JBay – The JBU Supertrial presented by RVCA is all set to go this Saturday, 11 June 2016. A great-looking storm trundles into town, along with the first real cold snap of the year, and contest organisers are expecting some great surf to accompany all the weather.
Many of the surfers invited to surf the event are already in town, and hoping for a practice surf this afternoon (Friday) as the predicted swell starts filling in.
The event has much at stake, with the winner receiving that vaunted wild card into the local World Surf League Championship Tour event, the JBay Open, which will take place between 6 -17 July. The experience gained from surfing a Championship Tour contest is immeasurable, and there is always the chance of kick-starting a professional surfing career in this tournament.
Hoping for some of this ©Van Gysen
The judging criteria for this contest are the same as the WSL criteria, but with a few slight nuances. According to the WSL criteria, the surfers will be judged as such:
Commitment and degree of difficulty
Innovative and progressive maneuvers
Combination of major maneuvers
Variety of maneuvers
Speed, power and flow
Judging scale:
[0.0 — 1.9: Poor]
[2.0 — 3.9: Fair]
[4.0 — 5.9: Average]
[6.0 — 7.9: Good]
[8.0 — 10.0: Excellent]
Head Judge Mike Ginsberg added to this saying, ”Supertubes is a very different wave to surf, and not like many waves on the tour. We need to take this into consideration. For one, it’s a very long wave, and surfers need to read the wave accordingly,” he added. ”We will be looking for those surfers who make full use of the entire wave, but still doing those big turns on the outside.”
Mike will be assisted by a team of experienced WSL-level judges.
Judging set-up ©Van Gysen
The top 24 surfers in the country will all be in attendance, including past winners Dylan Lightfoot (JBay) and Slade Prestwich (Durban), former Championship Tour surfer Greg Emslie (EL) and Supertubes contest veteran Warren Dean (JBay).
Other surfers to look out for are Dylan Stone (PE), Matt McGillivray (JBay), Ricky Basnett (StFBay) and the on-form Billy Payne (StFBay).
There is no official alternate list. Available slots could be open to anyone who is present on the day and who really wants to surf. The contest organisers will make the decisions on the day as to which of these surfers possibly get a chance to surf in the tournament. At this stage Shane Sykes has withdrawn from the event due to competition commitments in California.
The JBU Supertrial forms part of the JBay Winterfest, the sporting and music festival that will take place in Jeffreys Bay from 6-17 July.
The JBU Supertrial is presented by RVCA. Co-sponsors include Monster Energy, Stance, and Oakley.
Event hash tags #RVCASupertrial #JBU #JBayWinterfest
There is a Facebook Event Page
