Words and Photo’s by Gero Lilleike
I had the pleasure of watching a few heats on Day 3 of the Billabong SA Champs which took place at Long Beach, Kommetjie, Cape Town. Apart from the mostly gloomy weather, it was a great experience and it’s always inspiring to watch our local talent doing what they do best, shred and rip and shred some more.
In my opinion, the waves weren’t the greatest and the surfers had a tough time picking the right waves to get the scores. Even though conditions weren’t ideal, the competitors still managed to put on a good show for the supporters and judges on the beach with some powerful maneuvers and aerial assaults. All the surfers seemed to be surfing well considering the conditions and standout surfing performances included Nikita Robb, Klee Strachan, Dan Redman, Beyrick De Vries, Chad Du Toit, Greg Emslie and Mikey February.
On the fourth and final day the competition moved location to nearby Misty Cliffs which apparently offered nice, clean 3-4 ft surf for the competitors to tear apart. It was all business in the Misty Cliffs boardroom and the day was packed with big hacks, aerials and the odd barrel, or two. Here are the final results for the 2012 Billabong SA Champs:
U20 Girls
1. Heidi Palmboom (KZNC) / SA Champ
2. Tanika Hoffman (WP)
3. Emma Smith (EP)
4. Nikita Kekana (SKZN)
U20 Boys
1. Mikey February (WP) / SA Champ
2. Dylan Lightfoot (EP)
3. Jarred Veldhuis (EP)
4. Steven Sawyer (EP)
Open Girls
1. Nikita Robb (Bor) / SA Champ
2. Chantelle Rautenbach (Bol)
3. Tarryn Chudleigh (WP)
4. Krystal Tavenor (Bol)
Open Mens
1. Casey Grant (SKZN) / SA Champ
2. Dan Redman (KZNC)
3. Beyrick De Vries (KZNC)
4. Greg Emslie (Bor)
VonZipper Air Show – Diran Zakarian (Bol)
Kustom Kustomized Maneuver – Jared Veldhuis (WP)
DaKine Highest Heat Score Award – Dan Redman (KZNC)
ZigZag Blowing Up Award – Max Armstrong (WP)
BuchuLife Performance Award – Nikita Kekana (SKZN)
Final Team Placings:
1. WP – 43950
2. KZNC – 38782
3. EP – 37418
4. BOR – 36840
5. BOL – 35528
6. SKZN – 33990
7. SC – 24660
8. Zul – 19736
9. GSA – 10
Check out the highlight photo’s of the day at www.facebook.com/Billabong.South.Africa or http://billabongsachamps.co.za/. Video highlights can be found at https://vimeo.com/user4632157
Leatherfoot 