3 February 2023: Long Beach, Kommetjie: After a few days of tiny waves in the deep south, a fresh swell marched into Long Beach this morning to greet all the surfers of the first Rip Curl GromSearch tournament of the year.
What started out as a 2-day event on the calendar quickly filled out to be a 3-day contest due to unprecedented interest in the competition. A Surfing South Africa event, Rip Curl and SSA have forged a great partnership with this series. As a result, the future of the Rip Curl GromSearch series in South Africa looks incredibly positive.
The morning started with a 2-3ft swell filling and an offshore southeasterly wind. Kicking off with the U14 Boys, there was some fast and intense surfing, as competitors all wanted to do well and stake their claim for the year in the first event of 2023.
Kai Stubbs scored the highest points of the round, using local knowledge to bank a combined heat total of 13.66 out of a possible 20 points. Other surfers who performed well in this round were Ben Esterhuyse, Ashbjorn Gwenin, Adam Faclier, Jean Luc Du Plessis and Loghann Tilsley.
The top performers in the U12 Boys were Adam Bristow, Valdemar Gwenin and Sean Tayler. At the same time, Anastasia Venter stood out in the U16 Girls quarterfinals along with Louise Lepront.
The waves were on fire when the U16 Boys hit the water. Some 4-5 foot sets poured through, and the boys were on it!
The high tide saw some great barrel opportunities for the competitors while non-competitors were pulling into some ferocious barrels at Crons. Levi Epenetos and Rory Dace lead the first half of the heats with some superior wave selection and big turns, with Joshua Jefferis and Kieran Murphy adding to this division’s list of top performers.
The forecast for tomorrow looks equally as good, with great waves predicted for the whole day. Offshore winds and the afternoon high tide adds positively to the conditions. Thanks to Surfing South Africa and their judges for pulling off an excellent start to this tournament.
All the day’s results, as well as the schedule for tomorrow, can be found on LiveHeats here – https://liveheats.com/events/95153/schedule
Tomorrow Saturday, 4 February, will see a 7:30 am start, with the U18 Boys division hitting the water for the first time.
The Rip Curl GromSearch contests are all Premier SAST events, with 1,000 points going to the winners and prizemoney per Premier events.
Video: Excellent Surf For Opening Day Of Rip Curl GromSearch #1 In Cape Town
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