2006 Billabong Junior Series

Surfing South Africa
Victoria Bay
15 - 19 June

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 16 June, 2006 : - - The fourth event in the 2006 Billabong Junior Series got underway in excellent conditions at Victoria Bay Tableview in the Southern Cape on Thursday with glassy one to 1,5 metre (3-4 foot) waves peeling down the rock-strewn point while a couple of hundred of the country’s best junior surfers basked in bright sunshine.

Although the day’s schedule was disrupted by several surfers arriving late due to school exams, causing contest director Gary Gravett to postpone a number of heats, the opening rounds of the various age divisions went predominantly according to seeding.

Visiting Australian junior Brent Power was the standout of the day with both the highest single ride score of 8.25 points out of a possible 10 and then adding a 7.0 point ride to his tally for the day’s highest heat total of 15.25. The Aussie advanced from the first to the third round and is now amongst the last 48 in the premier Pro Junior (U20) boys division.

The U12 boys, the youngest age category in the five event national surf series, reveled in the conditions with 9 year-old Benji Brand (Kommetjie) showing the benefit of spending the last six months in Hawaii with his family by cruising to victory in his first round heat.

Brand, the winner of this division in the last event at Tableview in Cape Town last month, was joined in round two by fellow heat winners Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) and Nicholas Notten (St James, CT) while Sarah Baum (Athlone Park, KZN) also advanced along with those who placed second in each heat.

Boland surfers fared well in the first round of the U16 boys where Melkbosstrand’s JJ Rattey and Justin Torode both won their opening encounters, as did Tommie Kruger (Grabouw). Bertie Stuurman used his experience in the right-hand point breaks of his hometown Jeffreys Bay to good use to advance to Friday’s second round.

In the Pro Junior (U20) girls, Nastuzja Less (Newlands, CT) and Kirsty Delport (Durban) won their respective heats to move into the next round. Despite having to wait until the end of the day for her opponents to arrive, Roxy Louw (Durbanville), daughter of legendary Springbok rugby player Rob Louw, demonstrated the benefit of having a surfing father by easily winning her heat.

The swell is expected to be smaller on Friday but to increase again on the weekend when the top seeds enter the fray. The finals in all divisions are scheduled for Sunday when the more than R30 000 in prize-money will be awarded to the top eight in the Pro Junior boys and girls and the top four in the U12, U14 and U16 boys categories.

The Vic Bay leg of the popular Billabong Junior Series has attracted 198 entries and requires a full four days of competition to crown the event champions plus the winners of the coveted Von Zipper Air Show, the Zigzag Performance award and the Best Kustomised Manoeuvre.

The series is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport. The U20 boys and girls’ divisions are also sanctioned by ASP Africa with the ratings points counting towards the yearend Pro Surf Tour (PST) Pro Junior crowns.

The series is proudly supported by FNB, who contribute 50% of the prize-pool and cover the travel costs of the four Pro Junior boys and top girl who are invited to compete in the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia each January; Red Bull; Capri Sun juices for those under 14; Mentos sweets; Mrs Palmers surf wax; Drench hair-care products for the girls; Salt Water Girl and Zigzag magazines and Blackfoot Productions who record, produce and flight the 30 minute television show on SuperSport covering each of the five events.

The 2006 Billabong Junior Series started in St Mikes on the KZN South Coast (February 23-26) followed by Durban (March 30-April 2) and Cape Town (May 18-21). After Victoria Bay it wraps up in Jeffreys Bay (August 5-8) where the 10th annual series champions will be crowned.

For further information on the series and a host of other interesting aspects of South African surfing visit www.billabong.com/africa where top performers are profiled. 

www.billabong.com

Previous reports:
# 1 : Damien Fahrenfort leads ratings of Billabong Jr Series
# 2 : Fast facts for event # 4 of Billabong Jr. Series, Vic Bay
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

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