The competitive season in KZN ended with bang at the Lizzard Hurricane Summer Surf event hosted by Wave Wizards Surf Club at Umhlanga’s Main Beach this past weekend.
Dale Staples clinched victory in the Open Men’s division to end the season on a high.
More than 100 surfers competed in the thirteen divisions ranging from Under 12 to Masters (+35), as well as a hotly-contested Tag Team event. The Lizzard Hurricane Summer Surf event always ensures the annual Just Juice Umhlanga Festival kicks-off in style.
Read the press release below for the lowdown and all the results.
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LIZZARD HURRICANE SUMMER SURF EVENT A HUGE SUCCESS
Nicole Pallet ended a successful season with another win in the Open division.
Over 100 surfers took part in the Lizzard Hurricane Summer Surf event that forms part of the Umhlanga Summer Festival and is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. Surfers from all over KZN and South Africa arrived with their families to enjoy the summer vibes on Umhlanga’s pristine Blue Flag beach.
On Saturday the conditions started off well with contestable 2-3ft waves on offer. However the surf got tricky towards the afternoon and a lot of the big names including defending champ – Casey Grant – were eliminated. On Sunday a solid South West wind prevailed but this did not dampen the contestants who all put on their best show.
Stand out surfer of the event was Dale Staples from Westbrook. Dale posted some near perfect scores during the weekend and won the Open Men’s division with R5000 cash from Lizzard, and also took the R1000 win from Zigzag Surf Magazine for the surfer that performed the best over the weekend. Runner up in Open Men’s division were Chad du Toit, Richard Kidd and Shane Sykes.
Chad du Toit finished a close second in the Open Men’s division.
The Open Ladies shared the prize purse of R5000 from Hurricane. Nicole Pallet from Durban North won R2500 cash and convincingly beat her opponents with a pair of 8’s in the final. Nicole beat Heather Clark from Uvongo into second place, with Chanelle Botha and Cana Foster in third and fourth respectively.
The Masters final was a very close affair with less than one point separating Paul Canning from last year’s winner Gary Van Weirengen. One judge gave Gary an 8 point ride in the final but he never managed to secure a solid back-up score. Andrew Banks placed third and Mike Frew fourth.
Brandon Jackson blew up in the Longboarding Men’s with a Perfect 10 point ride to beat Sam Christianson into second, with Grant Gilmour and Stanton Ashton following. Wendy Smith had a bad heat in the Longboarding Ladies when she fell on a big wave and her fins cut her face. But the brave lady was present at the prize giving to take second place behind Heather Klug who got the victory.
In the Under 18 Girls final the surfers battled to find decent scoring rides. All four surfers got average scores and Chanelle Botha beat Kayla Nogueira, Sam Cele and Cana Foster.
Shane Sykes was the clear winner in the Under 18 Boys, posting 13 out of a possible 20 score. Richard Kidd, Calvin Goor and Bevan Willis came 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively.
SA Junior Team member, Richard Kidd finished runner-up in the Under 18 division.
Kayla Nogueria had a good weekend of surfing when she managed to jump from 3rd to 1st place with an 8 point ride in her second % round heat, which brought her points up overall for the Under 14 Girls win. Kayla beat Gabi Lailvaux and Olivia Izzard. Young Kayla also won the Hurricane custom made surfboard for the best up-and-coming surfer with the right overall attitude.
Karl Steen was two points ahead of second placed Tide Lee Ireland in the Under 14 Boys division, and Jarred Hook and Anthony Pottow also made the podium in 3rd and 4th.
The Under 12 Boys final was very close between James Ribbink and Nathan Spalding. Less than a point divided their scores with one judge placing them tie first. Third place went to Brayden Bergset and fourth to Nicholas Dixon.
The Novice Division is always great for new surfers and youngsters to get involved and give competitive surfing a go. In the Novice Girls, Jenna Unsworth beat Kirra and Maya Attfield, and in the Novice Boys Jordan Boshoff beat Kai Hall and Sergio Noguiera.
Wave Wizards Surf Club also held an old boys ‘Skin’s Era Grudge Match Up’. Four surfers that were rivals in their competitive surfing youth took to the water and it was Devin Lane who beat Dylan Stewart, Jestyn Viljoen and Chris Leppan.
The Masters Tag Team were a force to be reckoned with.
Highlight of the event was the Just Juice TAG Division. This is where five surfers line up in designated ‘boxes’ on the beach and have to run to the ocean, catch two waves, run back, tag the next member who then runs out to catch their two waves. All this has to be done within a 60 minute frame time. Hosts Wave Wizards claimed the victory and placed fourth with their second team.
The Masters Tag Team consisting of Mike Frew, Paul Canning, Andrew Banks, Gary Van Weirengen and Heather Clark were on fine frisky form the whole weekend. They ripped through the tag and beat the Northswell Team into third place. Fifth place was the Son Surf Club.
Surfers all received fantastic prizes from Lizzard, Hurricane, Just Juice, Unilever, Bar Ba Coa Restaurant, and Home Bru Coffee Shop. The judges and staff had sponsored food delivered by tuc tuc from Pick n Pay.
A lot of fun was had by all participants and spectators and Wave Wizards Club Chairman was delighted with the outcome saying: ‘It is such a pleasure to see so many families taking part in ocean sports and we are stoked that we had such a great response again this year. The level of surfing was world class and we look forward to an even bigger and better event next year. It was also really good to team up with Umhlanga Lifesaving and have our prize giving at the club that we will be calling our Wave Wizards Club home in the future’.
FINAL RESULTS LIZZARD HURRICANE SURF 2015
NOVICE GIRLS
1 – Jenna Unsworth
2 – Kirra Attfield
3 – Maya Attfield
NOVICE BOYS
1 – Jordan Boshoff
2 – Kai Hall
3 – Sergio Nogueira
U12 BOYS
1 – James Ribbink
2 – Nathan Spalding
3 – Brayden Bergset
4 – Nicholas Dixon
U14 GIRLS
1 – Kayla Nogueira
2 – Gabi Lailvaux
3 – Olivia Izzard
U14 BOYS
1 – Karl Steen
2 – Tide Lee Ireland
3 – Jarred Hook
4 – Anthony Pottow
U18 GIRLS
1 – Chanelle Botha
2 – Kayla Nogueira
3 – Sam Cele
4 – Cana Foster
U18 BOYS
1 – Shane Sykes
2 – Richard Kidd
3 – Calvin Goor
4 – Bevan Willis
LONGBOARDING LADIES
1 – Heather Klug
2 – Wendy Smith
LONGBOARDING MEN
1 – Brandon Jackson (with a perfect 10)
2 – Sam Christianson
3 – Grant Gilmour
4 – Stanton Ashton
WAVE WIZARDS SKIN’s GRUDGE CREW
1 – Devin Lane
2 – Dylan Stewart
3 – Jestyn Viljoen
4 – Chris Leppan
MASTERS 35+
1 – Paul Canning
2 – Gary Van Weirengen
3 – Andrew Banks
4 – Mike Frew
OPEN LADIES
1 – Nicole Pallet
2 – Heather Clark
3 – Cana Foster
4 – Chanelle Botha
OPEN MEN
1 – Dale Staples
2 – Chad du Toit
3 – Richard Kidd
4 – Shane Sykes
ZIGZAG BLOWING UP AWARD
Dale Staples
HURRICANE CUSTOM SURFBOARD:
(for the overall surfer that not only surfed well but also has a good attitude and approach to people and the ocean)
Kayla Nogueira
TAG TEAM RESULTS (R10 000 CASH FROM JUST JUICE)
1 – WAVE WIZARDS Team 2 (Dale Staples, Dan Redman, Shane Sykes, Bevan Willis, Cana Foster)
2 – MASTERS (Mike Frew, Paul Canning, Andrew Banks, Gary Van Weirengen, Heather Clark)
3 – NORTHSWELL (Brandon Jackson, Chad du Toit, Chris Frolich, Mikey Venter, Nicole Pallet)
4 – WAVE WIZARDS Team 1 (Chris Leppan, Devin Lane, Dane Monks, Dylan Stewart, Gabi Lailvaux)
5 – SON SURF (Kyle Mayer, Kira Attfield, Maya Attfield, Jordy Boshoff, Jenna Unsworth)
Very cool event – well done Julie and jestyn
Just Juice girl got a lot of attention ….that is for sure.