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Watts Claims Double Whammy in Classic Style.

posted by Gareth White on 5th April 2009

Day 2 and the final day of the 4A rated, Sport Unlimited/Spur Cape Classic, turns out to be one of the most surprising of any contest I have ever been part of.

Swell reports for the Cape peninsula over the past few days have not looked promising and with yesterdays surf predicted to have halved in size from Friday and unfavourable winds expected to blow, event organisers, Western Province Bodyboarding Association (WPBA), were not expecting a grand finale to the event as had been hoped and prayed for.

Oh Boy were we in for a low tide surprise!

Early morning conditions at Caves looked promising with clean, well-shaped, 2 to 3 foot waves rolling in with regularity leading up to the start of the day.

Fate would have it that just as the siren sounded for the start of the first heat the dreaded onshore winds we were warned of in all the forecasts began to blow, bringing with them a brief soaking of rain and setting the mood for what appeared to be a miserable day.

The waves held their shape for as long as possible, and just as soon as it had arrived, the onshore winds switched to a light, warm side shore breeze.

The earlier rounds saw some of the better surf, with conditions deteriorating as the high tide pressed, but with no swell anywhere else event organisers knew that what they were looking at was as good as it was going to get.

Riders made the most of what they could find and those who were patient enough to wait out the long lulls between sets managed to pick off a couple keepers and advance to the semi finals and finals of their respective divisions.

One of the most rewarding and eventful highlights of the early afternoon session was the arrival of underprivileged children from the Grabouw area who had been invited by the WPBA to enjoy a fun filled day on the beach.

The children, who belong to the Agape group, were thrilled to be able to spend time on the beach and it was a pleasure to assist in making this day possible. For some of them it was the first time that they had ever been to the beach and how sad is it to hear that some had never seen Table Mountain before?

To offer something as simple as trip to the beach that can bring someone so much joy is a gift. A gift made possible by the generous support of The Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, who donated a whopping R17 000 towards the cause to ensure that the WPBA have the means to make this type of event a reality more often.

Environmental group, Ocean Minded, educated the children as to general recycling and the need for us to Reduce, Re-Use and Recycle our waste before they rustled through the bushes and combed the beach to collect waste for recycling.

Once the children had burnt off their youthful energy the event moved into it's final stages with the first of the finals taking to the water in challenging conditions.

First in the water were the Ladies finals with Kim Richardson, Janneke De Kock and Suzie Husselmann vying for the crown. In a hard fought final Husselmann claimed victory with De Kock and Richardson placing second and third respectively.

Next up were the Masters with event regular, Michael Van Huyssteen leading the way with Robert Scott, Craig Trivilas and Riaan Du Preez hot on his heels. In the testing surf Scott walked away with a well deserved win and Du Preez, Van Huyssteen and Trivilas claimed second, third and fourth on the podium.

Boys were next in the water for their final, which was competed between Jason Fowler, Andre Blignault, Joshua Austen and finals regular, Sebastian Koopmans. Consistency proved key and Koopmans had what was needed to take first place with Blignault claiming second. Austen and Fowler finished third and fourth respectively.

Conditions had pretty much gone from bad to worse when the final of the Expression session paddled out after the boys and Mark McCarthy, Adam Morley, Daniel Worsley and Mark Watts were left to battle for the R5000 prize in terrible surf. It was unanimously decided that the session would be re-run after the Pro final as no clear winner could be determined.,

It had gotten so bad at the main beach that before the Drop Knee finals it was decided that the judges would move up onto the rocks in order to get a better view of competitors surfing near the rock face, where the waves appeared to be getting better.

Along with Vaughn Harris, Sean Tickner, Matthew Webster and Warren Canepa the entire beach was amazed by what they were seeing. In a matter of minutes the swell had gone from being almost uncontestable to firing on all cylinders as 3 to 4 foot wedging bowls brought life back to an almost silenced beach. Having stood out from the start it was no surprise that Canepa had what it took to take the win, which he did with style as he landed a solid floater with only minutes to go in the heat. Harris, Tickner and Webster placed second, third and fourth respectively.

It was game on when the Men's division riders paddled out into the cooking surf and every eye on the beach was glued to the corner as Matthew Webster, fresh from his DK final, Michael Meyer, Simon Heale and Ross Painter put on a spectacular show for the crowd. Having truly out-gunned the competition with multiple solid inverts it was widely thought that Heale had claimed his first SABA win. The crowd was correct, and Heale claimed top honours with Webster, Meyer and Painter placing second, third and fourth.

"I am so chuffed because I feel that it has been a long time coming. My first good ride was the turning point. Before that I thought that I would hack it after I saw what the other guys were doing, but as soon as I stuck the first invert I went all out. Thanks so much to Rossi bodyboards for their support", said Heale.

With the standard having been set by the men it was time for the Juniors to showcase their talent and in yet another twist to an extraordinary day, event co-sponsors, Ocean Minded, put forward a cash prize of R1500 for the winner of the division. James McClure, Johnno Mellish, Aden Kleve and Chris van der Westhuizen proved once again that South African bodyboarding has an incredibly bright future. They say that cream always rises to the top and in this case some will feel that it is long over due. Having established a name for himself as one of SA's brightest young stars Kleve claimed his maiden SABA win in the Juniors division with an impressive display of bodyboarding brilliance. McClure took second with Van der Westhuizen and Mellish taking third and fourth places.

"Man I am super stoked. The cash prize was so unexpected, but more than welcome. After I saw the waves for the Men's division finals I was too amped and went all out. It was magic what happened with the waves for the finals", said an electric Kleve.

We all knew that we were in for a show stopping Pro final when we saw the heat sheet. Boy Champ, Mark Watts, Daniel Worsley, Vaughn Harris and current SA Champ, Mark McCarthy went head to head in cranking surf busting flip after flip, invert after invert and even throwing in the odd air revo and ARS just to fill the score sheets.

According to contest director, Pat Harris, it was the highest scoring and closest Pro final in SABA history and I am not surprised. It was awesome to watch. What a final, one couldn't have asked for more and I wouldn't have liked to call it, but called it was and Watts claimed a well deserved winners cheque with Worsley finishing an antagonisingly close second, Harris in third and McCarthy in fourth.

In yet another moment of glory Watts went on to claim victory in the Expression session and walked away with a R5000 watch kindly sponsored by Nixon.

"The other riders all surfed so well that it was hard to know who won, but I wanted to win so badly and I am so stoked right now. I was so tired by the time we surfed the Expression session that I just settled in and didn't stress too much and I just got lucky with my wave selection and landed tow nice flips", said an elated Watts.

Ocean Minded had yet another trick up their sleeve and secretly put yet another R1000 on the table to be awarded to the rider who the judges felt had shown the most style. The Professor of Style Award went to Storm Prestwich for his superb performance in his opening Pro heat against Mark McCarthy. Not only did he show true class by beating Mark in the heat, but he also battled to the very end - even though Mark was landing near perfect flips. True competitive class!

Top judge went to Kim Richardson.

The WPBA would like to thank all of those involved with making this event possible, but would like to especially thank Ross Painter and the crew at Sport Unlimited for their unbelievable support over the past 5 years and we look forward to working with you in the near future.

Another big thank you must go out to members of the Son Surf Association who assisted in setting up and packing away all the equipment on the beach.

The Sport Unlimited/Spur Cape Classic 09 was proudly brought to you by Sport Unlimited and Spur Steak Ranches in association with Ocean Minded and supported by The Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport, Reef Wetsuits, Science Bodyboards, Arnette sunglasses, Bondi Blu and Aloe Up.

*Photos to follow shortly.

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