Reef SA Champs Day 1: Wild & windy 'Wes Kus' greets contestants
posted by Ian Thurtell on 27th September 2009
As dawn broke on day one of the 2009 South African bodyboarding championships so did the swell. The forecast swell that was predicted had arrived in the early hours of the morning and the call was made to make use of the "mobile roaming venue format". All the provincial teams were to meet at Elands Bay parking lot for the start at 8:00am.
The swell was in the 2-5ft range with a hard and freezing offshore wind to wake all the contestants up.
First up were the DK rounds, the waves were good in offering all the contestants long running waves for them to string manoeuvre after manoeuvre bringing with them high scores. Riders who excelled were Sacha Specker(WP), Mark McCarthy (NKZN), Sean Tickner (WP) and Darren Halse (SKZN). A surprise knock-out was David Lee (SKZN) was was unable to advance to the Quarter Finals.
The first round of the Junior division was next and the incoming tide made the swell increase in size. The usual suspects were on form using every wave to the fullest. Standouts were Adam Waites (CKZN), Iain Campbell (CKZN), Terence Pieters (SKZN) and Storm Prestwich (SKZN).
Next up were the Boys. The wind was increasing in strength which made any aerial manoeuvre very difficult and would have to be perfectly timed. One rider who made sure of his timing was Tristan Roberts (BOL) who blasted a huge roll out of the pocket right in front of the judges earning himself the the heat winning score. Other heat winners were Robbie Waites (CKZN), Jason Fowler (WP), Steven Du Preez (CKZN) and Ethan Koopmans (WP).
The Mens Division had some very demanding surf conditions with closeouts coming through in every set. Riders who managed to make the most of the difficult condition were Wayne Beekman (SKZN), Jonathan De Lauwere (EP) and Murray Jones (EP).
The conditions for day 2 look similar as the first but with a slight decrease in swell size.
The Pro division will be the first to enter the water with the remaining rounds from the other division following after.
The Reef South African Championships are co-sponsored by: Kumba Iron Ore, Science body boards, Ocean & Earth, Viper fins, Matunas wax, Coca Cola, Powerade, Sonsurf, Bonaqua, Environ, Muisbosskerm, Eureka accomodation, Cederberg Municipality and OK Sentra.
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Comments
 | Rudi Geyser
28th September 2009 21:57 |
| ebay point...mmm spin to win boys |
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 | Mike Dei-Cont
28th September 2009 19:41 |
| The South Easter is 'kapping' something scary in CTN - Reckon the Atlantic is almost flat even though we had a 5m swell running - Hope it's not as bad up there boys... |
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