Long Beach Kommetjie, for the second time this week, was brimming with laaties as all the groms returned from yesterdays layday for the continuation of the Bos Cape Crown presented by Sea Harvest. The day was ruled by one helluva onshore, it’s miffness akin to your Sunday afternoon blues, I oath I saw Derek Watts roaming around telling people the weekend was over. But this was a grom contest they didn’t give a damn, they could only see the positive, that being plenty of swell.
Straight off the bat, everybody knew the day would be all about wave selection, affording oneself enough opportunity to open up. The waves were lumpy, coming at you from all directions with the judges looking to reward commitment and level of difficulty on the tricky sections. Basically, it was like Victor Matfield out there, all shoulders. But hey, at least there were waves all day.
All images – Ian Thurtell
The U16 Boys got the day’s proceedings underway, as we moved straight into the semifinals. Young Daniel Emslie was the first to swing, naturally. He put together a combination of backhand whips in the pocket dropping multiple scores quickly with a solid forehand fin drift for good measure earning himself the first high score of the morning, a 6.0. Next up, Luke Thompson, burying his rail into some rather bipolar looking Long Beach waves, attacking on his backside all the way to the beach. Luke snatched himself a 7.25, streets ahead of the next surfer’s top score of a 3.5. Great. Here go the out-of-towners again, muttered a few disgruntled locals.
During the finals, Emslie got off to a quick start bullying the frothy sections placed before him. But, what he was unable to bully was the ever-present, Luke Thompson. Like a cackling hyena, Thompson emerged from the long grass snacking all the leftovers outback, posting an 8 point ride on his first wave. Both Luke and Daniel had combo’d the field, the rest of the heat would be a fight to the metaphorical death. Near the close of play, Luke threw his tail around, stomping a casual air reverse to take the win. It was so casual it could have been a dress code.
In the U12 Boys final, Rory Dace wasted no time throwing down, what would be, the highest score of the heat on his first wave. Ryan Schoon put up a good fight but Rory found a larger set wave and produced some Occy style power surfing. Raging Rory, anyone? For the U14 Girls final, conditions were comparable to those seen at the US Open, millennials would describe it as – meh. Olivia Winter put on a great display of backhand surfing to put herself in the lead but couldn’t back it up in the unpredictable surf, leaving the door wide open for local shredder Sarah Scott who kept busy to secure two average scores to take the heat.
The U14 Boys got off to a quick start with River Gericke showcasing some buttery backhand carves and a couple of man turns towards Pebbles. River was looking sharp all heat with a busy Connor Slijpen nipping at his heels, like a lapdog out for toddler blood. The heat was looking super tight up until Kyra Bennie decided to dispatch the both of them to take out the U14 title.
In the U16 Girls final Ceara Knight beautifully laid it on the rail on the lefts and sealed the end section making her intentions clear. Aimee du Preez followed suit with some classy backhand surfing right to the beach. And as if on que, enter young Kayla Nogueira. She wasn’t in the mood for this Hello Kitty stuff, there was no time to be cute. She went HAM on her backhand climbing out from the bottom into first by producing a seriously impressive 8.75 in the process to win her division. Good on ya Kayla.
Now for the meat and potatoes. The Pro Junior U18 WQS. The Men’s kicked off right about when the swell decided to pull in, unfortunately, the onshore wasn’t ready to leave the party. Dammit onshore, nobody likes a lingerer. Luckily Angelo Faulkner was up for a jol, throwing some majorly aggressive backhand hacks in the pocket, completely unfazed by the bumpy double-ups on the inside. Mitch du Preez impressive once again as he showcased that beautiful backhand of his along with a refined forehand.
Luke Slijpen’s vertical backhand attack on these waves was incredible to watch. Every time and I mean every time, he stood up on a wave he looked vicious, slicing a few kelp heads in half in the process. Arguably, the standout performance was at the feet of Kommetjie local Eli Beukes. He knows the wave like the back of his hand. Eli earned himself the highest heat score total of the day with local knowledge clearly playing to his advantage.
In the semis Mitch du Preez’s silky smooth surfing carried him straight through to the finals, it’s incredible how mistake-free this kid is. And then there’s the hyena, Luke Thompson, feasting on everything his backhand could get on. It was a slog, but Luke would climb from 4th to 1st right at the death with a ticket to the final. Semifinal 2 saw the in form Eli Beukes and Luke Slijpen thrashing lefts almost to the sand, working the shore-break which had grown a couple of feet, banking them points for gees.
The final had Eli sitting pretty the entire heat. If Eli was the Dinosaurs, Luke Thompson was the fateful asteroid. Going full tilt and with reckless abandon, Luke snuck in with some solid backhand hacks straight into the lip to steal the Bos Cape Crown from Eli. Making it even more dramatic, it was basically a buzzer-beater.
The Womens U18 WQS saw Ceara Knight place 1st in her quarterfinal heat, semifinal heat, and effortlessly take out the final with a heat total precisely double that of runner up Kayla Nogueira. Ceara, the Kom local, had been in form the entire event looking as sharp in her first heat on Friday as she did in the final today. Ceara showed a range of razor-sharp wraps to explosive snaps into the lip with a solid handle on the tricky end section double up. Kayla Nogueira took the fight to her in a final that was undoubtedly a two-horse race with the other two surfers in a combo situation. Kayla’s surfing was graceful and she managed to handle the end section well, the difference was Ceara didn’t just handle the end section – she crushed it.
Huge congratulations to Ceara Knight and Luke Thompson for taking out the 2019 Bos Cape Crown!
BOS Cape Crown presented by Sea Harvest Results
Men’s Final:1. Luke Thompson – 9.60
2. Eli Beukes – 9.40
3. Luke Slijpen – 9.30
4. Mitch du Preez – 8.75
Women’s Final
1. Ceara Knight – 12.75
2..Kayla Nogueira – 6.40
3. Aimee du Preez – 2.25
4. Sarah Scott – 1.45