You may have noticed a delay in the announcement of the Round 3 winners and that’s because voting is becoming extremely difficult. The Judges really contemplated this one and made sure to give each contender a good look. That being said, at one stage it looked to be like the only person that could beat Davey Van Zyl was Davey Van Zyl. Man was dropping banger after banger one upping himself each and every time. Eventually a couple other surfers put in the work and got some A-grade clips.
First up was the Public Vote. This ended up being a two horse race between Luke Thompson and DVZ. Both surfers had banger clips and the votes seem to roll in for the two of them. However, Davey’s wave seemed to be a crowd favourite and the scales tipped in his favour.
It was then down to the judges to cast their vote and decide who would take home Round 3 and the Local Hero prize!
This is what Monster had to say:
“Jeepers! It’s been nonstop this year. The Saffa’s don’t rest! Clutch 2023 has had some of the craziest clips this country’s seen.
We took a while deciding this round because there were so many bangers to choose from. In the end we just simply couldn’t overlook Davey’s #66 barrel to turn to barrel combo, it was mind blowing. DVZ’s been on a tear and has dropped at leats 5 clips that could all win. He get’s our vote.
For Local Hero it was an easy choice for us. Paul Sampson’s two full-rotes in a heat is mental! Had to give hime the vote.”
The Zigzag team deliberated amongst themselves and finally came to a decision. Zag Publisher, Andy Davis said this:
“Oh man! It just doesn’t stop! You’d think we’d run out of clips after three rounds but the Saffa surfers just keep hammering away. The Zag team debated this one for a while but in the end it was a unanimous vote, DVZ’s #66 was too good not to win. When it comes to right-hand point breaks he’s on another level! Two crazy tubes and the snap-to-tube transition was something else… He gets our vote.
For the Local Hero we went with Paul Sampson. Landing two full-rotes on one wave is pretty wild and to do it during a competition is mind blowing!”
This is what Eli Beukes had to say:
“Paul’s wave was definitely pretty crazy, big no grab full rotation into the flats then tops it off with another air at the end. Impressive, technical, and entertaining.
Davey’s wave just looked like an absolute gem. Getting spat out of the first section, doing two turns, and then going straight into another barrel section. Love the look of going from a turn straight into the barrel, just an all-round well surfed wave. I think Davey honestly could be one of the most barrelled surfers in SA too haha. He gets my vote as well.”
So that’s that for Round 3. The votes were unanimous, Davey Van Zyl and Paul Sampson take home the prizes. Round 4 entries close 15 July! Make sure to send in your clips ASAP! Send to: online@zigzag.co.za
Check out our edit of the best clips of the Round:
Cape Town Lens: Cape Town Fish Hoek Bay (45)