Lunar Lighteys

Cold and grey and raining and miserable, but firing surf, and all is good. It’s a funny thing that, how a surfer’s mood is totally dependent on the quality of the waves, and the rest of the environment, no matter how crap, is totally irrelevant.

Three foot, offshore, and reeling down the point on what looks like the lowest tide ever seen in this part of the world. Apparently it’s a blood moon equinox thing that is doing it – is making for these extreme tides. On the way home yesterday the entire floodplain of the Kromme River was underwater, and this hasn’t happened in many years.

The Billabong SA Junior Champs is always an exciting event. It’s the one event of the year where there is amazing team spirit, not present in many other surf events where individuals are rewarded for their achievements. Surfing, whether it is free surfing or competitive surfing, is a very selfish pursuit in essence – catch and riding the best waves at the expense of other surfers, or winning heats at the expense of other competitors, but when team spirit comes into play the dynamic changes.

Recognizing this, Skull Candy have put up the Stay Loud Team Spirit award for the district that shows the best cheering and support throughout the five day event. It’s hard to tell at this stage, however, as much of the cheering is simply getting drowned by the rain.

The U17 Boys were the first in the water and it was straight into the action. Bevan Willis, surfing for eThekweni, was the first surfer to stand out; with some powerful carving moves on his forehand for the first heat win.

Another standout was Ford Van Jaarsveldt from Kommetjie, surfing for Cape Winelands, who surfed strong in the excellent conditions. Ford is a natural-footed surfer and having his face to the wave of the Lower Tide, with the smoothest open faces, was much to his liking.

The lowest tide of the year had no choice but to transform into the highest tide of the year, and the waves at Lower Point transformed themselves to these perfect little zippers, running down the inside and allowing for some excellent high-scoring rides.

Calvin Goor continued his winning streak, totally dominating his first U15 Boys heat for eThekweni, and another U15 surfer who was looking strong was Saxton Randall from eThekweni.

With four days to go and nothing but improving conditions and improving weather, the outlook for the rest of the event looks awesome. The swell sticks around, the wind stays good, and the weather is set to get better and better, with summer promised to be given to us on Sunday.

Official Word

The Billabong SA Junior Champs at Lower Point runs until Sunday 4 October.

The five-day tournament features the top young surfers from every corner of the coastline who have qualified for the SA Champs via gruelling trials conducted by their respective district associations.

At stake are individual titles for Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 boys and girls, along with national team blazers for the winners of the U15 and U17 events and the coveted Freedom Cup, which goes to the district whose team members accumulate the highest points tally across all age divisions.

“We're really proud to be the sponsors of the Billabong SA Junior Champs presented by BOS,” said Billabong South Africa Marketing Manager Chad D'Arcy. "This is the premier junior event on the Surfing South Africa calendar and to host it in our home town of Jeffreys Bay makes it even more special. Good luck to the country’s best young surfers in their quest for national titles."

The event also offers number of lucrative specialty awards totalling more than R20 000 for both surfers and their teams. These include the Billabong / Bad Billy’s Tag Team Paddle Battle, BOS Highest Heat Score, VonZipper Airshow, DaKine Most Progressive Manoeuvre, Skull Candy Stay Loud Team Spirit and the Zigzag Blowing Up awards.

The star laden team from eThekweni will be determined to retain the Freedom Cup while Nelson Mandela Bay, last year’s runners-up, will be hoping that local wave knowledge will tip the balance of power their way. The team from Cape Town, who have held the cup on numerous occasions in recent years, will present a strong challenge again and Cape Winelands, Buffalo City, Ugu, Eden, uThungulu and the team from the SA Development Academy will be going all out to improve on their final placing in the team standings.          

“The Billabong SA Junior Championships presented by BOS is the most important junior tournament on the South African calendar and attracts the best young surfers from around the country to the best wave in the country,” says Robin de Kock, GM of Surfing South Africa (SSA). “This is where the future of South African surfing takes centre stage and we are extremely grateful and proud to be associated with Billabong whose support for the event is really special.”

Sophie Bell (eThekweni) will be defending her U15 girl’s title while the other five divisions will crown new South African champions. Adin Masencamp (Cape Winelands), last year’s U15 boys champ, has moved up to the U17 age category while Max Elkington (Cape Town), the U13 boys champ in 2014, is now in the U15 division.

As part of Surfing South Africa’s commitment to transformation, the South African Development Academy team is participating thanks to a grant from Sport and Recreation South Africa.

#SAJuniorChamps

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The Billabong SA Junior Champs presented by BOS is proudly supported by DaKine, VonZipper, Skull Candy, Neff and Zigzag Surfing Magazine.