Friday was an early start with Britney Linda in the first heat at 8 am and winning her heat, but unfortunately placing three EP Surfers into the the U17 Rnd 3 heat.

Dane Van Greunen surfed brilliantly proceeding to the next round but unfortunately three of the the EP Surfers in the U17 contingent dopped out all together.

Stephano Jantjies being the only goofy footer in the heat was compared to Occy while he ripped the  surf to shreds securing a comfortable  win to round 4.

Matt Mc Gillivray produced some magnificent surfing producing the second highest heat total of the comp, while his team mate Alex Van Rijswyk had a nail biting  heat. Alex was knocked into  3rd place  15 min  into the heat, but managed to recover his 2nd position in the last minute of the heat.

Zane Manual and Tim Baard in the U15 division were in the same  heat. It took Tim a while to get his  rhythm, but he managed to finish in Second position unfortunately knocking his team mate into third position and out of the competition.

 The last heat was the U17 Girls with Tahra Uren, Gina Smith and Britney Linda all EP Surfers in the same heat. Unfortunately  Britney did not make it through the ranks to the next round as Gina Smith ripped to first place and Tahra Uren ensuring a close second.

South Africa’s top junior female surf stars lit up the waves at the Point in Jeffreys Bay on Day 2 of the Hurley SA Junior Champs, revelling in the clean 0.5 to one metre swell pulsing along the rocky shore fanned by a stiff offshore wind.

Occasional morning rain squalls did nothing to dampen the spirits of the nine competing provincial squads at they gathered at the water’s edge to encourage their peers to greater heights with the smaller teams such as Zululand and the SA Development Academy matching the enthusiasm of their larger counterparts from KwaZulu-Natal Central, the always passionate Border crew and Southern KZN.

Gina Smith set the standard by hooking into a couple of clean lines that reeled down the point in the first heat of the day, enabling the J-Bay local to perform a series of manoeuvres that impressed the judges and gave her the heat victory and passage straight into Round 3.

Reigning SA U13 girls champion Kai Woolf (EP) showed that she is the one to beat in her home surf by posting a comprehensive win in her Round 1 match-up. The diminutive blonde caught the best waves and punctuated her rides with solid turns to progress directly to Round 3 in the youngest division.

Ashley Vaughn from PE really surfed well racking up scores of 6 to 7 per wave and impressing all spectators with her performance of the day. Robin vd Merwe (PE) earned a  well deserved second for her heat, showing she had improved dramatically in the two years since she had started surfing. Crystal Hullet battled it out in a very difficult heat to score a 2nd place.

We're on another Maldives mission - nice to escape the winter weather and the pretty arb run of surf we've been having in the bay lately. Nothing that some sunshine, warm water and tropical waves can't cure. Just a pity that the damn NW devil wind decided to follow us here.

Ironic that both my favourite waves in the world don't dig the NW much....despite being on opposite sides of the equator from each other.

Still, dealing with a bit of bump is better than dealing with a flat ocean! But just annoying when you know perfection is tainted by a bit of side-chop! Normally when Millers is choppy I haul out the 7ft mini-mal to plough through it, but my longest board here is 5'5......tricky.

Thankfully the wind switched up this arvo and delivered some sheet glass head high fun. Meant to be pumping tomorrow (and supposedly the winds should be good....but there's no telling with the weather here...)....so alarm set and ready for a pre-dawn wake up. 

If it is pumping we won't need the alarm, cos we parked less than a 100m from the break - the thunderclaps should be enough to wake us up! 

Just us and a coupla mellow Aussies here, so hopefully will get some shots between surfs tomorrow. Nothing from today's glass off - too busy surfing!

Excitement is building amongst the country’s best young surfers for the start of the Hurley SA Junior Champs which gets underway in the iconic waves of Jeffreys Bay on Wednesday and runs until Sunday.

Outstanding conditions forecast for the opening days and a powerful new swell predicted for the final day has the cream of SA’s 17-and-under surfers frothing to compete at J-Bay for the first time in the history of the event.

“The Hurley SA Junior Championships is the most important junior tournament on the South African calendar and Hurley’s support and commitment has turned it into a five star event.” Robin de Kock, GM of Surfing South Africa (SSA) said.

“This is where our next generation of surfing stars get to strut their stuff and the fact that it will take place in Jeffreys Bay for the first time in its 16 year history adds to the stature and excitement for this special event.”

Competitors selected by nine provincial associations will be competing for individual SA junior titles in Under 17, U15 and U13 categories for boys and girls and the team accumulating the highest points tally will take home the coveted Freedom Cup.

Adding further prestige to the event are five special awards headed by the Hurley Surfer of the Contest title which, in association with All Aboard Travel, earns the winner a R20 000 travel voucher that can be used to visit any destination in the world.

Progressive aerial manoeuvres will be rewarded with the competitor successfully landing the best technical aerial pocketing R5 000 in the Red Bull Air Show.  Citroën Port Elizabeth have stepped in to recognise the surfer who posts the biggest heat tally across all divisions throughout the entire five day event with the Citroën Highest Heat Score title and a substantial R3 000 payout..

The Zigzag Blowing Up Award and R3 000 goes to the surfer who racks up the most impressive performances during the event and the provincial team that collectively displays the best camaraderie and support for their teammates walks off with the Skullcandy Team Spirit award.

Daily blogs, interviews, video uploads, images, event schedule and results from the Hurley SA Junior Champs will be posted on www.sajuniorchamps.co.za with results and info also found at www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za.

Follow the event via the Hurley Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/Hurley.ZA, on Twitter @HurleyZA and on Instagram HURLEY_ZA, both using the hashtag #sajuniorchamps.

The South African Development Team is supported by a grant from Sport and Recreation South Africa.

Surfing South Africa (SSA) is recognised as the national governing body for surfriding by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and Sport and Recreation SA. SSA is a member of the International Surfing Association (ISA), the world’s governing body for surfing.

The 2012 Hurley SA Junior Champs is supported by Citroën Port Elizabeth, Skullcandy, Red Bull, Zigzag and All Aboard Travel.