What looked like a promising start for the South Africans competing at the Burton Automotive Pro at Newcastle’s Merewether Beach turned into an exodus just three heats later.
Dale Staples won his opening heat and advanced to Round 2.
Dale Staples kicked things off for the Saffas by taking a confident win in Heat 17 of Round 1. Dylan Lightfoot and Mikey February were up next in Heat 20, but finished third and fourth respectively to bow out of the event. In the very next heat, Davey Van Zyl finished fourth and was eliminated from the contest, followed by Slade Prestwich in Heat 22.
In Heat 1 of Round 2, Joel Parkinson (AUS) got his warm-up for the upcoming Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast off to a cracking start by scoring a 9.07 and a 7.73 to accumulate the day’s highest heat total – 16.80pts. Beyrick De Vries was the next SA surfer up in Heat 2 and put together a decent total of 13.00pts. Unfortunately this was only enough to register a third in his heat and he joined the rest of the South Africans on the beach, leaving only Dale Staples representing the Rainbow Nation in the Men’s event.
Parko was on fire in the tricky conditions at Merewether Beach.
Tanika Hoffman and Emma Smith are yet to get their campaigns underway in the Burton Automotive Womens Classic. They’re seeded into Round 2 and scheduled to compete in Heat 8 and Heat 10 respectively. They’ll be hoping to put together a good run of form for not only themselves, but also the Saffa fans back home.
Go to worldsurfleague.com for all the results and highlights from the Burton Automotive Pro.
Why do our guys bomb out in the slop. Looks like they all need to spend the summers surfing junk in Brazil.
SA surfing really in the doldrums. Very little talent to get excited about. SSA needs a shake-up and make SA surfing sexy again.
Agreed not enough kak wave surfing ability….you won’t see SA’s supposed Pros fine tuning their kak wave ability as much as the brazzos.
Be able to take a wave that is 1ft onshore and what looks at most a 4 and turn it into a 7 +point ride….that is kak wave surfing ability.