Hot Day at Juniors

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It was an transformation from yesterday’s onshore surf, with light winds and warm weather providing for a great day on the beach. The U12 divisions were the first off, and the kids paddled out at 7am for the first heat of the day. There were a few bigger sets and some exciting moments, as the best young surfers in the country battled it out on the right-hand slides of JBay.

Some of the earlier standouts were David Emslie from East London, and Hannah Praetorius from St Francis Bay, while Anastasia Venter from Cape Winelands was the standout in the U12 Girls division.

In the U16 Boys division Makai Kabot from Cape St Francis and surfing for Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders also did well to finish second in his round 2 heat, advancing along with Calvin Rostrin from Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders.

STOKED SURFER: This is the smile surfing puts on a person. Zia Hendricks. Photo WSL / Cestari

Tomorrow is day three of the five-day competition, and it looks like another hot day down at the beach. At stake at the 2019 Sea Harvest SA Junior Surfing Championships are individual national titles for Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 boys and girls along with the coveted Freedom Cup, which was introduced in 2003 and goes to the district whose team members accumulate the highest points tally across all age divisions. Over 250 surfers are competing in the event, making it the biggest junior surf contest on the annual Surfing South Africa calendar.

Surfing South Africa uses a scoring system called Liveheats which provides up to the second heat scores to all mobile devices every day of the Sea Harvest SA Junior Championships. To access this information go www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and click on the Liveheats box or go directly to www.liveheats.com/surfingsouthafrica

POCKET NUG: Clayton Robertse gets tight in the pocket of a small runner. Photo Ian Thurtell

There is also a prize for the district with the best cheering squad or gees and at this stage it looks like Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders are ruling the cheering squad.

The contest site at Lower Point today was also configured by TCS-Wifi who have sponsored free WiFi for the competition organisers, as well as free WiFi for contestants and spectators.

There is a slight lift in the swell, and the rest of the competition period up until the final day on Sunday looks promising for surf and for conditions. The rain that was predicted for Sunday has moved out until early next week and there is a good chance of excellent surf to finish the contest.

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