28 APRIL 2010 - UPDATE
The 2010 St Francis Resorts South African Longboard Champs presented by Oxbow are well and truly underway with three days of competition having been completed. Day one dawned with shifty peaks and a NW wind at Cape St Francis' Seal Point as the premier Open Men's division took to the water. Standouts in the first round included Justin Bing, Dylan McCleod, Matthew Moir, Brad Weare, Michael Hill and Ryan Harris, who all recorded convincing heat wins. As the day progressed the conditions improved dramatically with the incoming tide and by the afternoon the competitors were enjoying 4 -5 ft sets with a light winds. The first day concluded with the Rugby Legends division that saw some of South Africa's past rugby heroes take to the water in a fun team event. The likes of AJ Venter, Rob Louw and Warren Britz entertained the capacity crowd as they went head to head in the running walls offered by this world class surf break.
An overnight front saw day two dawn with absolutely perfect Seal Point conditions in the 3 - 4ft region with a SW offshore blowing. As the perfect lines reeled down the point there was plenty of action, thrills and spills across all the divisions as the contest continued with round one and into the first of the repercharge heats. Seal Point's notorious 'full stop' rock claimed many a victim on this day and was the cause of a number of broken fins, dinged longboards and nasty bruises. The divisions that got the most crowd support had to have been the Open Ladies division and the Girls division as the teams cheered on their respective surfers from the point. Rising above the pack to put on stellar performances were Simone Robb, Roxy Towill and Michelle Hill in the Open Ladies and Bianca Butiendag, Hannah Bing and Faye Zoetmulder in the Girls division.
After two days of classic conditons day three saw competitors battling it out in less than ideal onshore conditions. The morning's low tide was particularly tricky as sets were few and far between. The remaineder of the repercharge heats were surfed on day three making this the make or break day for a number of surfers and crucial for the team points and positions. Prceeding the repercharge heats the Open Mens round three heats were sent into the water with the high tide bringing a lift in the swell and more consistent sets in the 3 - 4 ft region. Mathhew Moir was by far the man to beat in this round as he blitzed his heat to score a 9 and a 8 point ride in the tricky, onshore conditions. Other standouts of this round included Dylan McCleod, Justin Bing, Michael Grendon and Ryan Harris. The Junior Boys and Girls heats concluded the day with the contest director deciding to call it a day and wait for more favourable conditions on day four.
