Iain Campbell conquers the 2014 Cape Classic

posted by Conor Eastment on 29th April 2014

Iain Campbell has been crowned the conqueror of the Cape Classic 2014, after winning the Professional and Dropknee division at The Hoek in Cape Town on the final day of the Cape Classic 2014.

-Tristan Roberts and Iain Campbell at the prize giving.

Considering the competition, Campbell, needed to be in good form this weekend to perform well and that's exactly what he did. Taking out Tristan Roberts in a man on man Pro Final as well as Chris Green (fourth) , Dylan van Tonder (second) and Terence Pieters (third) in the DK final.

Live scoring and man on man heats with a priority system made the Pro Finals one of the most exciting heats of the weekend. Tristan Roberts straight off the bat, opened up the final, with a clean and big backflip -but that wasn't enough for the young prodigy who proceeded to paddle straight back out and with second priority still managed to catch a set wave and bang a big air reverse off the end section. Most spectators on the beach thought that Campbell's chances of taking the Cape Classic 2014 title from there were over, but indeed they were not. After Roberts performed a few more backies, flips, reverses and the like for good measure, Campbell played it cool at the back holding priority waiting for the two best waves to take the lead. And take the lead he did, with key wave selection and only a few well timed moments to spare the athlete hailing from the warm waters of Central Kwa-Zulu Natal, put together the two scoring rides that took the lead from Roberts showing off his experience and cool head in tense situations!

-Storm Prestwich (Pro) on Day 1

Pam Bowren, was crowned the Zion Ladies winner in a five lady final against tough competition from the likes of Boland's Rosie Lombard (second). Bowren, used some technical manoeuvres such as her epic bash reverse at Caves on the first day to outgun the rest of the ladies and it seems Zion SA took notice of this considering the recent announcement of Bowren's signing up to the Zion SA team.

-Pam Bowren's reverse.

As epic as the DK, Ladies and Pro final were, the rest of the divisions were by no means bystanders.

While Roberts was not able to hold onto his lead during the Pro final, he certainly managed to do that in the Juniors division. In similar fashion to his opening waves in the Pro final, Roberts was throwing down big moves showing no time for the safer roll option, while Garryd Ensor-Smith(second), Luke Kitchin (third) and Ethan Nel (fourth) struggled to find a response to take the lead.

The men's final epitomised the saying it ain't over till the fat lady sings as Johan Nortje who sat in second to Micheal Meyer for most of the heat found a good scoring ride in the dying minutes of the final to take the lead away from the experienced SABA competitor in Meyer. A stand out in this division needs to be mentioned of Jaques Pienaar (third) who, competing for the first time, managed to make the final and beat Travis Tippens (fourth) a junior semi finalist at last year's SA Champs.

-Travis Tippens scoping the section

The Boys final showed off the future talents of our sport.The fact that Alex Nutt, who launched an air reverse in the final, came third to Henry Le Roux (First) and John Barry Coleman (Second) with Jaco Calitz coming in fourth is testament to the talent pool available in South Africa.

The Grand Masters and Masters division exhibited where the young guys and girls have been getting inspiration from as Michael van Huyssteen took the Grand Masters title and Johan Coetzee the Masters title.

Showcases of South African Bodyboarding like this would not be possible without the help and support of all the sponsors and so it is with great appreciation that we say thank you to the supporters of our sport. Maniac Bodyboards , ZionSA, Gunslinger Longboards, Acorn Laser Cutting Designs, Bassett Print, Joint Venture Pump Services, SANparks, Melkbos Surf and Nirenco Properties.

All photos thanks to Slash Photography (Brenton Thomas).