Breezy onshore conditions and a slight surge in swell greeted competitors on Sunday’s final day of competition at the Billabong Junior Series finale, and the first heat of the day – the U12 girls final – was sent straight out into the Seal Point lineup.
Gabi Herbst was the surfer of the morning with a few incredible rides in the mixed-up conditions, including an excellent 8.0 out of 10 for one ride which secured the title. Sarah Scott was the runner-up.
Kai Hall was the champion in the U12 boys final, banking one huge score for two critical turns on a big set wave for a near-perfect score of 9.33 and an unassailable lead. He was closely followed by Joel Fowles who surfed impressively on his backhand.
The U14 girls division was a slow heat, with low scores and at the end, it was Aimee du Preez who emerged as the winner, with Olivia Winter in second place.
Luke Thompson caught 11 waves in his final heat to defeat James Ribbink in what was an exciting U14 boys heat. Thompson’s strategy of hard and fast surfing, catch anything that moved, proved to be the winning formula, with Ribbink, Daniel Emslie and Brad Scott filling up the minor slots.
As the tide dropped out and the onshore waves continued to pour through relentlessly, the U16 girls headed out for their final, and it was an action-packed exchange with three of the girls on their backhand and one on her forehand.
Zoe Steyn emerged victorious with a convincing win against counterparts Kayla Nogueira, Ceara Knight and Caroline Brown who placed second, third and fourth respectively.
The U16 boys was another final dogged by few waves and low scores. Tide-Lee Ireland snagged the win from York van Jaarsveldt with a combined score of less than nine points. Mitch du Preez and Reilly Maré finished off the results with third and fourth spots.
The World Surf League (WSL) Junior Women’s final was a nail-biting affair as Steyn and Woolf took centre stage. Both had been surfing phenomenally all event and it was going to be about the surfer who caught the best waves. That was Steyn, and she won the final by a close margin.
Then Max Elkington and Luke Slijpen took to the water to battle it out for event honours in the WSL Junior Men’s event. It was all about Elkington, who took the win and broke his year-long victory drought with his first place.
‘I haven’t had a win this year, and for a bit of last year, so I’m really happy with the win today,’ said a stoked Elkington. ‘I also won it last here two years ago, so am just very happy with the win.’
PHOTO: Elkington and Steyn, by Thurtell