Fear of storm swell and a record snapped boards does not deter SA Longboard Champions

                         

Steezy on the nose Outer Pool - picture supplied

“My Shattered Nerves”, in looking back at the last 7 days of the SA Champs in Mossels, arguably the most under-rated surf town in SA, is the first thought that comes to mind.

The predictions for storm swell exceeding 7.5m on the Saturday before the event put fear into the hearts of at least 90% of the contenders, and smiles on the faces of the Longboard shapers and glassers. With none of the doom-sayers predictions coming true, the week saw us getting 7 days of the best waves of any SA Champs held anywhere in SA, in living memory. From day one saw a steady snapping of boards as the competitors tried to go harder and deeper into the powerful waves. Total tally of broken boards was 19 over the week, which exceeds Vic Bays 2010 SA champs record of 17 (but they were all in one day).

As contest director it is always good to “strike while the irons hot”, but thankfully I could keep striking. Which one change of venue required over the period for 3 hours, where we surfed Ding Dang, (first time ever a contest has been held there). The rest was held at the point where judges could judge both Inner and Outer Pool from one venue without moving. On the third floor of Point Village Hotel, they could see exactly how surfers were performing.

There were some plucky performances where the U14 Boys (youngest 11 yrs) and U16 Girls (also youngest 11 yrs) went out in HUGE Inner pool and caused a number of mothers and fathers to stand praying silently on the shore. My thanks goes to the caddies that went out to protect them in these conditions. Also a special mention of Paul Chudleigh who is a a Muizemberg local in surfing in the open division went out in 10-12 foot Outer Pool. His comment after his heat was”Whoooah!”. It was easily twice the size of anything he has ridden before.

I would like to thank the local Mossel Bay surf community for sharing their favourite spot for the duration of the event. It is not often that surfers are keen to share their waves but the friendly Mossel Bay crowd happily free surfed alternative venues for the week. I believe a number of them are considering Longboarding after the performances they witnessed.

Next year is KZN’s turn and we can expect them to field a very strong field.

The results were as follow:

Provincial:

1^st - Western Province - 105 765 points

2^nd - Eastern Province - 99 711 points

3^rd - ESS - 71 540 points

4^th - KZN - 60 223 points

Under 16 girls:

1^st - Christy Gilmore (KZN)

2^nd – Kelly Fenton (EP)

3^rd – Caroline Brown (WP)

4^th – Angelica Schon (WP)

Under 14 Boys:

1^st -  Kye Mcgregor (EP)

2^nd - Alex Townsend (WP)

3^rd  - Simankele Rooi (WP)

4^th - Warren Weidemann (EP)

Under 18 Girls:

1^st – Crystal Hullet (EP)

2^nd – Michelle Verreyne (ESS)

3^rd – Kia Fenton (EP)

4^th – Rachel Wood (KZN)

Senior men:

1^st – Thomas King (WP)

2^nd – Mike Grendon (WP)

3^rd – Ross Lahana (ESS)

4^th – Tyrone Jensen (ESS)

Senior ladies:

1^st – Roxy Davis (ESS)

2^nd – Angela Craemer (ESS)

3rd – Charley Pollard (WP)

4^th – Deborah Patterson (EP)

Under 16 boys:

1^st – Ryan Lightfoot (EP)

2^nd – Jake Schoeman (WP)

3^rd – Tristan Torr (EP)

4^th – Fabian Marais (KZN)

Under 16 girls:

1^st – Christy Gilmore (KZN)

2^nd – Kelly Fenton (EP)

3^rd – Caroline Brown (WP)

4^th – Angela Schon (WP)

Under 18 boys:

1^st – Tristan Lev

2^nd – Sam Christiansen (KZN)

3^rd – Paul Chudleigh

4^th – Seth De Boer

Open ladies:

1^st – Taryn King (WP)

2^nd – Roxy Davis (ESS)

3^rd – Angela Craemer

4^th – Taryn Chadleigh

Open men:

1^st – Steven Sawayer (EP)

2^nd – Grant Beck

3^rd – Tristan Lev

4^th – Thomas King (WP)

Masters:

1^st – Brad Weare (KZN)

2^nd – Gregg Clarke (EP)

3^rd – Robin Somagnari (WP)

4^th – Dirk Tolken (ESS)

Grand masters:

1^st – Duncan Scot (EP)

2^nd – Ralph Renny (EP)

3^rd – Paul O’Connell (WP)

4^th – Toby Murphy (WP)

Kahunas:

1^st – Dave Jenkins (WP)

2^nd – Steve Harcourt-Wood (WP)

3^rd – Dave Mc Gregor (EP)

4^th – Craig van Greunen (EP)

Grand Kahunas:

1^st – Grant Gilmour (KZN)

2^nd – Deon Bing (WP)

3^rd – Sean Newton (ESS)

4^th – David Stubbs (WP)

Veterans:

1^st – Steven Hair(ESS)

2^nd – Gavin Seaman (EP)

3^rd – Ketith Kelly ( WP)

4^th – Gavin Rother (EP)

Divas:

1^st – Kay Holt – (EP)

2^nd – Charmaine Adams (WP)

3^rd – Jackey Partridge (ESS)

4^th – Lynn Robertson ((WP)

Legends:

1^st – Peter Randal (WP)

2^nd – Henry Dowling (ESS)

3^rd – Dave Lipschitz (EP)

4^th – Attie vd Pas (KZN)

  

Gregg & Michael - "Surfers Surfer"

Steezy Sawyer - Open Champ

Sussanah Leigh Hold WP Team Trophy aloft

 After 25years Lippy wins most exceptional surfer

  

 A moments silence

 A light snack

 The long and the short of surfing

Broken boards order of the day

Posted on behalf of Brian Salter, Pics supplied