Reef SA Champs Day 3: Famous, Thorns and Waves
Ian Thurtell29th September 2009
Day 3 started out as cold as ever. The swell had dropped off considerably and the call was made to meet at the heaving beachbreak of "Famous Last Words". Arriving in the early morning and walking across the freezing sand to check the swell, my feet got so numb that I couldn't feel a thing, infact there were 4 devil thorns stuck into my toe and I couldn't even feel them!
The swell was a clean punchy 3-5ft, breaking close to shore making it the ideal venue for judges and spectators.
The pros were first to paddle out and the first heat of the day saw big moves being dealt out by Sacha Specker (WP), Vaughn Harris (BOL) and Duart McClean (EP). Other pros that scored highly were Bradley Moys (SKZN), Adam Waites (CKZN), Rheinhardt Du Toit (NKZN) and Warren Canepa (EP), who was the only pro rider to score two 300% 's in both his first and second rounds.
By the time the juniors entered the water the wind was on the increase and was going light side-shore, the waves continued to pour in and the guys went all out in their quarter final heats. The riders that advanced through to the semis were Storm Prestwich (SKZN), Cole Dyer (CKZN), Adam Waites (CKZN), Aden Kleve (WP), David Lillienfeld (WP), Bradley Moys (SKZN), Marc Webster (BOL) and Terence Pieters (SKZN).
The men's round 2 heats were held in some testing conditions with wave knowledge playing a big part in wave selection. Martin Ras (BOL), Jamie Higgins (WP), Jaryd Van Daalen (SKZN) and Lennie Muller (NKZN) won their respective round 2 heats.
A high level or riding was seen in the Masters division round 2. Robert Scott (WP), Gustav Botha (BOL), Michael Van Huyssteen (CKZN) excelled in their heats and Martin Otto (SKZN), got a gem of a wave in the difficult conditions and got scored 10's for his efforts.
In the afternoon the provincial teams took out their development kids, from the Kumba Iron Ore development clinic, for a coaching session and to get them more comfortable in the water. The waves were small which allowed all of them to catch clean unbroken waves. After the clinic the development kids and teams battled it out in a beach soccer tournament which was a great way for everyone to mingle and have fun. Unfortunately I don't recall the scores but im sure the competitive spirit will emerge again with every province claiming the victory!
The swell for day 4 looks a bit smaller than day 3 so the contest venue will probably be at the same beach break or one of the nearby reefs.
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.
The swell was a clean punchy 3-5ft, breaking close to shore making it the ideal venue for judges and spectators.
The pros were first to paddle out and the first heat of the day saw big moves being dealt out by Sacha Specker (WP), Vaughn Harris (BOL) and Duart McClean (EP). Other pros that scored highly were Bradley Moys (SKZN), Adam Waites (CKZN), Rheinhardt Du Toit (NKZN) and Warren Canepa (EP), who was the only pro rider to score two 300% 's in both his first and second rounds.
By the time the juniors entered the water the wind was on the increase and was going light side-shore, the waves continued to pour in and the guys went all out in their quarter final heats. The riders that advanced through to the semis were Storm Prestwich (SKZN), Cole Dyer (CKZN), Adam Waites (CKZN), Aden Kleve (WP), David Lillienfeld (WP), Bradley Moys (SKZN), Marc Webster (BOL) and Terence Pieters (SKZN).
The men's round 2 heats were held in some testing conditions with wave knowledge playing a big part in wave selection. Martin Ras (BOL), Jamie Higgins (WP), Jaryd Van Daalen (SKZN) and Lennie Muller (NKZN) won their respective round 2 heats.
A high level or riding was seen in the Masters division round 2. Robert Scott (WP), Gustav Botha (BOL), Michael Van Huyssteen (CKZN) excelled in their heats and Martin Otto (SKZN), got a gem of a wave in the difficult conditions and got scored 10's for his efforts.
In the afternoon the provincial teams took out their development kids, from the Kumba Iron Ore development clinic, for a coaching session and to get them more comfortable in the water. The waves were small which allowed all of them to catch clean unbroken waves. After the clinic the development kids and teams battled it out in a beach soccer tournament which was a great way for everyone to mingle and have fun. Unfortunately I don't recall the scores but im sure the competitive spirit will emerge again with every province claiming the victory!
The swell for day 4 looks a bit smaller than day 3 so the contest venue will probably be at the same beach break or one of the nearby reefs.
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.
