BALLITO, KwaZulu-Natal – South Africa’s hopes of crowning a 2009 Mr Price Pro Ballito champion lie firmly in the hands of three talented KwaZulu- Natal South Coast surfers, all of whom advanced into the final 16 surfers during the ASP WQS 6-Star event this morning.

Gavin Roberts (Scottburgh), ASP WQS campaigner Rudy Palmboom (Bluff) and former ASP South African Pro Junior Champion Klee Strachan (Winkelspruit) are the last remaining South African surfers in this year’s ASP WQS 6-Star Mr Price Pro Ballito and will fly the flag high, as they take on some of the world’s finest over the weekend.

Netting their collective best ever results at both the Mr Price Pro Ballito and on the ASP WQS tour, the three surfers have proven sensational in everything from powerful three meter (8-10ft) barrels to punchy one meter (3ft) beach break conditions seen at this event, holding equal ninth place positions as they advance into the Round of 16.

Roberts continued his relaxed, yet polished form during his Round of 24 match-up, earning just enough to advance in second place behind today’s top scorer Alejo Muniz (BRA) 15.33 (out of 20.00).

Roberts’ powerful turns off one of the last waves of the heat were awarded with a 7.67 (out of 10), the South Coaster edging out Jean da Silva (Bra) thanks to Alejo Muniz, who pulled off one of the last good waves of the heat allowing the South African the opportunity to solidify his second place with a heat score of 13.20 (out of 20.00).

“There’s no pressure on me, every heat is like a free surf and it seems to be working so I’m going to keep on doing it and hopefully make the final,” said Roberts. This is the furthest I have made it at the Mr Price Pro and it’s the most points I’ve ever got in a WQS event before. It’s kind of funny after doing the tour for three years, I finally quit and now I’m getting more points than ever!”

Palmboom and Strachan took a similarly relaxed approach to their heats, the pair of youngsters advancing convincingly in first place.

Palmboom opened up strong with a 6.33 (out of 10.00) on his first wave and then backed it up on a running left to score a 7.17 (out of 10.00), taking a convincing heat win over one of Australia’s finest young surfers Matt Wilkinson (Aus) and yesterday’s standout William Cardosa (Bra).

read full story at asp

Supertubes Showdown
Presented by Xcel

Jeffreys Bay South Africa
5 – 21 June 2009

Final results:

1. Ryan Payne
2. Warren Dean
3. Deon Lategan
4. Stan Badger

Best move:
Deon Lategan – Firewire surfboard.

Best barrel:
Ryan Payne – Sector 9 skateboard.

Wave of the Day:
Warren Dean – R2000 from Billabong

Victory For Ryan Payne In Cooking Supertubes Barrels

Jeffrey’s Bay — In what can only be described as perfect waves, Ryan Payne outpointed Warren Dean in a dramatic and incredibly close final of the inaugural Xcel Supertubes Showdown. The surf varied between four to six-foot, and most of the surfers throughout the event were just chasing the tube – the highest scoring move in surfing.

One of the standouts of the day was 14-year-old Dylan Lightfoot, who had been charging the solid surf the previous day. despite putting on a sterling performance he was left agonisingly close to the final, needing 0.4 to advance. Remi Peterson and Steven Sawyer were the two other junior surfers who were invited into the event and both gave fine performances in the challenging Supertubes surf.

Head judge Mike Ginsberg also commented on Steven Sawyers’ performance. “Steven was surfing exceptionally well,” said Ginsberg. “He was surfing really tight, and he got the best tube out of the groms, and it was on his backhand.”

Another competitor, Ashley Walter, caught a wave in his heat that he called, “My best wave in seventeen years,” giving more evidence of how good the waves were for the event.

read more stort at surfersvillage

O’Neill CWC: Day Three Highlights. 40ft Swell Imminent

Cape Town, South Africa – Jordy Smith was greeted with howling winds and the onset of one of Cape Town’s biggest storms as he got into the water on this third day of competition at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic South Africa.

Flying in straight from the Reunion Island, Jordy was not about to be deterred by the extreme conditions – pulling out a score of 8.5 on his first wave back in his home country.

“It is pretty wild and cold,” he said. “It’s like gale force winds out there. I got on a few waves and couldn’t even move for the wind – but there are some fun rides out there.”

The O’Neill Cold Water Classic South Africa ambassador is the name to look out for in this competition, but he’s not thinking too far ahead. “Right now all I’m looking forward to is getting out of this wetsuit and getting warm,” Jordy said.

“I’ve seen a few storms like the one coming in when I was younger,” he said. “You need to just hide away indoors for the day with a jacuzzi and the heating on.”

The predicted storm is now brewing, and although the turmoil has already started – it will be properly hitting these shores from tomorrow. In the latest update from local surf forecaster, Spike, he says; “We should see 40 foot sets on the outer reefs by Wednesday morning. Even for any Hawaiian big wave surfer – this is going to be big.”

read more at http://surfeuropemag.com/