, Port Shepstone’s Heather Clark. She is vying for the winner’s pot of R10 000 against the likes of 2009 Roxy Wahine Cup winner Tarryn Chudleigh from Cape Town, and East London girls Nikita Robb and Alice MacGregor.
Competitors also include SA junior surfing team members Kirsty Delport (Durban), Tanika Hoffman (Cape Town), Bianca Buitendag (George) and Durbanite Sarah Baum, who is fresh from her victory at the Oakley Pro Junior that took place in Port Alfred over the weekend.
Faye Zoetmulder (Port Elizabeth) and Tasha Mentasti (Durban) are also competing.
For more information, visit http://www.roxy.co.za/invitational
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