Jeffreys Bay - with 8 days to go before the start of the JBay Winterfest, the town of Jeffreys Bay is gearing up for an influx of tourism, athletes, music fans and holiday-makers. The ASP World Tour surfers have started arriving in South Africa, and the stage is already set for an epic Winterfest.
The JBay Open ASP World Tour surfing event is the anchor of the Winterfest, and with the world's top surfers gracing the waves of Suprtubes for the first time since 2011, it promises to be an exciting event. For more on the JBay Open go here www.jbaywinterfest.com/open-of-surfing/ The Oakley X-Over Challenge is an exciting addition to the Winterfest, with top sportmen and celebrities competing in a multi-discipline cross-over challenge during the Winterfest. Comprising surfing, mountain biking and golf disciplines, the invite-only event will see the likes of Jordy Smith, Ryan Sandes, Greg Minnaar, Butch James, Ruan De Smidt, Raynard Tissink, David Miller and Kevin Evans to name a few, competing for the Inaugural Oakley X-Over Challenge trophy. For more on the Oakley X-Over Challenge go here www.jbaywinterfest.com/oakley-x-over-challenge/ The Music Festival is what a lot of people are coming for, and it promises to be a big party, with some of the best bands in the country headlining. We can expect to see A King, Van Coke Cartel, Taxi Violence, DJ Naalderkoker and Jack Parow amongst other performing at the 1500-capacity Jolly Dolphin. Ticket sales have been brisk but there are still tickets available -www.jbaywinterfest.com/music-fest/ The VW Rally is set to take place on the streets of JBay on the 11 and 12 July, and promises to bring high speed adrenalin action to JBay. For more on this exciting event go herewww.jbaywinterfest.com/vw-rally/ Steve Pike will be running his famous Wavescape Swell Courses during the Winterfest, and there are limited numbers for this event. The Wavescape Swell Course uses video and graphics to take you on a journey into the deepest ocean storms to observe how waves form, how swell moves through the sea and what happens when it arrives at the coast. It is set to be held in JBay on the evening of 16 July, and tickets can be bought here www.quicket.co.za/events/5530-spike-swell-course-jeffreys-bay-1/ The JBay Mountain Bike open is another dynamic event that forms part of the Winterfest. The track has been purpose-built for the event, there are a number of tunnels and constructed berms and bridges, and the route promises to be a fast one. For more information and to enter go herewww.jbaywinterfest.com/mtb-open/ Swimmers prepared to brave chilly water over long distances can compete in the JBay Winterfest Cold Water Swim Classic. There will be both a 7.5km and a 2.5km open water swim. For more information go to the event page www.jbaywinterfest.com/cold-water-classic/ One of the big attractions at the JBay Winterfest is the Downhill Sokkie Jol. This is a skate course punctuated with a series of obstacles including cones, ramps and kickers, and the fastest time through the course wins. Some of the prizes on offer at the Core Downhill Sokkie Jol are Highest Jump, Best Disco Dress, Downhill Race Winner, Worst Wipeout and Longest Slide. All the Sokkie Jol details can be found here www.jbaywinterfest.com/downhill-sokkie-jol/ "The JBay Winterfest 2014 is ready to go," said festival organiser Koffie Jacobs. "It has been a challenge putting it all together, but the town of Jeffreys Bay and all the individual event stakeholders have worked together closely over the last few months, with the common goal of putting Jeffreys Bay back on the map." The Winterfest has a very active FaceBook Fan Page www.jbaywinterfest.com/ Local goofy ripper Faye Zoetmulder was part of the winning South African team that claimed gold at the recent World Games in Panama. Caught up with Faye to find out a bit more about her trip, and the comp. "The overall World Games trip was an absolute pleasure to be a part of. Obviously it is a major privilege to represent your country but sometimes there can be challenges too. This trip went smoothly though, we had prime accommodation that gave us 3 home cooked meals a day. We were eating like the royal family, one day for example we had pancakes, fruit and french toast for breakfast, tacos for lunch and fresh sashimi, seared and cooked tuna for dinner. The team we went over with got on like a house on fire, everybody became tight and by the end of the trip we had personal jokes and our own sort of vocab that no one else would understand. We arrived 5 days before the event started, thank goodness. 50 hours straight travel isn't the easiest. Anyway, we got lucky as it was no smaller than 4 foot every single day. Other than hustling 20 South Americans until we wanted to kill them, and the extreme heat, we were super grateful of our time we spent in the water before the event. Being there early also gave us time to enjoy Panama and get to know the Panama way of life. We visited a local school and spent the day helping kids with their recycling project. I think that was a huge positive to our overall trip, we connected with the kids and it left all of his in a very joyful state of mind. On contest day 2 the waves had dropped to about 1 foot. It wasn't surfable on the low so we had ample time to relax and sleep in every morning of the event. That was good for us, it kept us pretty level headed. I really do mean it when I say extreme heat! A few of us got knocked into the Repo rounds but from day 2 onwards we were the only team with all surfers still in the contest and that lasted till the 2nd last day. I think we had the winning formula in every aspect. When Shaun was the only man standing on the final day we all stuck together and gave him all the gees and support he needed! The second the hooter sounded to end Shauns final felt like the best day ever. The team was flying high on good spirits. Then came the prize giving. We sang our National Anthem proudly as Shaun stood on the first place podium. When it came down to team positions, we knew we were in the top 3. Just before announcing 2nd place, we casually started walking to the stage and congratulated the Aussies on their defeat against us. It was all a laugh and Australia believed they had won too. Funny story, myself and Shaun were right at the stage when the side official whispered to Shaun that its not his turn yet. He looked at me and said "WTF we won, we won gold". A second later they announced "In 2nd place, Australia". Now that, right there, that was the best day in my surfing career, the best day in my life. Team South Africa jumped up and down, hugged each other and just laughed. Im pretty sure Etienne shed a tear or two. We couldn't believe it. Going on stage and receiving our medals, the trophies and blaring our national anthem can't even be described. Feeling on top of the world, it felt better than that! We can't thank our support group back home enough, messages constantly streaming through got us by every day. Our sponsor RVCA for our team kit and believing in us, Surfing South Africa, Robin. Everyone. We went out their and did it for South African surfing and for each other.
By far, the best trip hands down! JBU Surf Club is proud to announce the Jeffreys Bay Winter Fest, an extreme sports festival set in Jeffreys Bay and environs, and anchored by the Surfing South Africa sanctioned Jeffreys Bay Open Of Surfing. The Jeffreys Bay Winter Fest is set to include a mountain biking race, a skating event, an open water swim challenge, a running event and music, and promises to be an exciting week for the town of Jeffreys Bay.
"We're just happy to be able to facilitate such an event for the town of Jeffreys Bay," said JBU Surf Club Chairperson Arthur Joubert. "We're also very proud to witness the local surf community of Jeffreys Bay embrace it in such a positive way in its inaugural year when it is basically a small and untested event, but we are determined to make it a great success. This year will be the first of many Winter Fests, and our festival will grow from strength to strength each year." The key tournament of the Winter Fest will be the Jeffreys Bay Open Of Surfing presented by Billabong, an invite-only Pro Surf Tour specialty surfing competition that has been sanctioned by Surfing South Africa, the governing body of the sport in South Africa. Proceeds from the entry fees will go to The Supertubes Surfing Foundation. Surfers who want to compete in this contest are reminded to go the event Facebook page Jeffreys Bay Open Of Surfing and put their name down as a possible entry. Entries close on 10 June. The JBU Club, together with Surfing South Africa, will then select the 64 men and 8 women for the event, as well as an alternate list. If you get invited, the registration process and entry fee payment will take place on the Surfing South Africa website www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za here SSA Instructions on how to enter will be on your invite. All successful candidates will be required to affiliate as members of the Surfing South Africa PST. Details of how to join the PST are available on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za One surfer who is no stranger to the perfect walls of Jeffreys Bay is Cape Town based surfer and giant killer Sean Holmes. Affectionately known as 'The Nemesis' as a result of former world champion - beating performances, Sean is excited about this contest. "I think it's pretty awesome that the town of Jeffreys Bay has come together to present this event for 2013," said Holmes. "It's a positive thing that local surfers have the opportunity to come down with their familes and present themselves and their surfing on one of the best waves in the world. I'm really looking forward to this event, I just hope I crack the nod from the contest organisers." Durban – Dylan Lightfoot was the star performer at the Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS event in Durban on the weekend, winning every heat he contested and comfortably taking both the Under 20 and U18 boys’ titles. Competing in rippable one metre waves at New Pier, the 18 year-old DaKine and Nixon team-rider from Jeffreys Bay earned a wildcard into the U20 specialty event by winning the U18 final. He went on to dominate his older competitors to pocket a total of R15 000 in prize-money and take the early lead in both the Billabong Junior Series and SSA Pro Surf Tour (PST) U18 rankings. Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) snatched the winner-takes-all R10 000 prize-purse in the U20 girls while Chanelle Botha (Warner Beach) outclassed her opponents in the U18 girls, posting almost twice the score of runner-up Nicole Pallet (Durban) to add R5 000 to her bank balance. Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay) was just as dominant in the U16 boys, which like the U18 divisions, was 2A PST rated. Racking up a heat tally of 13.25 points out of a possible 20, Maree left runner-up Tim Baard (Jeffreys Bay) with too much to do as he cruised to victory. The most impressive performance came from diminutive Kai Woolf (Jeffreys Bay).who posted a perfect 10 point ride and followed that with a 9.40 for a heat total of 19.40 in the U14 girls’ final. That not only clinched the title for Woolf but also earned her the Nixon WTA award of a custom engraved Nixon watch for the highest heat total of the entire event, which she accepted with an impressive speech that belied her tender years. By contrast, the final of the U14 boys was a ding-dong encounter with the lead changing hands several times and Koby Oberholzer (Durban) narrowly outscoring Adin Masencamp (Strand) by less than a point to take the win. The final of the U12 boys, the youngest division in the Billabong Junior Series, was also a see-saw battle with Max Elkington (Hout Bay) eventually pulling ahead to secure victory after a great display of progressive surfing. The light onshore wind provided ideal ramps for aerial and progressive manoeuvres and the country’s top 20-and-under surfers took full advantage, pushing the limits and making it difficult for the judges to decide the special awards. Once the spray had settled, the VonZipper Flair Up award and R10 000 went to Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand) for the highest flying aerial while Shane Sykes (Salt Rock) received the DaKine Youthful Movement award and R10 000 for his progressive surfing. The next stop on the Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS will be held at Nahoon Beach in East London on 6&7 April before moving to Kommetjie in Cape Town in August and culminating at Seal Point in the Eastern Cape in September where the series champions in all divisions will be crowned.
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate publication Monday February 11, 2013. Surfing South Africa announces the surfers in the SA Junior Team for the 2013 ISA World Junior Championships The Board of Directors of Surfing South Africa has ratified the names of the surfers who will represent South Africa in the SANZ Challenge against New Zealand and the 2013 ISA World Junior Championships. Both events will take place in Nicaragua between June 6th and 16th this year. There are four new caps in the team which was selected from the results of the U17 Boys & Girls & U15 Boys divisions at the 2012 Hurley SA Junior Championships and from a series of regional trials and a national trial held at Seal Point recently. South African U17 champion Benji Brand of Western Province earns his third cap as the winner of this division at the SA Junior Championships and is top seed in the U18 boys group for Nicaragua. Gina Smith of Eastern Province earned her place in the team after winning the U17 girls title last October while Matt Mcgillivray of Eastern Province is top seed in the U16 boys group courtesy of his victory in the U15 Division of the 2012 SA Junior Championships. Joining Brand in the U18 boys division are Dylan Lightfoot of Eastern Province, Josh Smit of KZN Central and Diran Zakarian of Boland. There are no new caps in this group who boast a total of 12 caps between them. The official non travelling reserve is Jason “JJ” Harris of KZN Central. McGillivray’s team mates in the U16 Boys division are new cap Jordan Maree of Western Province, Steffen Burrows of Boland and new caps Shane Sykes of KZN Central and Simo Mkhize of Southern KZN. Bevan Willis of KZN Central is the official non travelling reserve. Nicole Pallet of KZN Central joins Smith as the other U18 Girl while Chanelle Botha of Southern KZN and new cap Anoush Zakarian of Boland are the two U16 Girls in the team. Inge Mclaren of Border is the official non travelling reserve for the U18 girls and Crystal Hulett of Eastern Province is the official non travelling U16 Girls reserve. The full U18 boys team is Benji Brand (who qualified as the 2012 SA U17 Champion), Dylan Lightfoot, Josh Smit and Diran Zakarian. Jason Harris is the official non travelling reserve. The U18 girls are Gina Smith (who qualified as the 2012 SA U17 Champion ) and Nicole Pallet with Inge Mclaren the official non travelling reserve. Matthew Mc Gillivray (who qualified as the 2012 SA U15 champion), Jordy Maree, Steff Burrows, Shane Sykes and Simo Mkhize make up the U16 group with Bevan Willis the official non travelling reserve. The Melkbosstrand based Zakarian siblings,Diran and Anoush, become the first brother and sister to represent South Africa at the ISA World Junior Championships while last year’s U16 Boys Division reserve Simo Mkhize and the U18 Girls reserve in 2012, Gina Smith, have both gone one better and will earn their national colours. This year history will be made when the SANZ Challenge takes place between the South African and New Zealand juniors for the 10th year in a row. The first SANZ Challenge was held in Durban in 2003 and has been contested between the two nations every year since then. The one day event has become a competitive tradition and although billed as a “friendly” the rivalry is intense. Since 2003 the unique SANZ Trophy, which is made from semi precious New Zealand stone and South African yellow wood, has been won four times by New Zealand and five times by South Africa. South Africa are the current champions. Over 30 countries from five continents will compete in the 2013 ISA World Junior Championships which are taking place in Nicaragua for the first time. The annual tournament determines the World Junior Team Champions, the World Junior ISA Aloha Cup Champions and medalists in the Under 18 Boys and Girls and Under 16 Boys divisions. Surfing South Africa is the recognized governing body for the sport and is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA). All representative South African teams are ratified by the Board of Directors of Surfing South Africa. Compiled by Robin de Kock General Manager Surfing South Africa JBay Boardriders competed against the best clubs from around the country - and came out tops. Dealing with small conditions, rain, fog, freezing water the ou's from up the road took it all in their stride and took out the title. Not only do they claim bragging rights for the year, they get to host the interclub nationals next year.
Congrats to Etienne and his team of Emma Smith, Kelvin Zehmke, Shannon Ainslie, Dominique Abersalie and Dylan Lightfoot, and judge Gina Smith. This is what Etienne had to say on the event: "Woke up to dead flat Melkbos so drove 50kms to Ysterfontein where there were fun and contestable conditions. Despite the pouring rain, wind and 8degree water the team pulled through. Advanced from the first round to semi's then through to the Finals. The team built momentum throughout the event peaking in the finals. Got behind in time in the finals but the team kept their calm and we won by 500points. The entire team contributed towards the win with each individual surfing well and coming together- so much so that we won the Best Team Spirit award. Thanks to Billabong for the awesome prizes and Dakine for kitting out the team and Surfing South Africa and West Coast boardriders for hosting the event." Wave Wizards from Durbs came second, 3rd were hosts West Coast A and 4th was Llundudno Boardriders. Shot to our PE clubs, CYOH and Sunset, for giving the other clubs a run for their money. The Billabong National Interclub Championships will take place on the West Coast this weekend....and we're stoked to have TWO PE teams in the mix. Both the CYOH & Sunset crews are there flying the Eastern Cape flag. The comp format is a combination of individual surfing as well as a tag team event. Each team also nominates a "power surfer" who can score them additional points. The ou's will be scouring the coast for the best surf each day, with anywhere between Big Bay at Blouberg up to Yzerfontein being in the mix. Luckily for CYOH the Beck bro's have been doing a lil warm-up on that stretch of coast the last week - so hopefully can give the rest of the team a bit of a heads-up. The CYOH team comprises of:
The Sunset Surf team is:Mahier Pandie, Azzie Moodaly, Sebs Clarke, Alex Van Rijswijck, Azraa Abrahams, Fooie Jappie, Fagrie Jappie and Addie Jappie. As the winning team in the Eastern Cape CYOH was meant to be allowed to take 2 teams, but the ou's are so scared of them they changed the rules and now they can only take one. That's OK...it only takes one team to win! And I reckon CYOH is in with a damn fine chance at lifting that trophy! And here's who they're up against.... 1. WEST COAST BOARDRIDERS A 2. WEST COAST BOARDRIDERS B 3. CYOH SURF CLUB 4. WARNER BOYZ SURF CLUB 5. NATURAL ENERGY SURF CLUB 6. STELLENBOSCH SURF CLUB 7. J BAY BOARDRIDERS 8. WAVE WIZARDS SURF CLUB (WILDCARD) 9. LLANDUDNO BOARDRIDERS (WILDCARD) 10. SUNSET SURF CLUB Good luck to our surfers...go big or go home!! So you took out the overall win in the CYOH Surf Off series for 2012 - some tough competition?
Thanks, yeah competition was tough. Especially the last event. Guys were surfing really good, Xcuzzy aka Clint, Donovan, Josh Saunders, Etienne, Robert, Grant etc. Now you're the owner of a pretty rad prize from All Aboard Travel - a trip to Indo! So what's the plan - when and where are you gonna go? Still in discussion with Lorrin. But looks like I'll be going in September, I'll be staying at Balangan for about four nights then wanna go surf shipwrecks and just mission around. Will you be on your own mission or hooking up with some mate's for the trip? I'll be going with my girlfriend Bernita, She hasn’t been before so looking forward to going with her. Shew - now THAT buys you some serious brownie points! Good man! Any shout out's? Big thanks to CYOH and All Aboard Travel! |
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July 2021
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