J-Bay Win Club Title

The Cape Town area teams could not stop an inspired performance by the winning team, who, like many of the clubs that qualified to compete in the tournament, made the long journey to Cape Town by car. The 8 hour drive - followed by a 92 km haul from Cape Town - did not seem to affect the quality performances of power surfer Dylan Lightfoot and his team mates Emma Smith, Dominique Abersalie, Kelvin Zehmke and Shannon Ainslie.

They posted a massive total score of 164.6 points and beat the Durban-based Wave Wizards Surf Club, who scored 146.2, into second place. The Wave Wizards comprised power surfer Beyrick de Vries, Craig Buttcher,Nikita Kekana, Kyle Lane and Chris Leppan.

Third were enthusiastic event hosts West Coast Boardriders Surf Club’s A team, who scored 144.5 and missed second spot by a mere 1.7 points. West Coast Boardriders A were led by power surfer Ryan Payne, who was adjudged the Surfer of the Contest after posting the highest score for an individual during one of the rounds. The other members of the West Coast team were Tanika Hoffman, Diran Zakarian, Jonno Sweetman and Phillip Visagie.

The Llandudno Boardriders Surf Club, comprising power surfer Jordan Alexander, Paul Daniels, Stacey Guy and Jasper and Logan Eales, came fourth in the final, scoring 98.7 points.

Natural Energy Surf Club and Warner Boyz Surf Club were joint 5th , CYOH and West Coast Boardriders B were joint 7th and they were followed by the Maties team from the University of Stellenbosch and Sunset Surf Club.

At a well supported award ceremony held at the Melkbos Country Club, the J- Bay Boardriders were awarded the inaugural SA Interclub Championship trophy, individual gold medals and the trophy for the team that displayed the best team spirit during the event. In addition the five members who surfed in the final plus alternate Gina Smith and coach Etienne Venter walked away with the bulk of the R43,000 in prizes on offer to the top four teams, courtesy of Billabong.

Respect in the form of a minutes silence was paid to Natural Energy Surf Club founder and much loved Boland Surfing Association stalwart Taryn Pratt, who sadly passed away in December as well as Dawnsy Mieny, a long time employee of Billabong who died tragically after being mugged in Cape Town last week.

Mark Hoffman, the President of Surfing South Africa, presented the awards and Josh Enslin, Event Manager of Billabong handed over the prizes to the surfers in the top four teams. He also presented a premium Billabong wetsuit to Addie Jappie, the Chairman of Sunset Surf Club. He thanked all the clubs for competing, Dutchie Louw and West Coast Boardriders for hosting and Surfing South Africa for presenting the event and committed Billabong’s support to the next Interclub Championships in Jeffrey’s Bay.

In winning the 2013 championships the J- Bay Boardriders Club earned the right to host the 2014 Billabong SA Interclub Championships at a venue of their choice in Jeffrey’s Bay. They will not be required to compete in the Regional Interclub Championships which will be held in Durban, Port Elizabeth and the Western Cape later in the year. These Regional interclub contests will determine which three clubs from each region will contest the 2014 Billabong SA Interclub Championships.

Surfing South Africa (SSA) is a member of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA). SSA is the governing body for all surf riding in South Africa and is recognized as such by the Department of Sport and Recreation SA.

Results can be found on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za