Great opening day the Tiletoria SA Longboard surfing champs. Day one of surfing was held at Longbeach in Kommetjie with fantastic 3 – 4 foot waves with glassy conditions in the morning with a mellow SE wind picking up in the afternoon rendering the break perfect offshore for the whole day.

A huge congrats to EP who only lost two surfers the whole day to the repo’s. All the Open, Woman and Masters divisions EP surfers made their qualifying round heats. Standouts of the day were Brad Beck in the open division, Mike Hill in the Senior Men, Michelle Van Kempen in the woman and Duncan Scott in the Masters who all won their heats convincingly to advance into the second qualifying rounds of the competition. 

The day has finally arrived for the Tiletoria SA Longboard Champs 2013. A great time was had by all at the opening function with our host province, WP, making us feel especially welcome.

Monday’s see’s the first day’s surfing and we will be kicking off with the premiere divisions namely the Open Men’s followed by round one of the U/18 Boys and Open Ladies divisions. The day will end off with the Senior Men followed by the Masters. The call looks like Longbeach  for day one of the event with left over waves from the fantastic swell that hit the Atlantic over the weekend coupled with a light South Easterly wind.  

Best of luck to all our EP surfers tomorrow who are taking part. Will keep updating results as the event progresses. 

Welcome to the world of surf competitions in the 21st century. No more heats and comp vests....just a video edit of your choice.

South Africa's Jordy Smith has just won the 2013 Real Surf X-Games for surfing.

The event, a virtual surfing tournament that pitted eight of the best surfers against each other in a sudden-death playoff, took place over the last week.

Smith eliminated Hawaiian surfer Albee Layer in round one and Australian surfer Josh Kerr in the semi-final before coming up against Brazilian surfing star Gabriel Medina in the final.

The two surfers had both submitted 90-second video clips of themselves surfing as their entries, and in front of a judging panel Jordy’s clip came out on top. The video was filmed in Cape Town, Durban and Mozambique; with the incredible surf in Mozambique the waves that probably saw Jordy take Gold.

“It was actually my girlfriend Lyndall who told me about this wave (in Mozambique) and she ended up taking me there and I scored the best waves that I’ve had in the last 10 years,” said Smith of his trip to Mozambique. ”I had so much fun putting my section together over the summer.”

Smith’s clip was voted the best out of all the eight surfers, including 11-time champion Kelly Slater, who was also in the event.

Smith won $50 000 (R461 268) for the gold, and is in the final two of the Fan Favourite award, an online voting award that could see him net another $10 000 (R92 253).

Gonubie, East London - Durban surfer Slade Prestwich was a multiple winner at the Billabong Junior Series in East London, racking up the lion's share of the points and prizemoney on offer. In a tough U20 final, Slade was trailing behind a dominant Steven Sawyer from Jeffreys Bay before he stroked into a wide set wave and went to town on what was the highest scoring wave of the heat. The wave opened up for Slade, and after a big foam climb he strung together a series of powerful turns to impress the judges and jump into the lead. "I was lucky to get that wave," said Slade. "Steven was out of position and I took off in the white-water and managed a few good turns." The U20 win saw Slade pocket R10k. On top of that, Slade also won the VonZipper Flair Up Award of R10k for the Best Aerial for a big Air Reverse he pulled off in an earlier heat. Slade also won the Nixon Winner Takes All Award of an engraved Nixon Watch for the Highest Heat Score of 16.25 points out of a possible 20, making him the most successful surfer of the tournament.

Sarah Baum was the winner of the U20 Girls division and also took home R10k. The Durban-based goofy-footer has been traveling and competing on the WQS, and hasn't been home and competing for some time. "I haven't surfed in a contest in South Africa for so long. It was good to be competing at home again," said Baum. "The waves were fun, and it has been a great event." Sarah is home in South Africa until the Women's WQS kicks off again in August. "I'll be putting the money towards a car," said Baum. "I plan on doing some traveling and surfing in South Africa over the next few months." 

Max Armstrong was the winner of the DaKine Youthful Movement Award of R10k for the Most Progressive Wave surfed during the event for a massive air 360 performed earlier in the day. 

The tournament had a somewhat difficult start when the muncipality was forced to close the contest venue of Nahoon Beach due to sewage runoff from a burst pipe caused by the heavy rains over the Easter weekend. Luckily for all, Gonubie was chosen as the alternate venue by contest director Cyril Nel, and what a good choice that proved to be. Gonubie delivered great waves, ranging in the two to three-foot range all weekend, ideal for high action surfing from the country's best junior surfers. The sun poured down the whole weekend, and the wind forgot to blow. 

Shane Sykes from Salt Rock was a very stoked winner of the U16 Boys division. "I havent had a good win in quite some time now," said Shane in his post-final interview. "I picked up a few good waves in the beginning of the heat and got some good scores for them. I'm happy to have won it." 

In the U18 Girls it was Chanelle Botha who took the win for the second time, repeating her performance from the first event in Durban. Kai Woolf from Jbay won the U14 Girls division convincingly, Josh Smit won the U18 Boys, Adin Masencamp won the U14 Boys and Max Elkington was the winner in the U12 Boys division. 

The next event in the Billabong Junior Series will be held in Kommetjie, Cape Town in August. The Billabong Junior Series is presented by BOS and Sony.

Billabong Junior Series (Event #2 of 4)
Gonubie, East London
Results

U20 Boys 
1. Slade Prestwich (Dbn) R10 000
2. Steven Sawyer (Jbay)
3. Shane Sykes (Srock)
4. David Brand (Kom)

U20 Girls 
1. Sarah Baum (Dbn) R10 000
2. Heidi Palmboom (Bluff)
3. Emma Smith (Jbay)
4. Tahra Uren (Jbay)

U18 Boys
1. Joshua Smit (Dbn) R5 000
2. Slade Prestwich (Dbnnth) R900
3. Mitch Henderson (EL) R600
4. Max Armstrong (Scarb) R500

U18 Girls
1. Chanelle Botha (Warners) R5 000
2. Tahra Uren (JBay) R900
3. Gina Smith (JBay) R600
4. Crystal Hulet (Stfr)R500

U16 Boys
1. Shane Sykes (Srock) R5 000 
2. Matt McGillivray (JBay) R900
3. Jordan Maree (Cpt) R600
4. Ntando Msibi (Dbn)R500

U14 Boys 
1. Adin Masencamp(Strand) R2 500
2. Jose FaulknerJBay) R450
3 Ethan Fletcher(Kom) R300
4. Luke Malherbe(EL) R250

U14 Girls
1. Kai Woolf (Jbay) R2 500
2. Sophie Bell (Umhlali) R450
3. Danica Stokigt (EL) R300
4. Olivia Izzard (Dbn) R250

U12 Boys
1. Max Elkington (Htbay) R2 500
2. Angelo Faulkner (Jbay) R450
3. Julian Zens (Blbg) R300
4. Ryan Lightfoot (Jbay) R250

VonZipper Flair Up Award – Best Aerial Manoeuvre
Slade Prestwich (Dbn) - R10 000

DaKine Youthful Movement Award – Most Progressive Surfing
Max Armstrong (Scarb) - R10 000

Nixon Winner Takes All (WTA) - Highest heat total - Slade Prestwich (Dbn) - Custom engraved Nixon Watch

The Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa, recognised by the Dept of Sport and Recreation as the national controlling body for surfing. The events form part of the Pro Surf Tour (PST) with competitors in all the divisions earning points towards their 2013 PST rankings.

BELLS BEACH, Victoria/AUS (Tuesday, April 2, 2013) – Adriano de Souza (BRA), 25, has claimed the 2013 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford over ASP Dream Tour rookie 
Nat Young (USA), 21, in clean three-to-five foot (1 – 1.5 metre) waves at Bells Beach today.

Event No. 2 of 10 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach culminated in dramatic fashion today with the young Brazilian claiming the first South American men’s title in the event’s storied 52-year history.

“This is the most important event on tour to me,” De Souza said. “Guys like Andy Irons, Kelly Slater, my hero Mick Fanning, they have all rung the Bell. I have been coming here a lot of years. I love the place. It has been a tough time for me recently. I started 2013 without a sponsor for the first time in many years. I had to believe in myself that a company would believe in me and one did. I have to say thanks to Pena for believing in me. I have a lot of people to thank, but all I want to do right now is ring the bell.”

De Souza’s win today vaults the young South American ASP WCT No. 4 heading into the third event on tour in Brazil.

“Next stop is at home in Brazil,” De Souza said. “I feel comfortable at home, but there is also pressure to perform. I am going to enjoy this win, recharge for the next one and hopefully I can keep it going.”

Young, the rookie goofy-footer from California’s Santa Cruz, posted a career-best result today, wowing spectators and competitors alike with his run to the Finals.

“It was a huge event for me,” Young said. “Just to be in the field is a dream for me. I’ve looked up to the surfers in this event my whole life. The event has such a history behind it and I was honestly just excited to be here. Making the Final, I don’t even have words for it. Of course I wanted to win it. I want to ring the bell as much as anyone else on tour. Don’t get to it this year, but a Runner-Up finish is a big result for me and I’ll take that into the next one.”

Young’s Runner-Up finish today pushes him to No. 5, tied with reigning ASP World Champion Joel Parkinson (AUS), 31, on the ASP WCT rankings.

Taj Burrow (AUS), 34, perennial ASP World Title threat, continued his blistering Bells Beach run this morning against compatriot Kai Otton (AUS), 33, in the Quarterfinals before coming up short to Young in their Semifinal bout.

“It’s a hard one to take but you can’t give anyone an inch on tour these days,” Burrow said. “Nat (Young) has been surfing so well. He’s a rookie, but he’s really polished and really dangerous. I’ll take a 3rd though and refocus for Brazil.”

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, was one of the form surfers at Bells Beach throughout the event window, consistently notching up high-scoring rides. The powerful South African’s run was ended, however, in the Semifinals at the hands of De Souza.

“Definitely disappointed that the score didn’t come in for me at the end,” De Souza said. “I really wanted to ring that Bell and felt like I’ve been surfing well all week. Congrats to Adriano (de Souza) though. He’s been ripping. Everyone’s been ripping and there have been some interesting results. Makes the year interesting. I’ll take the momentum into Brazil.”

Highlights from the 2013 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will be available via www.live.ripcurl.com

The next stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT) will be the Billabong Rio Pro from May 8 – 19, 2013.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.26
2 – Nat Young (USA) 15.83

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Nat Young (USA) 15.10 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.43
SF 2: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 18.44 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18.40

RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.50 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 14.50
QF 2: Nat Young (USA) 17.27 def. Willian Cardoso (BRA) 14.83
QF 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.33 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.76
QF 4: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.77 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 13.20

CURRENT ASP WCT TOP 5 (Following Completion of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach):
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 11,750 pts
2. Mick Fanning (AUS) 11,700 pts
2. Taj Burrow (AUS) 11,700 pts
4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10,500 pts
5. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 9,750 pts
5. Nat Young (USA) 9,750 pts

Well done to our lighties for taking third spot in the Billabong Grom Games - in what must have been some of the most hectic conditions they've ever been surfed in. The first coupla days were great, but howling onshore and rain on Saturday & Sunday make things pretty tough on the gremmies. A spirited Western Province team took the overall win, followed by KZN in second spot.

Awesome result from Jono Coffey - who won the boys u16 title, as well as the Dakine Youthful Movement award for the most progressive wave. Stellar stuff young man.

Other EP surfers who did well included:

• Jade Vaughan - 2nd in Beach Flags Girls u12
• Juwandre Louw - 3rd in beach flags Boys u12
  
• Kai Fraser - 3rd Boys u8
• Kye MacGregor - 3rd Boys u10
• Jade Vaughan - 2nd Girls u12
• Juwandre Louw - 3rd Boys u12
• Jannik Bouwer - 4th Boys u12
  
• Kirsty McGillivray - 2nd Girls u14
  
• Arnold Vermaak - 4th Boys u14
  
• EP team - 2nd in Tag Team event

Well done to Grom coaches Dominic Abersalie and Yaseer Jappie and their management team, that included Johnny Bakker and Shirley Fairall. Another great Grom Games organised by EP Surfing - well done!!