EP do the Double

An ecstatic Eastern Province team won the coveted President’s Cup at the 49th South African Surfing Championships for only the second time in the history of the event Saturday thanks to a well structured performance in good 6 foot surf at Outer Pool in Mossel Bay. Ironically their only other victory at the South African Championships was in 2008 at Victoria Bay which is located some 50 kms away from Mossel Bay.

Eastern Province’s neighbours, Border, were the runners up and Western Province came third. 2013 Champions Southern KZN had to settle for fourth place but will be happy to have finished ahead of the powerful KZN Central Team. Hosts Southern Cape came sixth, Boland were seventh and Zululand were eighth.

In addition to the team win, Eastern Province can proudly return home not only with the Presidents Cup but also with two Jeffrey’s Bay based individual South African champions. The 2013 U20 Girls Champion Emma Smith successfully defended her Under 20 title on a tie break against Nina Woerman of Western Province while her close friend Dylan Lightfoot posted 15,9 to edge out teammate Steven Sawyer to win the U20 Boys gold medal. Sawyer was presented with the Zigzag Blowing Up Award for his consistent high quality surfing throughout the event.

Joining Lightfoot and Smith as 2014 South African Champions are current World and South African Masters Champion Greg Emslie and defending South African Women’s Champion and Border teammate, Nikita Robb. Both Emslie and Robb are East London born and bred and it showed in their power surfing in the difficult 6 foot Mossel Bay Surf.

Emslie, who was runner up in 2013, posted 11,5 points to add a fourth South African Men’s Title to his name while Robb’s 12 points in the Final secured her an incredible fourth South African Women’s title in a row.

Balmy conditions and no waves on Day One ensured that not a single heat of the twenty three scheduled for Day one could be held. This forced contest officials to scrap the repercharge or “second chance” rounds so that the event could be completed in two days.

The predicted surf arrived overnight along with poor weather but the 4 to 6 foot waves made for some good surfing and produced high scores from the country’s best surfers. There were some upsets but in the end the best surfers in the event made their way to the finals and onto the podium.

Emslie’s fourth SA Championship Title ahead of last year’s U20 Boys Champion and National Team member Mikey February of Western Province sees him go into the history books as one of South Africa’s best surfers in 49 years.

Emslie’s fourth SA Championship Title ahead of last year’s U20 Boys Champion and National Team member Mikey February of Western Province sees him go into the history books as one of South Africa’s best surfers in 49 years.

Third in the Men’s Final was Mossel Bay local Llewellyn Whittaker, who was representing Southern Cape, while fourth place was claimed by Scott Venter who was surfing for Zululand.

Robb’s fourth title win in a row gives her a special place in South African surfing history. Her good friend and former SA Masters Champion Tasha Mentasti had a great contest and her teammates at Southern Cape will celebrate her silver medal in this premier division. 2014 South African team member Tanika Hoffman came third ahead of her Western Province teammate Tarryn Chudleigh.

In the Under 20 Boys Final Jordy Maree of Western Province came third behind Lightfoot and Sawyer with Steff Burrows of Boland taking fourth spot. Nina Woerman of Western Province tied for first place with Emma Smith in the U20 Girls Final and was eventually placed second on a count back. She was named Surfer of the Contest for her overall performance and won the prize that was sponsored by Bluegum Country state in Stanford. Nicole Pallet was third and her KZN Central teammate Teal Hogg came fourth.

All the finalists won Skullcandy Headphones and Neff watches while the winners won Primi Piatti vouchers, a bottle of Campbells Peak red wine and a portable speaker set.
 
Team Title

1. Eastern Province 24 050 pts  President’s Cup
2. Border               23 244 pts     
3. Western Province 22 940 pts     
4. Southern KZN     19 370 pts      
5. KZN Central        18 720 pts
6. Southern Cape    17 644 pts
7. Boland                15 660 pts     
8. Zululand              9 500 pts
Men

1. Greg Emslie (Border)   11.50
2. Mikey February (WP)    11.00
3. Llewellyn Whittaker (SCape)  9.00
4. Scott Venter (Zul)                8.35
Women

1. Nikita Robb (Border)    12.00
2. Tasha Mentasti (SCape) 9.15
3. Tanika Hoffman (WP)     8.00
4. Tarryn Chudleigh (WP)   4.95
U20 Boys

1. Dylan Lightfoot (EP)      15.90
2. Steven Sawyer (EP)       15.75
3. Jordy Maree (WP)          14.65
4. Steff Burrows (Bol)       5.40 
U20 Girls

1. Emma Smith (EP)          9.50 
2. Nina Woermann (WP)    9.50 
3. Nicole Pallet (KZNC)       9.00 
4. Teal Hogg (KZNC)         9.00 

Surfer of the Contest

Nina Woermann (WP)
Zigzag Blowing Up Award

Steven Sawyer (EP)