The hatches had to be battened down mid-morning, as the predicted buster came through for Day 3 of the Hurley SA Junior Champs. Along with the wind, came the swell, and the groms had their work cut out as the gusts threatened to blow them right off the back of the wave with every turn.
Jose Faulkner shows The Point who’s boss.
Airs were definitely out of the question, although young Durban ripper Ntando Msibi did try and bust one out during his U17 Boys Round 3 heat. Needless to say his board quickly spun out of control and stretched his leash as his board threatened to blow all the way to Albatross. That little mishap was the only mistake he made as he advanced through to the next round.
The wind started winding through before midday.
There had been much talk about the expected jump in swell, so much so that one young girl competitor reportedly woke up the night before in a sweat, imagining what mayhem might greet her for her morning heat. Thankfully the day dawned with another beautiful sunrise, and the swell still on the small side, so there was nothing to stress about as the girls paddled out for their morning heats.
Day 3 dawned with pristine conditions.
It was only around mid-day that the swell started to really pulse, and by day’s end it was starting to tip the scales at around the 6-foot mark, with even more expected to fill in overnight. Day 4 could end up being a case of competitors against the sea as much as a challenge against their opponents.
It’s going to be flippin’ exciting – stay connected on www.sajuniorchamps.co.za
Check out the official press release below.
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GALE FORCE WINDS AND PUMPING WAVES FOR DAY # OF THE HURLEY SA JUNIOR CHAMPS IN JEFFREYS BAY
Matt McGillivray (Eastern Province) carves off the top of an overhead, wind-swept Jeffreys Bay wave on Day 3 of the 2013 Hurley SA Junior Champs at Jeffreys Bay on Friday
Gale force offshore winds exceeding 80 Kilometres per hour could not deter the country’s top young surfing talents as they went ballistic in the overhead waves peeling down the Lower Point in Jeffreys Bay on Day 3 of the Hurley SA Junior Champs on Friday.
After muso Farryl Purkiss had the event site rocking last night, a spectacular dawn proved to be the calm before the storm and by mid-morning the wind-whipped ocean created testing conditions but fanned the rising swell into long liquid runways that provided plenty of scope for the top performers to employ their full repertoire of manoeuvres and impress the judges.
The U17 Boys relished the bigger surf with Matt McGillivray and Eastern Province teammates Paul van Rijswick and Tim Baard posting heat victories to advance to Round 4 along with fellow heat winners Max Armstrong and Dylan Wichmann (both WP), Bryce Burness (KZNC), Michael Monk (Border) and Steff Burrows (Boland).
Not to be outdone, the U15 Boys also raised their performance levels with standouts including Rewaldo Abersalie and Jono Coffey (both EP), the WP pair of Jordy Maree and Ford van Jaarsveldt, Boland’s Adin Masenkamp and Tristan Lev, Keagan Wallace (KZNC) and Dane Olsen from Southern Cape
Robyn van der Merwe (EP), Teal Hogg (KZNC), Inge McLaren (BOR) and Chanelle Botha (SKZN) justified their top seeding for their respective provinces by advancing to Round 4 of the U17 Girls division with heat victories.
The day’s action ended on an high with the ‘My Dad’s Shred Sesh’ presented by Firewire Surfboards and Country Feeling Surfshop where a host of SA’s surfing legends including former ASP World No 7 Mike Burness, former ASP Africa champ Greg Swart and others took to the waves in an informal demonstration of the country’s surfing royalty that had the spectators hooting and hollering.
Video highlights of the high standard of junior surfing during the first three days of action at the Hurley SA Junior Champs can be found at http://www.sajuniorchamps.co.za/videos.php
The Hurley SA Junior Champs runs until Sunday 29 September when the provincial team accumulating the most points is awarded the coveted Freedom Trophy and the individual winners in the U17, U15 and U13 Boy’s and Girl’s divisions are crowned the 2013 South African surfing champions.
There is also an array of lucrative special awards at stake, including:
• Hurley Surfer of the Contest presented by All Aboard Travel – R20 000 travel voucher to Bali
• Red Bull Best Air – R5 000
• Oakley Highest Heat Score – R3 000
• Zigzag Blowing Up Award – R3 000
• Skullcandy Team Spirit Award – R3 000
• Van’s Tarp Surf Champ – Product from Vans Off The Wall
All the action and behind the scenes highlights at the 2013 Hurley SA Junior Champs can be followed on the following digital platforms:
Hurley FB: https://www.facebook.com/Hurley.ZA
Hurley Twitter: https://twitter.com/HurleyZA
SA Junior Champs: https://twitter.com/sajuniorchamps (Results Only)
Twitter account – @HurleyZA and the hashtag #sajuniorchamps
Hurley Instagram: http://instagram.com/hurley_za
Daily blogs, interviews, video uploads, images and results will be posted on www.sajuniorchamps.co.za and results can also be found at www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
The South African Development Academy team is participating thanks to a grant from Sport and Recreation South Africa.
The Hurley SA Junior Champs is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), recognised by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and Sport and Recreation SA as the national governing body for the sport. SSA is a member of the International Surfing Association (ISA), the world’s governing body for surfing.
The 2013 Hurley SA Junior Champs is supported by All Aboard Travel, Skullcandy, Red Bull, Zigzag, Oakley, Neff, Vans Off The Wall, FUTURELIFE and Island Tribe in association with Sticky Bumps Wax, Channel Islands and Mayhem surfboards.
