Runner up in the Open SUP Division Donald Brierley. Pic Courtesy Nerve Events
Scottburgh’s Main Beach served up some extremely tricky conditions on the final day (27 November) of this year’s ninth annual Jeep Apparel South Coast Surf Carnival, in stark contrast to the near perfect surf enjoyed by the longboarding, stand up paddlesurfing (SUP), waveski surfing and kitesurfing competitors yesterday. Nevertheless, Josh Schmeltzer (Durban) Brandon Ribbink (Durban) and Nikki Trickett (Durban) deservedly claimed titles in the Men’s Open Longboard, Men’s SUP and Ladies Longboard divisions.
The hotly contested Men’s Open Longboard division lived up to its premier billing, with the final featuring a thrilling battle between surfers all considered top contenders for the title. It was Schmeltzer who held out over Dylan Macleod (EP), Brandon Jackson (Durban) and Ross Lahana (WP) in the testing conditions. The Ladies Longboard division was equally as exciting, with Nikki Trickett prevailing over current South African Girls Longboard Champion Heather Klug (Glenwood), Traci Lee Phillips (KZN) and Penny Stemmet (WP).
In the Open division of the Men’s SUP contest, Brandon Ribbink continued his great run of form from the previous day and claimed the title won by his brother Jason back in 2009. Donald Brierly (KZN), Grantley Read (KZN) and Francois Frick (WP) claimed the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots in the Men’s SUP division respectively. Penny Stemmet was also in contention for the Ladies SUP title, along with Lynne Mackey (Durban) and Tammy Robarts (WP). Ultimately, Robarts made the most of the tricky conditions and did enough to secure victory and claim the title.
In the Men’s Longboard Over 35 division, Justin Maisch (Durban) was unbeatable, having not lost a heat in this division on his way to the final. Craig Daniel (Durban), Marcel Hoffman (Durban) and Grant Gilmour (Durban) did well to surf their way to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots in the Men’s Over 35 Longboard division respectively. The Men's Longboard Over 50 division saw some of the sports old hands making the most of their experience to put on what was a most exciting division. Ultimately it was Hugh Thompson (Durban) who held off strong challenges from Colin Whitmore (Durban), Dave Hansen (Durban) and Bushy Greef (Zululand) to end his weekend off on a high by claiming a victory and the Men's Longboard Over 50 division.
For the first time in its nine year history, the Jeep Apparel South Cast Surf Carnival also featured the KZN Waveski Open, a decision no doubt ratified by the top quality field that entered this event. The hotly contested division was dominated by current New Age World Champion and current #5 on the World Tour Andre Burger (Border). Following hot on his heels were Ian Macleod (PE), Percy Louw (Border) and Chris Jones (Border) respectively.
Event organiser Paul Godwin of Nerve Events said that “we have had an absolutely amazing time during our ninth South Coast Surf Carnival. We had the best surf that this event has ever seen on Saturday, and then today the kiteboarders were in the element in the windy conditions. We were also very happy with how the new event, the KZN Waveski Open, was received, and we are hoping to grow this aspect of our event in the years to come. Next year is an even bigger milestone, and we will be working extra hard to ensure that our tenth event will be the biggest and best yet”.
The Jeep Apparel South Coast Surf Carnival also played host to the Sustainable Seas Trust’s (SST) SEA Pledge Coastal Road Tour. The campaign, which commenced in Port Elizabeth on 12 October, 2011 will see the SST team visit over 20 coastal towns on its way from Sodwana to Saldanha, collecting pledges from people, business and institutions who intend to increase their efforts at preserving our marine environments. The signatures will be handed over by Dr. AJ Ribbink, Director of the Sustainable Seas Trust, at the COP17/CMP7 climate change conference in Durban on 3 December. According to Jens Currie, SST volunteer, “the response from the surfers and the public at this event has been amazing, everyone is passionate about the cause and willing to throw their support behind what is a most important cause”.
Throughout the event, Sean Selman and his trained surfing instructors from Umthombo were also on hand to teach the basics of surfing to anyone who was keen to learn. According to Selman, “despite the conditions, we still had some very successful clinics, with 12 children attending on both days. The majority of the kids were able to stand up by the end of the day, so we were very happy with the results”.
The Jeep Apparel South Coast Surf Carnival is sponsored by Jeep Apparel and the valued support sponsors include Independent on Saturday, Thule, Red Bull Mobile, Phatboyz, Wimpy, Bilt Surfboards, Carling Black Label, Natural Curve Surfboards, Ocean 2 Air Kitesurfing, Maisch Fins, Nestle Pure Life Water, Island Style, Pro Class Wetsuits, Thermo Plastic Concepts & Equipment (TCE), Bokomo and MacSki.
UPDATE (kitesurfing results)
Juniors
Josh Emanuel (Dbn)
Bryce Rawlins (Dbn North)
Lorenzo Valenti (Umhlanga)
Ladies
Nicole Annels (Warner Beach)
Linda Potts (Warner Beach)
Carron Engelbrecht (Warner Beach)
Novice
Dustin Harding (Durban)
Austin Steyn (Durban)
Open
Luke McGilliwie (Cape Town)
Rob Chrystal (Umhlanga)
Lyle Bottcher (Durban)
Ends
Issued on behalf of: Nerve Events
Press release compiled by:
Rob Evans
Disseminated by:
Olivia Jones Communications
For more information please contact:
Olivia Jones Communications
Cell 082 677 8330
Work 031 303 9341
Email media@oliviajones.co.za
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