Hurley SA Junior Champs in Durban – Days 2-3

Hurley SA Junior Champs in Durban  – Day 3

Perfect conditions and small waves were the order of the morning for day three of the Hurley SA Junior Championships at New Pier in Durban.

It was a typical hot Durban day with light winds and fun left and right hand surf peaks. “It is a bit small,” said Contest Director Cyril Nel. “There are still some good scores coming through and it’s totally contestable.”

Jordan Maree quickly showed everyone just how contestable it was out there, with a blistering performance that caused everyone to re evaluate just exactly what was happening at the shifting peaks of the New Pier. The hunt for that ticket to Australia was obviously on his mind after Jarred Veldhuis scored a heat total of 14,25 yesterday and was sitting comfortably in the lead in the hunt for the ‘I’m Off To Oz, Bru’ prize.

Jordan’s first scoring wave was a solid left-hander that saw the judges reward him with 8 points, the highest score of the day up to that point. This was just the start. A few waves later Jordan paddled into another left, that opened up on the inside and allowed him to bang a series of big turns off the top, and an even better score of 8.75, to give him a heat total of 16.75 and the lead in the ‘I’m Off To Oz, Bru’ ratings.

“I was hoping for better scores for those waves,” said Jordan after the heat. ” On my second wave I took off and did a little turn before setting up for a big turn, and then one more. I was pumping through to the inside and I saw the section coming so I just went for it and went as hard as I could for one more turn. I actually dug a rail and fell off on that one, but the judges were stoked and rewarded me for the wave. I’m really happy to be in the lead for the ticket toAustraliabut I wish I had a bit of a bigger lead.”

His fears were well-founded, as the very next heat saw Adin Masencamp from Boland absolutely tearing the bag out of it to score  a high single wave score of a 9.5 (the highest at that point), and it was game on. Adin was chasing hard for the 16.75 but nothing came through for the middle section of the heat before a final set came through.

Adin paddled into a good right-hander and blasted two big hits off the top before falling, and the beach was left waiting for the judge’s scores to drop. Adin then scored a 7 point ride, falling agonisingly short of the total needed to usurp Maree from the number one slot.

The winner of the ‘I’m Off To Oz, Bru’ award wins a chaperoned return trip to Australia for the Australian Open Of Surfing presented by Hurley and Billabong, to be held during the second week of February in 2012.

This afternoon’s surf dropped off, the wind came up softly from the northeast, and it was all about small wave surfing at the New Pier in Durban. Lewellyn Whittaker, National Junior Team Coach and National Surfing Team Captain, discussed small surfing and strategy.

“In conditions like this, you’ve got to go out and get the job done,” said Lewellyn. “It’s small and onshore, and in these conditions anyone can win a heat.”

It has a lot to do with the surfer’s energy, reckons Lewellyn. “In these small conditions he judges have had to widen the scale,” said Lewellyn. “Surfers need to get an average score up on the board as soon as they can, and a wave with one good move will give you an average score of about four and half points. This is what is needed straight off the bat.

“When I was young I was coached by Bill Sharp, and I remember him telling me that so much of your speed can be generated from paddling into the wave. If you paddle really hard and have energy when you take off, you can start the wave with loads of speed.”

Lewellyn is quick to acknowledge the coaching skills of the legendary Grahame Hynes. “Grahame has quite a few tricks up his sleeve, and one of them is that winning a heat starts on the beach. It involves when you paddle out in relation to the rest of your competitors and where you end up in the line-up. I don’t want to give away all the secrets, but certain surfers begin the heat sitting in dominant positions.”

Small waves are predicted for the rest of the event, and contestants will do well to make notes of what Lewellyn and Grahame have to say regards small wave surfing and how to impress the judges.

Hurley SA Junior Champs at Durban – Day 2

The early forecast for the next days is still holding steady for some contestable waves, before a looming onshore rears it’s head for the later parts of the weekend.

As it is the contest is on track to be run off over the weekend and there will be a crowning of a our brand new Junior Champs this weekend. Not to forget the Freedom Cup for the winning Province, as well as the ‘I’m Going To Australia, Bru’ prize of a trip toAustraliafor the highest points scorer in the event.

Team spirit is on the rise, and EP are one of the provinces who are really demonstrating what a bit of team love and cheering can do. Kai Woolf, an u13 girl fromEasternProvince  was so encouraged by her team mates to win her opening heat yesterday.

Jarred Veldhuis (above) from EP is the new leader in the ‘I’m Off To Oz, Bru’ competition after a cracker of a heat in the U17 Boys round  one yesterday. Jarred banked a couple of decent waves early on in the heat before picking up a clean little left-hander and boosting into the skies to pull off a clean air reverse and the highest heat score of the event so far. After an early bankable score of 6.75, Jarred went on to score a 7.5 for his big turn to take the heat win and the lead in the Top Points Score log.

Contest Director Cyril Nel explains. “”It was a 7.5 score for a single move.  We took many things into account, like the conditions, the wave sizes and what the others surfers had been doing and scoring. Jarred pulled off the first progressive move of the contest so far, and was rewarded for it.”

There is fierce competition for the ‘I’m Off To Oz, Bru’ competition, and Jarred knows that he’s got to keep the dream alive if he wants to win the trip. “I’m really stoked to be winning the ratings for the moment,” said Jarred. “I was feeling good after that first wave, and when I saw the section on that left I just thought that I would go for it, and hope for the best. When I landed it I was so stoked. I went into the wind and it helped me to pull it off.”

Jarred’s second score saw him with a heat total of 14.25 and into the Highest Points score ratings lead. “I hope that I can keep up the lead,” he said. “My biggest competition is probably going to come from my team mate and friend Steven Sawyer.”

The highest points score contest is far from over however, and anyone can take the lead and win the trip to Oz at any stage of the game.

After the blistering Jarred Veldhuis heat, the next person to take to water and impress was young Matt McGillivray , an U15 team member from EP. Matt has a reputation forged from charging hard at big Supertubes in Jeffrey’s Bay, and also knows how to whip it around in the small stuff, as displayed yesterday. Matt picked up one running right-hander on which he managed to smash 6 big forehand turns, riding it all the way to the shallows for a score of 7.25. Everyone’s ears pricked up when they heard this score, as this put Matt in the picture for the trip toAustralia. With a heat total of 14.25 to catch up to Jarred Veldhuis, another 7.25 would see Matt in the lead.

The heat went slow, and Matt and his fellow competitors were left scratching for waves towards the closing minutes. As Matt saw his chances of going toAustraliain the ‘I’m Off To Oz, Bru’ dwindling, a set popped up and Matt scrambled into one. Going for broke, Matt strung as many powerful moves together as he can, and everyone waited with bated breath for the wave score, but it came up as 6.5, and Matt was left .5 of a point behind the winning score. Jarred might retain his slot at number one, but Matt has made it very clear that he will be gunning for that ticket to Australia for the Australian Open Of Surfing presented by Hurley and Billabong.

See: Hurley SA Junior Junior Champs in Durban – Day 1  http://stfrancischronicle.com/2011/10/04/great-excitement-at-hurley-sa-junior-champs-in-durbs/

All photos by Karen Wilson/ Hurley ©

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