In partnership with the WSL and Surfing South Africa, Accelerate Sport have confirmed five QS events to take place along the South African coastline for the fifth edition of the City Surf Series.
The series will attract the local and international surfing community to the shores of Nelson Mandela Bay and Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape, and Vic Bay and Cape Town in the Western Cape from April to June 2020.
“The City Surf Series is a fantastic opportunity for young surfers to really introduce themselves to the world stage and we are delighted to once again have five events on the calendar. Returning to Cape Town was always a target and through the support of the City and Thirsti Water, this is once again possible,” said Daniel Quinta, CEO of Accelerate Sport.
“This series would not have become reality without the huge commitment from our partners and support of the local municipalities. We would like to extend our utmost gratitude for their support in making this series the success that it is today,” he added.
Slade Prestwich came out firing. He’s one of the big boys on the City Surf Series tour and he made his presence felt on the opening day of competition.
The City Surf Series aims to provide QS events on home turf, investing in the growth and development of local South African surfers. With the series hosting events from the east to the west coast, South African surfers can earn valuable QS ranking points, all while earning prize money without having to travel overseas. The series also attracts a large contingency of international surfers looking to score some points while enjoying South Africa as a rich surfing destination.
The Thirsti Cape Town Pro will be the only mobile event on the WSL calendar, which will see the event change venue across Cape Town over a five-day waiting period. This unique event will result in the best surfing conditions being selected across each different venue on three selected days, in providing the best stage for surfers to compete in.
Volkswagen SA Open of Surfing pres by Hurley.
Since its inception, both Michael February (Cape Town) and Matthew McGillivray (Jeffreys Bay) used the City Surf Series to qualify for the Championship Tour for 2018 and 2020 respectively.
The events provide men, women and junior surfers with an opportunity to compete in different waves against a competitive international field. With the series taking place during the country’s peak surfing season, it attracts surfers from all over the world to earn valuable qualifying points while enjoying the spoils in each city.
“The City Surf Series and WSL Africa’s partnership with Accelerate Sport and Surfing South Africa (SSA) has been fantastic for the growth of professional surfing in South Africa and Africa. We can gladly be proud of the fact that through the City Surf Series we now have 10 surfers in the top 100 in the world and guaranteed that we will have three South Africans in the Corona Open J-Bay at the Championship Tour event in Jeffreys Bay in July,” said Colin Fitch, World Surf League Regional Manager for Africa.
“Our development program in conjunction with SSA will see the growth of not only surfing nationally but the growth of surfing in areas that have been unable to surf at this level in the past. We have gone from a region with a limited growth to a region that is challenging and becoming a very strong African Cyclone on the World Surf League thanks to the City Surf Series,” said Fitch.
The President of Surfing South Africa, Johnny Bakker said SSA is very excited about the City Surf Series for 2020.
“The different venues offer opportunities to all surfers in a variety of conditions and this again adds to the excitement of the series. We wish all competitors the best of luck for the series.”
City Surf Series 2020 Event Schedule
- 11 – 13 April: Nelson Mandela Bay Pro QS1,000 – Pollok Beach, Summerstrand
- 15 – 17 April: Royal St Andrews Port Alfred Town Classic QS1,000 – East Beach
- 20 – 24 May: Thirsti Cape Town Pro QS1,000 – Mobile Event, Multiple Venues
- 29– 31 May: Vic Bay Classic QS1,000 – Vic Bay Beach
- 13 – 17 June: VW SA Open of Surfing QS1,500 – Pollok Beach, Summerstrand
Why two events in PE for eff sake????!………I live in PE ….I say throw another event at Vic Bay or Jbay…..200 0000000000 x better chance of actually having waves you could call contestable.PIPE[PAP] sucks sucks sucks like a Westpoint road prozzie……Colin and Johnny you already know this okes.
mossel bay should have 1 – could alternate between inners and outers from same tower… !! 🙂 and seal point or the weskus
need more QS points for a few of them – qs 1000’s dont really get you onto the CT – should be 1500’s – if you go with too many points then attract all the Brazzos, Ozzies etc – want some international competition but not all of them – 1500 is a nice middle ground and 1 should be a 3000 but not close to ballito – at a different time of year. Less than 10% of the total points on offer on the QS are QS1000 events and even winning a 1000 points is not enough – not one person on the QS who qualified for the CT last year had a 1000 points or less in their top 5 that counted. So the 1000 pointers only get you an invite into the bigger events maybe. To maximise Saffas on the CT – we need 1500 events and a 3000 or two but not close to Ballito
but good on Thirstii – you guys rock. Gonna support you guys