The first of three Quiksilver Get Free events is going down this weekend in the Kom, Cape Town. Last year’s Quiksilver Takes One To Know One series saw some crazy surfing with the bar being raised at every event. This year’s events should be no different.
Boiler – one of the Kom’s potential options for this weekend’s contest.
Names to look out for:
Mikey February – The local favourite. MFeb and Beyrick De Vries had a crazy battle during last year’s Quiksilver Vic Bay event. Both went at each other for 25 minutes and finished with 18-plus heat totals. It was easily the best final and heat out of the whole series. Mikey finished second to Beyrick so you know he’ll be wanting to come out on top at his hometown this time around.
Dylan Lightfoot – The wave magnet. When he gets a bomb he goes to town and a little further. He arrives to events with enough eights in his bag to cover three events worth of heats. Cape Town spots can be a bit of a tricky place with regards to picking the best waves, but Dylan is one of the few guys who should have no problem with this.
Misty Cliffs has an excellent viewpoint and, with the right conditions, the waves can cook too.
Davey Van Zyl – Last year’s champ. He’s already proven himself and only gotten stronger since last year’s victory. He’s got the old school power-surfing that never goes out of fashion and he’s also able to throw a few punts in-between.
Slade Prestwich – Slade’s been lugging himself all over the world of late but he’s currently in the Cape getting used to the weight of his wetsuit. We’ve all seen his online clips. We all know what he’s capable of.
Shane Sykes and Brandon Jackson. One young, one older. Both lost early at last year’s event but bagged big results later on in the year. Both are going to want to rectify last year’s result.
Don’t count Soetwater out as a location for the event either.
Dark horses.
Scarbourgh’s Max Armstrong is still a grom but you wouldn’t say so judging from the way he surfs. He’s got a mature style and isn’t shy of getting airborne either. He also handles well when the wave size is in the 10 to 15 foot plus range.
Diran Zakarian – Melkbos local who lands radical punts in heats that most won’t land in their lifetime. He finished third in this event last year after leading the final up until the last five minutes.
Jarryd Veldhuis – The Kom local who won surfer of the event last year. He had jaws dropping left, right and centre with the aerial rotations he was able to pull off on horrible close-out sections at Long Beach. He also knows the Kom stretch better than anyone else.
Potential Locations
If you’re looking for variety in wave choice, the Kom has you covered. There’s everything from deepwater left-hand points, to right-hand reef-slabs, to soft beach breaks – all within a ten kilometre stretch. No one knows exactly what they will be in for and there is no real way to be prepared. You just never know what kind of wave the Kom will be dishing up for you on the day. Just make sure you have everything from your grovellers to your step-up’s packed and waxed and, of course, fins sharp enough to help you slice your way through the kelp.
The infamous Outer Kom – and that’s on a medium sized day.
Side Show
While the open divisions are always the main act, never underestimate the excitement the younger divisions bring to the weekend. This year Quiksilver has decided to add an U/16 division alongside the U/20 division. Both will be an incredibly entertaining watch and a showcase of our future talent. Many of the U/20s will be surfing both their division and the opens. Many of the U/16s will be surfing both their division and the U/20s. Many of the parents will be running around putting on a sideshow of their own – possibly throwing their children’s toys at the judging tower after their child’s underscored wave. Either way it’s all an exciting show to watch. This weekend you’re going to want to keep one eye on the surf action and one eye on the action around the judging tower.
Provisional Event Format