The Quiksilver King of the Groms wrapped up yesterday in Southbroom, KwaZulu-Natal, and saw Davey Brand from Kommetjie and Beyrick de Vries from Umhlanga Rocks walking away with the Under 16 and Under 20 wins respectively. They were also awarded the overall series titles at the final leg of the 2009 Quiksilver King of the Groms.
For winning, 15-year old Davey earned R3,500, plus another R3,500 for the series win and a trip to France to take place in the Quiksilver King of the Groms world final event.
Beyrick scored the R5,000 winner’s cheque, an additional R5,000 for the series win, and a return air ticket to Hawaii, the Mecca of all surfing, for the 2009 winter season.
The final results of the event were:
Under 16:
1. Davey Brand (Kommetjie)
2. Michael February (Kommetjie)
3. Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh)
Under 20:
1. Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga Rocks)
2. Chris Leppan (Umhlanga Rocks)
3. Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie)
It would be pretty safe to refer to Rosanne Hodge as South Africa’s top female surfer these days. And should anyone try to dispute it, you now have some concrete evidence to back it up.
At the recent Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica, the East London native became the star of the South African team when she won the silver medal in the women’s division – the only Saffa to win a medal in the event. Despite that, the team did well enough to earn South Africa an overall fifth place in the event – an improvement to last year’s seventh place finish in Portugal.
According to a report in the Daily Dispatch, Rosanne “started the final day confidently, posting rides of 6.20 and 7.0 out of 10 to win her heat in Round 5 of the Qualifying stream and advance directly into the women’s final along with second placed Sage Ericson (US).”
In the end, though, the gold went to American Courtney Conlogue.
But even though she didn’t score the top medal, to us, Rosy is definitely SA surfing’s golden girl. Congrats, Rosy! We’re very proud of you.
Wavescape, an online portal jampacked with Souh African surfing information, has partnered with BulkSMS.com to relaunch its surf forecasting text messaging service.
The service, which now includes data from the Wavescape Open Watch (WOW), delivers regional open ocean and specific beach reports that includes swell, wind and tide information, to cellphones via SMS.
The WOW system collects Wave Watch 3 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and publishes it in different formats on the Wavescape website. This same data is then condensed into SMSes of 160 characters long.
According to an article on Bizzcommumity, the Wavescape cellphone service includes ten regions and more than forty beach locations around South Africa. It is perfect for members of the broader wave-riding community (including surfers, bodyboarders, kite-surfers, windsurfers, etc.) as well as anglers, beachgoers, divers and the boating community who need to know what the surf conditions will be like at their local beaches. The fact that it is delivered to cellphones makes it possible for people to know the forecast even when they are not near a computer or television. Travellers can also use it to check out the conditions at the beaches they are travelling to.
For more information (including cost), visit this page of the Wavescape website.
Following the conclusion of the mid-year international surfing contest season in South Africa, 26-year old Bryson – formerly of East London and now residing and surfing in Cape Town – clinched the title after being in dominant form in the four ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) events staged in South Africa this year.
By winning the 1-Star-rated Lizzard Nandos Pro in Durban, finishing as runner-up in the 5-Star O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Cape Town and placing equal 17th in both the 6-Star Prime-rated Quiksilver Pro Durban and the 6-Star Mr Price Pro Ballito, Bryson managed to accumulate 4263 points. That’s nearly 700 more than ASP Africa runner-up Travis Logie, from Durban. Bryson also set a prize-money record by pocketing R102 350, more than double that earned by any of the other 96 ASP Africa members.
After losing their places among the top 45 ranked surfers on the ASP world Tour at the end of last year, Bryson and Logie are hoping to requalify for the 2010 Dream Tour.
Since there was only one event – the Mr. Price Pro Ballito – no ASP Africa women’s champion will be crowned this year. The 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior men’s and women’s U20 titles will be up at the Billabong Pro Junior events at Victoria Bay at the end of September.
Despite several delays in the beginning, the 2009 Jeffrey’s Bay Billabong Pro champion was crowned today.
28-year old Australian Joel Parkinson surfed away with the honours in 1 – 1.5 metre surf, beating American Damien Hobgood.
After the beginning of the championship was delayed due to disappointing surf, conditions improved to such an extent that the event – the fifth of ten on the on the ASP World Tour – is already being called one of the finest in history.
Reports Girl Racer: “Parkinson wasted no time in the 40-minute Final, smashing an excellent 9.47 out of a possible 10 on his opening wave. The wave exhibited the Australian’s unparalleled mastery of the Jeffrey’s Bay lineup, a symphony of beautiful forehand arcs and committed barrel riding, taking off from “Boneyards” section at the top of the point and riding well over 200 metres to the eruption of crowds on the beach.”
This is the second Jeffrey’s Bay Billabong Pro victory for Joel. The first time he won the event was ten years ago in 1999.
The next stop on the 2009 ASP World Tour will be the Hurley Pro Trestles in Southern California from September 13 – 19, 2009.
For more information about today’s Billabong Pro final, visit the official website.
… to the next round of the Jeffrey’s Bay Billabong Pro is?
Sean Holmes!
After being off to a reportedly ‘nervous start’, the local favourite became the first local surfer to qualify for the next round of the Billabong Pro when he beat Hawaiian Dustin Barca.
Sean told KFM that surfing in front of the enthusiastic home crowd made him so nervous in the beginning that his legs felt like jelly.
But obviously that feeling passed, and we couldn’t be happier about it!
Renowned for its iconic waves, Jeffreys Bay is undisputedly considered to be the Mecca of South African surfing.
So it’s a bit ironic that small surf was the cause for a lay day being called at the Billabong Pro surfing championship. The event, the fifth of ten on the 2009 ASP World Tour, has been delayed until tomorrow morning – when conditions will be reassessed – due to this morning’s small two-to-three (one metre) waves.
According to Mike Parsons, Billabong Pro Contest Director, the swell models they’ve been tracking have moved a bit south, with improving swell models giving them an optimistic outlook that they’ll have bigger waves as early as tomorrow.
Yesterday, at the completion of the VonZipper Trials, local Devyn Matthews won his heat, earning himself a wildcard berth into the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay. Other South Africans who also received wildcards are Shaun Holmes and Ryan Payne.
Once the conditions improve, the first round match-ups look as follows:
Heat 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Tim Boal (FRA), Michael Picon (FRA)
Heat 2: Tom Whitaker (AUS), Jay Thompson (AUS), Nathaniel Curran (USA)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA), Josh Kerr (AUS), Nic Muscroft (AUS)
Local legend and veteran surfer Shaun Tomson published a book three years ago. But for some reason – not even he can quite explain why – it did not make it to the shores of his homeland.
But now, three years after publication in the States, Shaun’s “Surfer’s Code Twelve Simple Lessons For Riding Through Life” has finally been released in South Africa. The book is based on the life lessons Shaun learned while surfing. “The book is about what the ocean can teach you and uses surfing as a metaphor for life. It is about riding the wave of life and uses my personal experiences to illustrate each lesson.”
He used to write those life lessons out on cards and hand them out to kids at the beach. Eventually, after collaborating with American surf writer and university lecturer Patrick Moser, the wisdoms saw the light in book form, and that’s how one of South Africa’s own surfing legends entered a new chapter in his life as ‘author’.
And the woman wave rider who wins the Mr Price Ballito Pro Women’s surfing championships for 2009 is… Well, no one.
Due to a gale-strength wild wind kicking up enormous waves and leading to several postponements, the event had to be called off before the women could complete all the heats. The result? For the first time in the event’s history, no female champion was crowned.
In the end, all the 24 competitors who had remained in the event were awarded a 19th place finish and were given an equal share of the prize money (which amounted to R7 900 each) as well as an equal amount of ratings points: 1 200.
East Londoner Roseanne Hodge, who was the top South African surfer in the event, told IOL News that she was disappointed by the event’s premature ending.
“The way things have gone has been a bit of a shake-up for everyone, I don’t think anyone’s really been in this situation before, where you make it through your heats and then it’s actually the end of your run.”
Talk about being literally blown out of the water!
Hopefully the guys – who are at it right now – will have better luck!
The O’Neill Cold Water Classic which wrapped up near Cape Town yesterday was even colder and wilder thanks to a massive, raging storm.
But amid the massive solid six foot swells and big waves pounding the shore, the skilled surfers bravely continued to battle it out. In the end, it was 24-year old Aussie Blake Thornton who earned the South African CWC trophy – a replica of a shark’s jaw – which he proudly held aloft.
With his victory, Blake beat local fave Royden Bryson. Blake told Global Surf News how Royden had fallen on his final wave. “I think maybe the cold was getting to us. I am sorry for him, but so glad I won.”
About surfing in the wild, shark-infested waters of South Africa, Royden said: “Thankfully this is a fake jaw. Hopefully I won’t see any real ones. There was actually a seal swimming around out there with us in the final. Everyone knows that sharks love seals, but actually in a heat you’re only worried about what’s going on in the heat.”
His focus paid off. His victory earned him 1500 points and $12 000.
Not even the onset of one of the Cape’s most hectic winter storms – which stirred up enormous swells that nearly caused a ship to run aground near Blouberg – could intimidate South African surfer Jordy Smith.
The dude pulled out a stellar performance on the third day of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, reaching a score of 8.5. Not that we expect anything less from the event ambassador!
So while the weather is cooperating to make this Cold Water Classic truly as cold as can be, Jordy confirmed as much to Surfer Today. (By the way, ST reckons Jordy is the surfer to watch in this event.) “It is pretty wild and cold. It’s like gale force winds out there. I got on a few waves and couldn’t even move for the wind – but there are some fun rides out there.”
If the forecasters are to be believed, the competing surfers should brace themselves for waves in excess of about 40 feet high!
The Cape of storms has been living up to its reputation, making for interesting and challenging conditions during the O’Neill Cold Water Classic (CWC).
The CWC, which is taking place in Cape Town right now, has already delivered a shock with the departure of South African champion Sean Holmes who was ousted from the event by another local, Josh Salie. He seemed just as surprised by his performance as everyone else and said his family and friends cheering him on from the beach actually made him more nervous!
But the highest wave scorer thus far (9.6) has been 16-year old Hawaiian John John Florence. He managed to knock former World Tour surfer Nathan Hedge out of this third leg of the CWC series.
Apart from frequent storms stirring up the waves – according to forecasters, it’s not going to ease up soon – the organisers of this South African leg of the series have taken steps to ensure that the event will have minimal impact on the environmentally sensitive coastline of the planned venues while simultaneously benefitting the local economy.
According to O’Neill South Africa’s marketing manager, Paul Canning, they have pulled out all the stops to make the event as environmentally friendly as possible.
“We will be implementing a comprehensive environmental management plan to reduce the impact on the various South peninsula beaches where the event will be run.
“At the same time we have also hired all labour, equipment, services and accommodation locally to make sure the economy of the area benefits from the running of a contest that we hope will go on to become one of the icon events on the annual international surfing calendar and a cornerstone of the Series.”
The event will run until Wednesday, the 24th of June.
Brad Grobbelaar, a South African recreational kite surfer, was killed this past Saturday (13 June 2009) after being overcome by a squall while out kiting.
According to news reports, the gust of wind lifted him up and slammed him into rocks in front of a Milnerton hotel. Despite the valiant efforts by paramedics to save him, he later succumbed to massive head injuries.
Brad’s shock friends and fellow kite surfers described him as an experienced kiter who always wore a safety helmet.
An unindentified friend relayed the accident to IOL News: “Brad got close to shore but got picked up by the wind and didn’t go for the safety release. He tried to save his kite but landed up slamming into the rocks.” Apparently this is a ‘common mistake’ kite surfers make, which is why serious injuries among kite surfers are not uncommon.
Brad’s kite was later found on the roof of the Lagoon Beach Hotel.
Brad was a 38-year old IT specialist and father-of-two from Blouberg.
The South African team who will be competing in the 2009 International Surfing Association (ISA) World Surfing Games has been announced by the Surfing South Africa (SSA) Board of Directors.
The Games will take place in Playa Hermosa near San Jose in Costa Rica in August.
The 2009 South African Surfing Team consists of four men, two women, two male longboarders, three coaches and a manager. The surfers in the men’s team are Brandon Jackson and Damien Fahrenfort, who are both from Durban, Rudy Palmboom from Bluff, and 2008’s SA team captain, Ryan Payne from Cape St Francis. Llewellyn Whittaker from Mossel Bay is the non-travelling reserve.
The Women’s team members are East London chick surfers Rosanne Hodge and Nikita Robb. Tarryn Chudleigh of Kommetjie will be the non-travelling reserve.
The longboarders are South Africa’s current Longboard champion Justin Bing from Noordhoek, and his runner-up Michael Hill from Cape St Francis.
Mike Sheppard will be the team’s manager. Graham Hynes will be head coach, Ant Brodwicz will be deputy coach and Kevin Olsen will be the assistant/technical coach.
Cyril Nel from East London has been appointed by the ISA as one of two head judges for the event. Another Saffa, Sandile Mqadi, will be part of the international judging panel.
The Mr Price WP Open surfing championships took place at Long Beach in Kommetjie last weekend (6 and 7 June).
Despite coming fourth in the U20 Boys Division, Durbanite Chad du Toit made a comeback so spectacular, it was enough to earn him first place during the final Men’s division event. With that victory, he managed to earn himself R6 000 and 1 000 PST points. Local Long Beacher Brendon Gibbens came second, Shaun Joubert of Mossel Bay came third and the South African Men’s champion Gavin Roberrts of Scottburgh came fourth.
The U20 Boys final and the R2 000 first prize were won by South African Junior team captain and Long Beach local Matt Bromley. Fellow Long Beacher Mikey February came second, Shaun (Joubert) was third and Chad (du Toit) came fourth.
The Women’s final was won by Chantelle Rautenbach of Melkbossstrand. She bagged R2 500 for her effort. East London’s Nikita Robb came second. Mr Price team members Stacey Guy of Melkbosstrand and Tammy Lee Smith of Salt Rock came third and fourth.
It kicked off in Tasmania. Then it moved to the freezing surf of Scotland. And now surfers who take part in the O’Neill Cold Classic will have to brave the waves right here in the Cape of storms.
From 20 to 24 June, the best local and international surfers will descend upon the Cape Peninsula for the third stop in this surfing series, which is also a four star ASP World Qualifying Series event. Surfers will include local Jordy Smith, who not only won the inaugural event in Tasmania, but who will also act as the ambassador to this event.
According to Girlracer, this local leg of the event can rightfully proclaim itself to be the ‘wildest event in professional surfing’. Hovering at temperatures of around 10 degrees, the water here is certainly cold enough for the Cold Water Classic. Throw in the heavy winter storms kicking up huge swells, the “prevalance of bull kelp around many of the surf spots and the threat of Great White Sharks (against which precautions will be taken)” and you get what definitely promises to be a surfing contest that isn’t meant for the fainthearted.
However, considering the generous prize of US$85 000, we’re sure that the surfers won’t hold anything back!
He has barely bagged the crown as South Africa’s surfing champion, and already Gavin Roberts is gearing up to participate in this weekend’s Mr Price WP Open.
The event, set to take place in the Cape Peninsula tomorrow and Sunday (6 and 7 June 2009), is also drawing other big-name surfers such as Gavin’s fellow KwaZulu-Natal surfer, Gary van Wieringen.
The Cape’s wild wintry weather probably won’t deter the 32 guys who will compete in the Men’s Division. That lineup includes surfing talent such as Capetonian Ian Armstrong, Matthew Bromley from Kommetjie and Shaun Joubert of Mossel Bay.
The girls will also be well represented by South Africa’s U20 Women’s Champion Tarryn Chudleigh from Kommetjie, Nikita Robb of East London, Tammy Lee Smith of Salt Rock, and Melkbos surfers Stacey Guy and Chantelle Rautenbach.
Brendon Gibbens, Mikey February and Matthew Bromley from Kommetjie, Jaco Steyn of Melkbos, Shaun Joubert and Somerset Wester Jacob Mellish, Chad du Toit of Durban and Chris Leppan of Umhlanga will surf in the Pro Junior field.
The weather is expected to kick up the swell to an excess of 15 foot this weekened, so these pros should have a lot of fun.
Globally, Jeffrey’s Bay is regarded to be South Africa’s Mecca for surfing. And now, for the first time ever, it will host a contest that will see locals competing (by inviation only) against each other.
The inaugural Xcel Supertubes Showdown will take part from 5 – 21 June 2009 and will feature sixteen locals and Supers experts who will battle it out for a first-place prize entry into the Von Zipper Wildcard Trials.
The final selection of invitees and heat draws will be announced tonight (June 3, 2009) at the opening function to take place at The Mexican Restaurant in Jeffrey’s Bay.
<!– @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } –>Kwa-Zulu Natal came out tops at the recent annual South Coast Tourism South African Surfing Championships with two of their own surfers emerging as champions.
Having a home surf advantage certainly seemed to pay off, because the host province even surfed off with the President’s Cup.
Southern KZN team members Gavin Roberts and Heather Clark won the Men’s and Women’s titles respectively.
According to reports, this past Sunday’s weather in St Mikes was fine and conditions were near perfect with 3 – 6 foot surf.
Roberts beat 2007 SA Champion Devyn Mattheys of Border, pushing him into second place with Dan Redman of KZN coming in third. Eastern Province’s (EP) Ryan Payne came fourth and was crowned Surfer of the Contest for 2009.
Clark successfully defended the title she won at Victoria Bay last year. Nikita Robb of Border was second, Tammy Lee Smith of KZN came third and Faye Zoetmulder of EP was fourth.
The under 20 set also saw KZN surfers rising to the top. Shawn Dennis took the title with fellow KZN boy Kyle Lane in second. Bertie Stuurman of EP came third. Chris Leppan, also from KZN, came fourth.
Despite stitches to her face from an injury sustained when her board hit her in the face during the semi-final, Tarryn Chudleigh of Western Province (WP) still managed to take the Under 20 Girls title.
Sarah Baum of KZN was second, Alice McGregor of Border came third and Lauren Colberg of Boland was fourth.
KZN’s dominance in all four divisions secured them the Presidents Cup which they last won in 2005. Southern KZN came second, Border was third, Eastern Province – who was last year’s champion – came fourth, Western Province was fifth and Boland came sixth. The 2009 South African Surfing Championships were presented by Surfing South Africa, hosted by Southern KZN Surfing Association and sponsored by South Coast Tourism.
Jordy Smith came out tops among the three South Africans who competed at the recent Billabong Pro Tahiti.
The 21-year old Durbanite ended up finishing in ninth place overall in the event which was won by American Bobby Martinez.
The two other South Africans which took part in this, the third of ten events on the 2009 ASP World Tour, were David Weare (also a Durbanite) and Greg Emslie from East London. Jordy ended up in ninth place after being defeated by Brazilian Adriano de Souza.
According to Global Surf News, the result sees Jordy slipping from No. 3 to No.6 on the ASP World Tour rankings (currently making him the only Saffa ranking in the top ten), still leaving him in a good position to challenge the 2009 World Title. David and Greg were both eliminated from the event in the first round.
CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10:
1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 3000 points
2 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 2318 points
3 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 2208 points
4 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 2196 points
5 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 2174 points
6 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 2076 points
7 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 2025 points
8 – Tom Whitaker (AUS) 1932 points
9 – Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 1886 points
10 – Kieren Perrow (AUS) 1742 points
10 – Taylor Knox (USA) 1742 points
10 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 1742 points
South Africans
30 – David Weare (ZAF) 1045 points
35 – Greg Emslie (ZAF) 860 points
