Rain squall on Day 1 of the Volcom VQS Championship Cup.
It looked like the Volcom “Get in the Hole!” VQS Championship Cup was going to be over before it even began. Despite favourable predictions and reports of swell marching up the coast, Saturday morning dawned with heavy rain, horrible winds and a Southerly swell bypassing the Durban piers.
Waiting for the winner of the Pro-Am division was a Green Jacket in homage to the traditional garb worn by a winner of the Masters, and a plane ticket to go head-to-head with some of the best junior surfers on the planet in the VQS Championships to be held in Fiji during the Volcom Fiji Pro – part of the World Championship Tour.
The conditions may have dampened the spirits of the crowds on the beach, but the competitors showed maturity and professionalism beyond their years, putting their heads down and grinding through the first rounds of the contest. Some commendable surfing was seen as the relentless rain turned the beach from a bunker to a water hazard.
Slade Prestwich was in top form at New Pier.
If Saturday was like finding your ball lying in the thickest rough imaginable, Sunday was the equivalent of the most perfectly groomed fairway to ever grace a dimpled ball. A light offshore had set in overnight and just enough east had crept into the swell direction, grooming the rough conditions of the day before into perfect 2-4 foot walls ready to be blasted apart. There was even the odd barrel to be found lurking in the mid-break.
Rights were reeling off of New Pier under a bluebird sky and the groms could loosen up before their heat with a quick round of putt-putt and a few games of Closest to the Pin on the VQS Links in front of the judging tower.
Volcom supplied a spread of chow and drinks for everybody to get stuck into, so spirits were high in the afternoon as one by one the different divisions teed up for their finals in conditions that allowed them to show their full range of skills. Big roundhouse hacks were traded-off against airs and fins free turns above the lip, everyone looking for that elusive edge to take the lead.
Pro-Am finalists Dylan Lightfoot, Steven Sawyer, Mikey Venter and Slade Prestwich.
The suspense and excitement built to a head with the Pro Am final, which was an intense affair. Durban local Slade Prestwich put his local knowledge and experience to work and tap, tap, tapped it in to claim the green jacket, the trophy, and the ticket to Fiji.
Keep an eye out for the gallery and video highlights from the weekend’s action, coming soon.
Under 20 Girls winner Emma Smith was surfing on top form.
RESULTS:
Squids (U10)
1. James Ribbink (Durban)
2. Nathan Spalding (Durban)
3. Tai Robinson (Durban)
4. Nathan Perreira (Durban)
U14 Girls
1. Sophie Bell (Salt Rock)
2. Rachel Wood (Durban)
3. Gabi Lailvaux (Umhlanga)
4. Christy Gilmour (Umhlanga)
Groms (U13)
1. Koby Oberholzer (Warner Beach)
2. Karl Steen (Durban)
3. Calvin Goor (Salt Rock)
4. Nathan Wallace (Durban)
Juniors (U16)
1. Shane Sykes (Salt Rock)
2. Matt Macgillivray (Jeffreys Bay)
3. Ntando Msibi (Durban)
4. Koby Oberholzer (Warner Beach)
U20 Girls
1. Emma Smith (Jeffreys Bay)
2. Nicole Pallet (Durban)
3. Jade Story (Warner Beach)
4. Teal Hogg (Durban)
Pro Am (U20)
1. Slade Prestwich (Durban)
2. Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay)
3. Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay)
4. Mikey Venter (Warner Beach)
