Final Day Of The 2016 Billabong Jnr Series

After two days of near perfect conditions the ocean decided to throw a spanner in the works for the final day of the 2016 Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS. Howling onshore winds battered the surfers and spectators but did little to deter the stoke after so many days of cooking surf. High performance boards were swopped for those buoyant sticks designed for summer slush and strategies were reassessed with the surfers opting to keep busy in the tricky surf.

To the less experienced eye the conditions may have seemed unsurfable – until the groms were let loose. White wobbly ripples suddenly appeared to be bowly runners on the bricks. From the moment the siren sounded it was evident that the surfing was still going to be exciting.

After the Pro Junior semi finals, the u/12 boys finals hit the water. The lightweights had to fight hard to hang onto their boards through the chop. At the end of the heat Luke Thompson was unbeatable after opening his account with a 7.00. James Ribbink settled for 2^nd after being on form the entire event. Daniel Emslie and Christian Venter finished 3^rd and 4^th respectively.

The u/14 girls final was a low scoring affair that saw new comer Snenhlanhla Makhubu take the win over Kayla Nogueira. Summer Sutton clinched a 3^rd place over previous series winner, Gabi Laivaux.

Nate Spalding was then crowned the u/14 boys champ as Tide Lee Ireland was unable to keep up his dominating streak and finished 2^nd over York Van Jaarsveldt and Sam Bennie.

After losing out in the u/18 girls semi finals, a determined Kai Woolf cracked a series of backhand hacks to claim the win in the u/16 girls final. Sophie Bell put up a good fight for 2^nd place with Kirsty McGillivray at her heels in 3^rd place and Anna Jellema Butler in 4^th.

The u/16 boys finalists put on a spectacular show earlier on in the contest but struggled in the deteriorating conditions. Max Elkington snagged the win over Koby Oberholzer with Karl Steen in 3^rd and Luke Slijpen in 4^th.

The Pro Junior u/18 finals saw exciting man-on-man match ups. Kirsty McGillivray had been dropping excellent scores all weekend but couldn’t find her feet in the finals whilst Sophie Bell achieved some decent scores and was a well-deserved winner.

The difference between the heat totals in the Pro Junior men’s finals was just 0.13. Sebastian Williams held the lead with a pair of 6-point rides whilst Adin Masencamp was left hunting for a back up ride for his 7.67. In the dying seconds of the heat Adin took off on a wave and was close to nailing the score – before he fell, much to the relief of Sebastian.

Being the second and final event in the 19^th annual Billabong Junior Series, the competitors were also surfing.

2016 Billabong Junior Series Results:

U/12 Boys

1^st Luke Thompson

2^nd Daniel Emslie

3^rd James Ribbink

U/14 Girls

1^st Snenhlanhla Makhubu

2^nd Kayla Nogueira

3^rd Gabi Lailvaux

U/14 Boys

1^st Tide Lee Ireland

2^nd Nate Spalding

3^rd York Van Jaarsveld

U/16 Boys

1^st Max Elkington

2^nd Eli Beukes

3^rd Luke Slijpen

U/18 Girls

1^st Sophie Bell

2^nd Kirsty McGillivray

3^rd Kai Woolf

U/18 Boys

1^st Adin Masencamp

2^nd Sebastian Williams

3^rd Jordy Maree

Special Awards:

VonZipper Airshow – Eli Beukes

BOS Best Carve of the Event – Calvin Goor

Neff Forever Fun Award – Mitch Du Preez

Skullcandy Stay Loud Award – James Ribbink

*Featured Image By: Kody McGregor / Surfer: Adin Masencamp