Category: Surfing

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Bruce Gold checking in from JBay

Brucifire on fire at supertubes

Bruce Gold checking in from JBay

Bruce Gold checking in from JBay. A wintery morning as the swell of last week glides into JBay and sets the town alight. Or not. Actually, the swell was so unruly, the RVCA comp being held this week at Supers, has been summarily postponed until the next swell.

However, if you look at the synopotic chart on thesardine.co.za front page, the next cold front looks as crazy, so don’t hold your breath.

Coming up soon – some big wave surfing on the KZN lower south coast, as the same swell rolls through.

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Massive Swell At Supertubes Causes JBU Supertrial Presented By RVCA To Be Postponed.

Massive Swell At Supertubes Causes JBU Supertrial Presented By RVCA To Be Postponed.

JBay – A monstrous, out-of-control south swell at Supertubes left the contest organisers of the JBU Supertrial Presented By RVCA no choice but to call the event off for the day. As the gathered contestants watched, enormous and unruly waves swept through the lineup as one of the biggest swells in decades hammered the Jeffreys Bay coastline. Conditions were deemed totally unrideable, as well as dangerous, and the event was called off.

The JBU Supertrial presented by RVCA has a waiting period that runs from 1 – 12 June, leaving the contest organisers seven more days to run the contest. The event winner will receive a wildcard slot into the World Surfing League’s JBay Open Championship Tour event, which takes place from 8 to 19 July. This surfer will receive a minimum prize of US$9,000 (R110,500). The JBay Open forms the anchor event of the JBay Winterfest presented by Woodlands Dairy – www.jbaywinterfest.com

“The surf today looked to be about 12-foot, possibly bigger, and totally unrideable,” said JBU’s Koffie Jacobs. “It’s big, there are some really strong currents out there, and the conditions have been deemed dangerous. We have decided to call the event off for the day, and we will wait for another day during the waiting period when we have cleaner and more manageable conditions.”

©Van Gysen

Local surfer and competitor Remi Peterson attempted to paddle out further up the beach, but was pushed back to the shoreline by the relentless sets. “I just got hammered out there,” said Peterson. “There was no way out.”

Determined to get out for a few waves, he then attempted to paddle out from the normal paddle out spot further down the beach, but was immediately swept  down the point and got caught inside by a giant set of waves.

“It’s really big out there and it just isn’t contestable,” said East London surfer, former World Tour professional and National Junior Team Coach Greg Emslie. “I think this swell caught all of us by surprise. It’s a lot bigger and more powerful than initially forecast, and it’s just not good out there at all.”

The swell forecast shows potential towards the end of the waiting period, and the competitors will reconvene at JBay when the conditions look more favourable.

©Van Gysen

Nixon South Africa will be awarding a Nixon Tangent Sports Watch valued at R6 000 for the surfer who rides the best tube in the event, as well as a Nixon Blaster for the event winner.

The JBU Supertrial presented by RVCA is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), and recognised by the Dept. of Sport and Recreation as the national controlling body for surfing.

The JBU Supertrial presented by RVCA precedes the JBay Open WSL Championship Tour event, which takes place during the JBay Winterfest.

The JBU Supertrial presented by RVCA is supported by Arbor, Firewire, Stance, Nixon, Monster Energy South Africa, Zigzag Magazine and El Jimador Tequila.

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Local Beyrick De Vries Wins 2nd Quiksilver Surf Event in Durban

Local Beyrick De Vries Wins 2nd Quiksilver Surf Event in Durban

Beyrick De Vries in action at the second event of the Quiksilver Get Free Series 2015. De Vries placed first in the open men's division. The event was held at Bronze Beach, Umhlanga, Durban. Photo by Luke Patterson
Beyrick De Vries in action at the second event of the Quiksilver Get Free Series 2015. De Vries placed first in the open men’s division. The event was held at Bronze Beach, Umhlanga, Durban.
Photo by Luke Patterson

Umhlanga, Durban – Local surfer, Beyrick De Vries surfed his way to victory this weekend in the premier open men’s division at the second of three Quiksilver Get Free events. Over 70 of South Africa’s top competitive surfers were greeted with solid 4 to 5 foot groundswell for the final day of competition at Bronze Beach, Umhlanga.

Beyrick De Vries (Umhlanga) on his way to winning the second event of three Quiksilver Get Free events in 2015. De Vries placed first in the open men's division. The event was held at Bronze Beach, Umhlanga, Durban. Photo by Luke Patterson
Beyrick De Vries (Umhlanga) on his way to winning the second event of three Quiksilver Get Free events in 2015. De Vries placed first in the open men’s division. The event was held at Bronze Beach, Umhlanga, Durban.
Photo by Luke Patterson

De Vries was a clear standout and looked very comfortable in every one of his heats throughout the two-day event at his local surf break. De Vries’s power surfing combined with his impressive aerial moves proved too good for his competitors and he clinched the title ahead of Capetonian, Michael February who placed second, Dale Staples of Westbrook took third place and Brandon Jackson also of Durban finished in fourth place.

 

“It was so nice to win at my home break. I just got back from Los Angeles so have been a bit jet-lagged but I am really stoked with the win, thank God there were waves, Bronze beach was cooking today,” said De Vries.

 

Day one of the event was called off early due to the small swell and a rising tide. The last four heats of the Open Mens division were moved to day two, which produced near perfect competition conditions. “I’d like to thank all of the local guys and my sponsors for all of the support,” a smiling De Vries added, taking home R8000, a top of the range Drift Innovation action camera, Skullcandy headphones and some stylish Neff gear.

 

In the U20 junior boys division it was pre-event favourite, Shane Sykes of Salt Rock who stole the show winning a cool R4000. J-Bay’s Dylan Lightfoot placed a respectable 2nd while Matt McGillivray also of Jeffrey’s Bay was relegated to 3rd place. McGillivray who is back from a recent injury showed good form to find himself a podium finish, while Wade Simkiss from Umdloti finished in fourth position.

 

Sebastian Williams (Berea, Durban) took top honors in the U16 division. Williams stamped his authority on the final and claimed the title ahead of Ethan Fletcher (Kommetjie), Jake Elkington (Hout Bay) and Adin Masencamp (Strand), who placed second, third and fourth, respectively.

 

Event sponsors, Quiksilver were very happy with the second event of the series. “We could not have asked better beach weather this weekend. Bronze Beach came alive on the final day proving to be a world class beach break with South Africa’s best surfers pulling out all of the stops to impress spectators. Even though the first day of competition lacked swell and was difficult for the competitors, conditions were perfect for the final day. With explosive surfing in 4-5 foot clean conditions, we were very proud to be the title sponsors of this event and we would like to thank everyone that took part,” said Quiksilver Team Rider and Event co-ordinator, Brandon Jackson.

 

The third and final stop of the Surfing South Africa 3A rated event series will take place in Port Alfred on the 29th and 30th of August.

 

Supporting sponsors to the series include Techniblock sunscreen, Drift action camera’s, Skullcandy, Zigzag Surfing Magazine, Neff and RedBull. The Quiksilver Get Free Series offers a total of R108 000 in prize money as well as generous product prizes.

 

For more information, videos and photos of the series go to www.quiksilver.co.za/getfree.

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Transkei Trip

Transkei Trip

Having my two brothers and nephew in the water wherever we go, means we need a place to surf, that has no-one else near us. Luckily the Transkei is down the road, with it’s gracious serving of perfect right-handers. On camera is my brother Marc (he films a bit like Bruce Gold), and in the water, Roosta and Buzz (Brandon Lange).

Buzz put the edit together, a great job pal! The guitar is by Roosta, in the soundtrack provided by Trollsmoke, the band Roosta plays in, in Norway.

The winter has not been epic this year. The sand is all caught in the bays, and we gonna need at least two or three proper winter fronts to move it all out to the points.

So we have all mostly been surfing away, down south. Saint Mikes and Southbroom, and then into the ‘Kei.

Time is running out for this huge sand moving task. A task that can only be accomplished by nature, as we move into full on Winter. The current spring tides looks promising as it carefully co-ordinates low tide with a strong south swell, and stiff, warm offshores – for Monday. A big west is moving up the coast and promises to change everything for the better, for us.

Very good music in that soundtrack het? Check them out on Soundcloud and have a listen.

More surfing action to follow…Trashed at Saints is the title of our next clip and its coming soon!

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Jeffreys Bay: first event in the Billabong Junior Series

Jeffreys Bay: first event in the Billabong Junior Series

jbay
Local JBay surfer Rewaldo Abersalie will be competing in the event. @ Ian Thurtell

Jeffreys Bay – The first event in the Billabong Junior Series Presented By BOS is around the corner, and here are all the facts pertaining to the contest.

What is it all about? It is the first event in the 2015 Billabong Junior Series Presented By BOS. The Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS is the longest running junior series in the world, having started way back in 1997. It is also the richest junior series in the world, already having paid out R1,3M to junior surfers in South Africa since the series inception. The series hashtag is #BillabongJnr

Who is in? – The competition will see the best junior surfers in the country all vying for points and prize money. There are both PST (Pro Surf Tour) and World Surf League (WSL) Pro Junior rated divisions. The U12 Boys is a 1A PST rated division, while the U14 Boys, U14 Girls, U16 Boys and U16 Girls divisions are all 2A PST rated. The U20 Boys and the U20 Girls divisions are both WSL 1000 Pro Junior rated. There are also a number of international surfers entered into the event, including Ethan Ewing (Aus), Griffin Colapinto (USA), Seth Moniz (Haw), Shaun Manners (Aus), Eithan Osborne(USA), and Liam Obrien (Aus).

Local JBay surfer Rewaldo Abersalie will be competing in the event. @ Ian Thurtell

Where is the contest venue? – This year will see the event take place at Magnatubes – the perfect right-hand break around the corner from Supertubes. Magnatubes is a long and fast right-hander and the ideal canvas for the best junior surfers in the country to strut their stuff in front of the event judges. With a lot at stake at this event, including prize money, PST and WSL points as well as Billabong Junior Series points, the junior surfers will be going all-out at this new contest venue.

When is it happening? – The tournament is going to be held over three days in July. For the first time in Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS history, the event is going to utilise a waiting period. The contest needs three days of competition over a five-day waiting period, from the 13 – 7 July. The contest also falls under the waiting period of the JBay Open WSL Championship Tour event. The JBay Open is the anchor event of the JBay Winterfest – www.jbaywinterfest.com/

Why is it happening? – Billabong South Africa prides itself in the way that it has supported junior surfing on the country since 1987. Junior surfing paves the way towards professional surfing careers, Championship Tour qualification, and ultimately World Titles. Billabong has been consistently nurturing junior talent in South Africa from a grass roots level over the years, and will continue to do so with the ongoing Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS. Co-sponsors include Nixon and VonZipper.

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The Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is a member of the South African Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and is recognised by the Dept. Of Sport and Recreation as the national governing body for surfing.

About the World Surf League
The World Surf League (WSL) organizes the annual tour of professional surf competitions and broadcasts each event live at WorldSurfLeague.com where you can experience the athleticism, drama and adventure of competitive surfing — anywhere and anytime it’s on. The WSL sanctions and operates the following tours: the Junior Tour, Longboard Tour, the Qualifying Series (QS), the Big Wave Tour and the crown jewel of the sport, the WSL Championship Tour (CT) which determines the sport’s undisputed world champions.

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