S.A Champs

Eastern Province Surfing Team made history on the final day of the 2008 Reef Wetsuits SA Championships at Victoria Bay Sunday July 27 when they won the Presidents Cup for the first time.Thanks to brilliant performances in their respective finals by their newly crowned SA Men's Champion Shaun Payne and Under 20 Boys champion Nick Godfrey, plus some fine supporting efforts by Men's runner up Simon Fish and Under 20 Girls runner up Faye Zoetmulder.

The final day of competition in the 43rd SA Championships was held in typical 4 - 6 foot Victoria Bay surf that peeled across the bay right up until the last siren. A few rain squalls did nothing to spoil the great vibe created by hosts Southern Cape who made sure that the 200 or so visitors from as far afield as Durban were well looked after.

Southern Cape created a bit of history themselves when the brilliant fourteen year old Bianca Buitendag took the Under 20 Girls title in style to become the youngest surfer ever to win a title in any division at the South African Championships.

Competing in the Under 18 Division, Buitendag came seventh in the recent ISA World Junior Championships in France then won the Mr Price Pro Junior in Durban before coming second in a major Pro Junior event in France just 10 days ago.

During the SA Championships none of her heat scores were under 16 out of a possible 20 points and during the event she scored a 9.50 ride, the highest single wave score in any division. Buitendag’s points in the final were 16.5 giving her an average heat score of 17 and understandably she was awarded the trophy as the Junior Surfer of the Contest.

Nick Godfrey waited until the Final of the Under 20 Boys Division to show what he is capable of and despite the best efforts of local star Shaun Joubert, Godfrey had the edge over the favourite beating him into second spot by 16.5 points to 14.5.

In a thrilling Men's Final the lead changed hands at least four times but in the end it was Shaun Payne who posted 17.40 points in the heat and his EP teammate Simon Fish managed 15.25 to grab the runner-up berth.Southern Cape talisman Llewellyn Whittaker needed one more good wave after his 9.0 point ride to make a charge for the lead but his 13 points were only good enough for third place. Nevertheless his fine performance throughout the event and his huge backhand attack on every wave he rode made him a popular choice as Surfer of the Contest.Matthew Kruger of KZN on 12.75 was fourth.

In winning the Presidents Cup, Eastern Province scored 41560 points to Border's 37954 points while Western Province were third with 34370.Southern KZN scored 33684 to finish fourth, KZN were fifth on 32746, Boland came sixth with 25270 and Southern Cape were seventh on 21794.

Southern Cape with their sterling performance once again would have finished in the top three but it is due to the lack of "Colour" in our team that led to the last place finish as point were deducted because of this. I now want to make a huge call to everyone and anyone out there that is interested in surfing to please contact me. It is a great sport with a fantastic life style and plenty of opportunities which can to be enjoyed my every color and race.

FULL RESULTSOPEN MEN1. SHAUN PAYNE (EP)2. SIMON FISH (EP)3. LLWELLYN WHITTAKER (S/CAPE)4. MATT KRUGER (KZN)OPEN WOMEN1. HEATHER CLARK (S/KZN)2. STACEY GUY (WP)3. KIRSTY DELPORT (KZN)4. ROXY TOWILL (WP)UNDER 20 BOYS1. NICK GODFREY (EP)2. SHAUN JOUBERT (S/CAPE)3. MICHAEL FEBRUARY (WP)4. CLINTON GRAVETT (BOR)UNDER 20 GIRLS1. BIANCA BUITENDAG (S/CAPE)2. FAYE ZOETMULDER (EP)3. ALICE MC GREGOR (BOR)4. CHANTELLE RAUTENBACH (BOL)JUNIOR SURFER OF THE CONTEST BIANCA BUITENDAG (S/CAPE)SURFER OF THE CONTESTLLWELLYN WHITTAKER (S/CAPE)TEAMS1. EASTERN PROVINCE 415602. BORDER 379543. WP 343704. SOUTHERN KZN 326845. KZN 327466. BOLAND 252707. SOUTHERN CAPE 21794

Southern Cape Dominates

Hello everyone, its update time and this is definitely worth a read. After a very successful weekend Bianca Buitendag and Shaun Joubert win the Mr Price Pro Junior in Durban. In tricky, small and shifty conditions both Bianca and Shaun to win the woman's and men's U/20 respectively.

Binaca was very fortunate to advance through her semi final when she had an interference call within the first five minutes. It was through pure guts and determination that she came back to score a magnificent 8.7 ride to still win the heat.

In her final she again cause an interference but stayed focused on what she needed to do and that was to win the final. On her last wave she went to town and score an 8 point ride again proving to her older counter parts that she was and will be a force to reckon with. She took the final amongst stiff competition.

Shaun Joubert was on fine form throughout the competion. In the final he went to town on one wave and scored the only perfect 10 of the contest to become the Mr price pro Champion. Shaun was looking good all through the event and took the win in style with big committed turns. Congratulation kids i am so proud of you. Keep up the good work. Both have been working really hard over the last two months and clearly the win today is their reward.

News Flash

News flash, news flash, Bianca Butiendag has won the Rip Curl Junior pro Durban. After starting the contest with solid heat scores she went on to win the Rip Curl pro in style. Bianca and myself have been working together for about two months now and since then she has finished 9th at the World Games in France after a stellar performance.

It has been a privilege to work with such a committed, dedicated and enthusiastic, talented young individual. The girl has mountains of talent and is showing maturity beyound her age group, her back hand surfing is also second to non. She has been working really hard over the last two months and already the results are starting to show, Well done Bianca i am so proud of you.

Congratulations and a big shout out must also go to my little champion Benji Brand for winning the u/12 and u/14 division and to his Big brother Davey for placing second in U/16 after winning at the King of the Groms in Mossel Bay the previous weekend.

This week i am off to Durban to coach, Shaun Joubert, Daniele and Bianca Buitendag and the Brand brothers while they are competing at the Mr Price Pro Junior. We will be look at doing well in the event but also mixing the trip up with some hard core training and marketing.

Stay tuned for results and updates

King of the Groms

Hi Guys, sorry for not being in touch just been really busy and don't for one second think we have not been scoring waves cause we have. In fact thank goodness the onshore is here today so we can rest.

WOW, what a weekend for the Quiksilver king of the Groms, Inner Pool, Mossel Bay. The weather was amazing both days with light and variable wind making for ideal contest conditions. Saturday was a little inconsistent but there were still some bomb sets it just meant that you had to be a bit more patient and tactics also came into play.

It was sad to see my young guns Reubin, Arthure, Danile and Vincent fall at the way side not because of ability but simply down to wave selection. I was very proud though to see each and everyone of them try their hardest and give the other competitors a run for their money.

Sunday we woke up to a glorious sunrise,offshore breez, low tide and pushing, with a rising swell how could the kids not be amped to demolish the ever increasing perfect inner pool waves.

Stand out at the event in my eyes were, Klee, Steven Sawyer, Davey and Benji Brand. Big shout out must got to my main man and overall winner of the u/20 King of the Groms, Shaun Joubert. Congratulations my friend on a fine performance.

World Champs

What and exciting end to last month with the Junior world champs help in France. Two of my students Bianca Bruitendag and Shaun Joubert were right there in the thick of things mixing it up with the best Juniors from around the world. Both finished 9th overall with some excellent performances in some heats.

Shaun started the event with a massive heat score of 18 out of twenty in his first heat. Bianca on the other hand had a slow start but was consistently making it through heats and then came the big heat scores. Both Bianca and Shaun surfed impressively throughout the event and certainly turned some heads and gave themselves a solid reputation.

South Africa finished 9th over and 4th overall in the tag team

I am really and truly so proud of my two kids I strongly believe they both have the talent and the focus to win a world title it was just not the 2007 world title. They will both however in the future be winning world titles.

Keep up the good work kids and good luck with the rest of your exams. Enjoy the weekend rest up and study hard,training starts on Monday.

Other pleasures

What a beautiful weekend! It does not matter where or when you are in the Cape or South Africa, one just can not ignore the fact that we live in such an amazingly gorgeous country despite the more controversial problems we experience. My good friend Jason Louw and his wife invited us last minute and boy am i glad i did.

This weekend we spent camping on the Breede rivier at a place called River Zicht. No reason for the get away other than to get away and experience life away from the coast. Where we were was very close to Route 62 where all the wine farms are.

This time of the year is a little chili but thank goodness for electric blankets, although we are going into winter, it did mean that it would quite and peaceful. Our bush camp was right on the waters edge which was so amazing waking up to first thing. Sunday morning there was a light mist which added to the already peaceful serenity. Fishing was the highlight of our day although we weren't catching a thing not getting even a bite but we all know it was not about catching the biggest fish. All in all a great weekend with friends family and close ones made for a great weekend that everybody enjoyed.

I love this part of the world so much to see and do.

The Garden Route

Hope all of you had a very good weekend. We were blessed with perfect surf and sunshine here on the Garden Route once again. Woke up Sunday morning to another glorious day the the Bay. Took a drive around the point and from looking at conditions there one can tell if there are going to be waves elsewhere. Conditions were epic, not a breath of wind a small 2m swell running these kind of conditions open the door to many many other unsurfed uncrowded spots.

No one but no one wanted to go on a surf mission so instead i call my girlfriend and in a flash she was ready to go spend the day on the beach. Dog, child, girlfriend, braai, boards and suits packed and off we go. We pulled up to this bank that i found beginning of last week and as expected it was going off the only downer was i would have to surf it by myself. The wave we have been surfing is this sick right hander 3-4 foot shollow sand bar with barrels and long long walls, some people in other parts of the world pay thousands of dollars to surf. Anyway i got the fire going and paddled out just a short surf after a while i came in and the coals were perfect to put the boerawors on the braai.

We all had a nice feed and then the boys started showing up after being relieved of all their Sunday duties. We paddled out for another session and it was great, to share them with some buddies, the conditions stayed epic all day and into early evening. A perfect day which was ended with vetkoek and mince for supper.

New board

Hello to all my readers, how can I not share with you the excitement of getting a new board. When I was in the U.K I was riding for a Welsh shaper named John Purtin, a brilliant shaper and a fantastic guy. JP was shaping me some of the best boards i had ever ridden only due to a good personal relationship with lots of feed back which enabled us to get the boards just perfect. One of my biggest concerns when moving back to South Africa was who was going to shape me my boards. I had been seeing some fantastic boards come out of Graham Smiths factory and thought would give them a try. I guess I am bit more old school where I like to use one shaper and work really closely with him. All my boards I use grip so this morning i put on a sick Ocean & Earth pad, the board is now ready to go, I am just itching to find some surf. If I score some waves later I will let you all know.

seek and thee shall find

Hi guys, got a call today from Anton Joubert, saying my board was ready to be picked up at George airport. So naturally I dropped everything to go grab the board, a brand new Graham Smith,G-force, on the way I picked Jason Van Vuuren up with the intention to surf on the way home. As usual when you least it expect that's when you score. The wind was strong NW, the tide low and pushing the forcast for the swell to pick up. We stoped to check some beach breaks out and this is what we found, three sick waves within a space of a couple hundred meters. There were two right handers and one left, the sand banks just made for epic surf. With only two of us it was a bit nerve recking but the waves were that good that we had to paddle out. We had a couple on the left in front of the car park as it was breaking closest in. Boy i wish i had a crew with me to enjoy these empty perfect waves. Happy day in Mossel bay.

Woke up this morning to another glorious day the Bay. Sun rise was at 7.20am this morning and the sky behind the mountain in the East looked like it was on fire. The wind was a light westerly and the tide was dropping a sweet 2.5m swell running, perfect conditions for the point. Paddled out with two good friends and half an hour later another good friend paddled to join in on the the fun. Imagine perfect 4 foot surf slight offshore barreling on the inside with only four of your best friends in the water hooting each other into waves and watching them get spat out of barrels on the inside section. Its what dream are made of.