Finally event organisers realised we wanna see cooking barrels instead of choppy pap walls being ridden by the world's best surfers....and moved the event down to the road to the infamous Box. Think Kalk Bay reef on steroids. Super shallow gnarly reef that will hand out beatings to all comers. 

Quite a tricky one for Jordy Smith - first time he'd ever surfed there and it was in a heat he had to win! Luckily he made it through his Rd 5 clash and now meets Bede again. He lost to Bede in the 3 man Rd 4 no-loser heat. Gonna be a tough quarterfinal for our man, cos Bede knows the Box pretty well, and Jordy only just popped his cherry there.

Kerrsy took out fellow Aussie Yadin Nicol in a heat blessed with some smokers. Josh meets brazzo high-flyer Medina in his QF. Parko rides a barrel better than most and took out Filipe Toledo....only to end up with a heat against Kelly. Might be a big heat in the greater scheme of things if you're looking at 2 guys who hope to be in the world title race at the end of the year.

So here the QF match-ups:

Get your entries in for the ML Fantasy Surfer comp NOW! Entries close at 8pm tonight (10 April '14)

If you pick the winner you go into the draw to win this awesome prize from Billabong, valued at R1600. Kiff boardies, TShirt, cap, deckgrip and leash.

Jeffreys Bay - It has been announced that the winner of the U20 Boy's Division in the RVCA Junior Challenge will receive a slot into the JBU Supertrials event presented by RVCA. The JBU Supertrials has a waiting period of the month of June. 

"This is exciting stuff for the junior surfers of South Africa," said RVCA South Africa's Chio Kraak. "There aren't too many slots left in the U20 Boy's division, and this announcement will no doubt see it fill it up."

The RVCA Junior Challenge (previous event video highlights here - https://vimeo.com/91388744 ) is set to take place from the 2 - 4 May at Lower Point, Jeffreys Bay. The U20 Boy's winner will receive the extremely coveted slot.

The winner of the JBU Supertrials will then get a slot into the main event, the JBay Open, and will have the chance to compete against surfers like Kelly Slater, John John Florence and Jordy Smith in front of thousands of cheering fans. He will also receive a minimum R90,000 prize money, and have the rare and somewhat incredible opportunity of winning a World Tour surfing event in South Africa, and fast-tracking a professional surfing career.

Stranger things have happened!

Entries are open on the Surfing South Africa website here www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

The 2nd Masters trails were held at Magna's in Jbay on Sunday. Which turned out to be tricky timing for most cos of the road closures related to the Ironman. Meant not too many entrants this time. C'mon ballies, pull finger and make the effort to get to the next trial!

You need to enter separately via ASP – it is not like last year where you had to qualify through from the other divisions to compete in the U20 division. So u16 and u18's can also surf u20.

How to Join

1.            Go to the ASP International website www.aspworldtour.com
2.            Go to the bottom of the page and select click on the ASP MEMBERMANAGEMENT.
3.            Click on ASP AFRICA LOGIN.
4.            On the top left click on the word JOIN
5.            Fill in the type of membership. 1 Off - Only one event – Regional membership - Multiple events.
6.            Then fill in the information required as well as credit card details.

Once this is done the surfer will get sent a membership number. The surfer can then do his entry for 1 or all events. It will only deduct the money on the closing date of the event.

How to enter the event

In the same page as you do your membership you click on EVENT REGISTRATION.

1.            Find the event you want to enter and then on the right hand side of the event you will see OPEN- CLICK HERE TO ENTER EVENT.
2.            Once this is open it will ask you for your LOGIN ID and PASSWORD which was sent to you in the email.
3.            You can now follow the details and enter the event.
4.            It will send you confirmation via your email that your entry is confirmed.

Starting to head towards the business end of the comp now. Rd 3 is done and dusted, and some of the favourites got dusted along with it.

Taj got done in on his home turf. He even had a second bite at the cherry after Bede came in and admitted to mistakenly getting his arm tangled in Taj's leash - which is why he went over the falls on a bomb like a kook. For a brief moment we just thought maybe he was normal like the rest of us and blows the odd wave. But nup, had a lil by mistake yank that sent him pearling with aplomb. Rather lucky not to have got the nose of his board embedded into his pip in the process if you watch the slomo.

Just as the satellites can't find the missing Malaysian airliner, the ASP judges even with their replays didn't spot the tangle. So a re-surf was called (new rule for this year allows the judges to call one). Bede just beat him again anyway. Take that, local.

Wildcard Yadin Nicol got some payback. He axed world champ Mick Fanning in a fine display of aerial wizardry. Seemed like he'd put glue in his wax, cos he stuck everything he threw. Balls to the wall approach and it worked. Fair play to him as well - remember the heat at Pipe last year when Mick won and with it won the world title? That was Yadin surfing against him that day - and with that loss Yadin got bunted off the Ct and back into the minor leagues. Paybacks a bitch...

John John threw out a stupid crazy air....not sure what the kid eats for breakfast but it works. Jordy got through, thankfully. He really needs a win soon. Kelly's through after a 1st round hiccup. Wonder what cap he'll wear if he wins?

Really wide open field right now, it's anyone's game. Specially cos it's a pretty hit and miss wave. Gone are the ruler edge lines of Snapper, welcome the slopey shifty walls of Margs. Not exactly a world class venue. But the local tourist association are so desperate to try quell perceptions that West Aus is the shark capital of the world, they put up big bucks to host a tour event here. Let's hope no-one gets snacked on....

Rd 4 hits the water next - the "no lose we can't work out why the have it" round. Three surfers per heat - winner goes straight to the quarters. Losers get to slug it out in Rd 5, so get another chance at a quarter final berth.

Get those entries in for the ML Fantasy Surfer comp. Entries close before the quarters start.

By Andre Venter

Our 2nd Trial will be held at Magna Tubes on Sunday – Jeffrey’s Bay.
The forecast is Light east with a nice swell running in the morning.
We can move the compo to Kitchen Windows if the surf is better there.

We need to train in onshore conditions as every year we surf SA’s at least 1 or 2 days are onshore and we have to paddle out no matter what.

Remember to leave P.E. early due to road closures for the Ironman – swim only starts at 7am.

Last week we only had 10 surfers (4 in 35+, 2 in 45+, 2 in 50+, 2 in 55+) and we really need guys to join us this weekend as we are running out of time to pick the team for next month!

So we urgently need 2 in 30+ and 4 in 40+ as well as 2 Ladies!!
If you need lifts we can help if u let us know in advance and we can split the travel costs.

Please come and support the EP side which has done so well last year!

Dates for Master trials:

Magna’s – Sunday 6 April 2014

Port Alfred –  Sunday 13 April  2014 (new venue)

SA’s at Nahoon reef:                                                  Vic Bay Quad:

15 to 18 May 2014                                                        22 to 24 August 20147

Payment to EPSC account with a clear reference of your Name and Surname (send confirmation to me via e-mail please) all as per the attached price list.

The fee structure for 2014 will remain the same as 2013.

R200 affiliation for first family member
R150 for 2nd
R100 for third member.
R100 per trial
R250 for all 3 trials if paid up front.
R50 for parent/social membership
R300 for club membership.

Banking Details: Standard Bank, Rink Street 050417 a/c no 080298818.

This year we would want to ease the setting up of the heats by requesting you to enter by the Thursday prior to the trial and make the payment transfer at the same time as well.

Entries to be forwarded to myself either by e-mail or sms to 0832936777
If you cannot make the payment via eft then pay us on the morning before the trial.
(Please take note - strictly : NO PAY NO SURF)

Day 1 of the Drug Aware Pro went down in some pretty contestable conditions. Most of the usual suspects made it through their heats unscathed, with Jordy, Julian, Mick, Taj and Gabe getting straight into Rd 3. Notable hiccups from Kelly and Parko, who now have to duke it out in Rd 2. Kelly no doubt has plenty on his mind other than surfing, having just broken ties with 23 year sponsor Quiksilver. Perfect timing, with the news coming out on April Fools. His Round 2 opponent is wild card Nathan Hedge. Hedgey ain't no walkover, so hope for Kelly's sake he gets his focus back.

Swell looks like it's dropping off the next coupla days, so the Ladies will probably get sent out. Bianca won her first round heat today. Things look up from Saturday again when some groundswell pulls through.

If you wanna win a kiff Billabong hamper valued at R1600, the enter the ML Fantasy Surfer comp. Pick the correct winner, and you're in the draw to win Billabong boardies, Tshirt, cap, deck grip and leash.

Here's the Round 2 match-up's:

Ex-PE local (and current Perth resident) Jaryd Mason, is our man on the spot for the Drug Aware Pro at Margaret River. Here's his pre-comp take on the event:

By Jaryd Mason

Margaret River, Western Australia...it’s a place of untouched beauty and raw power. Surfers Point is located in the small seaside town of Prevelly in The Margaret River Region of Australia’s wild South-West. That’s the bottom left of Aus and one of the most isolated regions in the world. Strangely enough Surfers Point shares it’s latitude with Port Elizabeth. So if you had to be in the water out at 6 pillars, in PE you’d be on about the same latitude as Surfers Point, Margaret River, Western Australia (33.97®S). The region gets some pretty juicy South Ocean swell all year around. The weather in Margaret River is ever changing, it can be calm and offshore in the morning and howling onshore an hour later. It can have rain, sun, wind, heat and cold, all in one day. Sound familiar? The conditions for the contest will change from heat to heat, which I think will make the Margs Pro one of the most testing events on tour. Rumour has it that a certain wave called “The Box” has been selected as an alternate venue for the event. 

The Wave:

Surfers Point – Surfer’s is a powerful reef-point break which picks up heaps of swell. The left is generally longer than the right. When it gets really big you can pretty much bank on going left on most waves. Expect some pretty big days in the contest window, the forecast is looking decent for the first few days and the wind seems to be playing along as well. I don’t think they will run the men’s event if it’s under 4ft. Expect some Southern Ocean juice! 

The Box – Um...have you watched a surfing DVD in the past decade? 

Who’s gonna win?

To be honest, I’ve been speaking to some mates over here and nobody really knows who the favourites are. The usual suspects like Kelly, Mick and Parko will always be in the mix, but this one’s wide open. Here are some of my favourites to win The Margaret River Drug Aware Pro 2014 (No particular order):

1.      Taj Burrow

TB grew up in the town of Yallingup, about a 20 minute drive up Caves Road from Margaret River. There has been a lot of media hype around him surfing in his home event. TB has done really well in the prime events at Margaret River. I saw Taj surfing his local down in Yallingup this past weekend.  After his surf he took a few photos with some kids on the beach and walked across the road to his house, the comforts of home. TB is surely one of the favourites?!

2.      Kelly Slater

Kelly has also enjoyed past success at Margaret River. His below par result on The Goldie will give him some extra spice to win this event. Oh, and he may or may not have some added incentive to win this event due to...”sponsorship reasons”. Kelly, up to his mind games again and this time he is playing all of us!

3.      JJ Florence

Surfer’s has the power and ferocity of a North Shore break. If the conditions play along I think John John will have a big role in this contest. He had a shocker of a result on The Goldie so I’m sure he will want to do better out West. So if it’s big, expect some big things from JJF! 

4.      Nat Young

I have a strange feeling Nat will do well in this event. He got down to the South-West a little earlier than most surfers and I have a feeling the wave suits him. I think that his preparation may pay off! He is my darkhorse pick for this event.

5.      Jordy Smith

Oh the patriotism! I’ll be down there this weekend cheering Jordy on! I’ve got my SA flag washed and ready! If conditions are firing I think Jordy will be winning heaps of heats and hopefully he’ll take the event. I can just picture him displacing huge amounts of water with his backhand gouges! C’mon Jordy! It’s Lekker, when it’s Lekker bru!


Margaret River is back on tour after a 20 year break, this contest is going to be a cracker! I’m going to try send ML some updates when I’m down there. I hope it will make The Margaret River Drug Aware Pro a bit more interesting and I get to share some stoke with you. 


Think you know who'll win? Then enter the ML Fantasy Surfer comp here, and score yourself an insane Billabong hamper worth R1600 (Boardies, Tshirt, cap, deck grip and leash).

The best junior surfers in the country will be heading to The Lower Point, Jeffreys Bay, for the second edition of the RVCA Junior Surfing Challenge in the beginning of May. The perfect waves, synonymous with Jeffreys Bay, the home of RVCA, will be the canvas for the talented junor surfers of our country to showcase their skills and talent, and have three days of fun in the process.

"We're obviously very excited to bring this event back to Jeffreys Bay," said RVCA South Africa's Arno Lane. "Apart from all the high action surfing that goes down, there is such a great vibe down here at the Lower Point, and all the kids hang out and have such a cool weekend. There's loads of activities and things to do, and we're looking at having a RVCA - style party with some live bands down here as well." 

Entries are open on the Surfing South Africa website here www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za/, and there are a limited number of entries so please don't dawdle. Last year saw a full house of 120 entries, and you don't want to miss out. 

"Surfing South Africa is stoked to once again be sanctioning and supporting the RVCA Junior Contest in Jeffrey's Bay this year," said Surfing South Africa General Manager Robin De Kock. "Last year's inaugural event was a massive success and the 2014 edition looks set to be even bigger. Junior surf contests are the lifeblood of our sport. Not only do they give a platform to South Africa's most talented boys and girls across five age groups but it also gives up and coming surfers the chance to perform on a national stage. In addition, Lower Point in J Bay is where it will all happen. Top surfers, newcomers, an iconic venue, this contest has it all. In every respect the RVCA Junior contest ticks all the boxes."

The divisions are Boys U10,  U12, U14, U16 and U20, and Girls U14 and U20. The event has a 2 Star PST rating.

There will also be a Nixon Weird Board contest in amongst the fun. Eight surfboard shapers from around the country were tasked with shaping a weird board, to be surfed off by the junior surfers in a fun mini-event during the main event.  Thys Strydom, Eric Stedman, Glen D'Arcy, Glen Rowe, Anton Butler, Dutchie, Simon Fish and David Stubbs all contributed the weirdness.

The RVCA Junior Surfing Contest is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), and recognised by the Dept. of Sport and Recreation as the national controlling body for surfing.  

Billabong South Africa are proud to announce the 2014 edition of their long-running junior surf series – the Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS. The best young surfers in the country have been competing in this prestigious series since 1997. There have been 48 events run and over a million Rand paid out in prize money over the series history.

These events are the ideal platform for the top junior surfers in South Africa to hone their competitive surfing skills in a fun and healthy environment, with many surfers having used the Billabong Junior Series as a crucial stepping stone into a successful professional surfing career.

“Billabong is really excited to be running the Billabong Junior Series again for 2014. It is such a prestigious series with a long history in this country. It’s amazing to see what this series has meant for junior surfing in South Africa over the years. We will be approaching a great landmark by hosting the 50th event since the series began, in Cape Town, this year. Along with an amazing line-up of supporting sponsors we are proud to continue the legacy of the Billabong Junior Series,” says Chad D’Arcy, Billabong South Africa Marketing Manager.

This year the series comprises 3 x 3-day events in Mossel Bay (25th-27th April), Cape Town (8th-10th August) and Cape St Francis (3rd-5th October). For 2014 there will be a total of 9 age divisions with the introduction of an U/16 Girls division. The premier U/20 Boys and U/20 Girls divisions will now carry a 1* ASP Pro Junior rating.

“ASP Africa is very excited and honoured to once again be involved in one of the longest running junior series in the world, The Billabong Junior Series,” said ASP Africa’s Colin Fitch.  “It’s always very important for the ASP to partner and work with the local ISA federation. In this case Surfing South Africa.”

“We’re very proud to be the presenting sponsor for the Billabong Junior Series again”, says Marié van Niekerk, Marketing Director at BOS. “We believe that being healthy can also be lots of fun and surfing really demonstrates this outlook on life. We’ve been involved with surfing since our launch in 2010 and it’s wonderful to be able to support the sport at grassroots level and provide a platform for the kids to grow and develop their talent.”

A number of exciting specialty awards will also be on offer per event, including the “BOS Surfer Of The Contest”, the “Nixon WTA” (Winner Takes All) for the highest heat score of each event, the “DaKine Wave Of The Day” award for the best wave of each day of competition and the “KR Fins Free” award for the most radical fins free manoeuvre of each event.

There will be some fun mini-events at each stop of the series with VonZipper hosting the “VonZipper BrainBlast-Off” airshow and the “Coaches vs Judges Tag Team Tussle”.

The Series Awards comprise the “BOS Surfer Of The Series” prize valued at R20k, as well as Nixon Limited Edition watches for the U/20 Boys and Girls series winners.

Samsung and Playstation will also be sponsoring high-tech product prizes to winners in each of the divisions per event, and Techniblok will be the sunscreen sponsor of the series.

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 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the recognized world governing body of professional surfing and has been crowning surfing’s undisputed World Champions since 1976.


Contestants for the junior division can enter the series via the Surfing South Africa website www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za/

In other exciting news the U20 Pro Junior divisions at the 2014 Billabong Junior Series will now be 1 Star ASP Africa Pro Junior rated. The Pro Junior Women will have R10 000 in prize money per event and the Men will have R20 000. Enter via the ASP International website - www.aspworldtour.com/ and click through the ASP Member Management links.

Also note that if you qualify for a younger division, you may also surf the Pro Junior division. 

The Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), and recognised by the Dept. of Sport and Recreation as the national controlling body for surfing.

The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the recognised world governing body of professional surfing has been crowning surfing's undisputed World Champions since 1976.