Quiksilver Riders Blog

Quiksilver King Of The Groms contender Slade Prestwich © Luke Patterson

Top Junior Surfers Have Sights Set On Victory at The Quiksilver Pro Junior and King Of The Groms

Durban – With the Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms just around the corner, the country’s top junior surfers are gearing up for some serious competitive surfing and are on the hunt for victory.

2010 South African Junior Team Captain Beyrick De Vries is one of the top seeds for the Quiksilver Pro Junior, but he will have his work cut out for him, as the rest of the field in this highly competitive group of surfers will be snapping at his heels for a win. Shaun Joubert from Mossel Bay has been performing well of late, Durban surfer Chad Du Toit has been traveling extensively and racking up some good results abroad, and dark horse Nic Godfrey from Cape St Francis is frothing for a victory. Brendon Gibben from Kommetjie and Dale Staples from St Francis Bay cannot be discounted either, with both having good experience at competition at this level as well as both with big wins behind them. The event minisite is now live at: www.quikprojunior.co.za where you can find out more about these surfers.

The winner of the Quiksilver Pro Junior will take home US$ 2,500 (R20 000) and 1500 valuable ASP points.

In the Quiksilver King Of The Groms competition there are two hotly contested divisions, U16 and U14, with the winner of the U16 division heading off to compete in the International King Of The Groms event to be held in France. This contest will be held in conjunction with the Quiksilver Pro France World Tour event in September. There is also a massive R19 500 in prize money up for grabs for these two divisions with the U16 winner taking R5 000. Favourites for the Quiksilver King Of The Groms in Durban are Slade Prestwich from Scottburgh, as well as goofy-footer Steven Sawyer from Jeffrey’s Bay, Diran Zakarian from Melkbosstrand, and Dylan Lightfoot from St Francis Bay. Others in with a chance are Jarred Veldhuis and Benji Brand, both hailing from that hotbed of junior surfing, Kommetjie in Cape Town. The King Of The Groms event is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa and will count towards crowning the PST (Pro Surf Tour) champions for 2010.

In amongst the fierce competition going down, there will also be a speciality ‘Expression Session’ taking place, with two awards and two prizes. The first award is the ‘Red Bull Got Wings Award’. This is an award that will go to the surfer that performs the biggest and best aerial maneuver in the Expression Session, and it comes with a R1,500 prize. The second is the ‘Resolution Best Wave Award’ that will go to the surfer that surfs the best on any single wave in the Expression Session. There will also be a R1,500 prize for this award.

Every competitor in the Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms will also receive a free ticket to go watch the Ultimate Wave Tahiti at the IMAX Theatre in Gateway. The movie features Kelly Slater and Raimana Van Bastolaer surfing one of the planet’s most challenging waves, Tahiti’s Teahupo’o.

The Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms is brought to you by Durban and Resolution. Other sponsors include ASP, Surfing South Africa, Supersport and Red Bull.

Beyrick de Vries helping out one of the I-Care kids in the water.

Durban – An inspiring addition to the Quiksilver Pro Junior presented by Durban and Resolution is the Quiksilver Surf Day. This is a day at the beach where Quiksilver and Durban bring together surfers from various backgrounds through their love of surfing, and have them surf and interact with professional surfers and top juniors in attendance for the Quiksilver Pro Junior. Local professional surfers like Daniel Redman, Simon Nicholson, Kyle Lane and Sarah Baum, along with the top junior surfers like Brendon Gibbens, Beyrick de Vries and Slade Prestwich will be there to surf with the kids, give advice, and help them with their surfing. The Quiksilver Surf Day will take place on Thursday 1 April, before the start of the Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms, which begin on Friday 2 April

Alan Wallace who runs I-Care for street kids, will have 8 kids at the surf day, and is happy at the prospect. “At I-Care we look after a number of homeless street kids, and it is a really great thing to be able to offer these kids a day at the beach,” commented Alan. “Quiksilver really do a good job and spoil these kids. Instead of being there to just make up the numbers, the day really gives them a sense of meaning and makes them feel special for who they are.”

There will also be 12 surfers from the Umthombo organisation (www.umthombo.org) at the Surf Day. Umthombo also runs a successful organisation for the reformation and rehabilitation of South African street children. Cyril Mquadi, a long time member of the professional surf scene, has actively been involved and is the driving force in making surfing and ocean awareness a regular activity for the Umthombo kids. Some of the kids have really taken to surfing and have shown great potential for the future.

Finally there will be 10 surfers from Umzumbe Surf Club on the South Coast at the day’s event. These guys also come from disadvantaged backgrounds but know their way around the lineup, having spent countless hours in the water and out of trouble at Umzumbe. These surfers might be slightly more proficient in amongst the waves, but they are still without many basics, as well as luxuries, that normal surfers take for granted.

Every surfer invited to attend the day’s events will receive a Quiksilver T-shirt, and there will be lunch and cold drinks served for all. Surfboards and all the necessary equipment for the day will be supplied by Quiksilver for all those children who don’t have their own surfing equipment. Proceedings will get underway at 10:30am on Thursday the 1st of April

The Quiksilver Surf Day will also be a day for Durban media and other assembled media to see how effectively these kids have taken to the water, and how much of a role surfing and the sea has played in their rehabilitation. If you would like to attend this fun day on the beach please apply for media accreditation through:

Olivia Jones
Olivia Jones Communications
cell: 082 537 8840
office landline: 031 303 9341
email: oj@oliviajones.co.za
alternate email: oliviajones@webmail.co.za

Quiksilver Pro Junior 2010 presented by Durban and Resolution – North Beach: 2-4 April

Durban – Quiksilver South Africa is proud to announce the upcoming Grade 2 ASP Quiksilver Pro Junior surfing event which will take place in Durban this Easter. The event is set to be held at North Beach and will run from the 2nd to the 4th of April 2010. The event will be bolstered by the addition of the Quiksilver King Of The Groms divisions as well as a “Future Stars” division.

The Quiksilver Pro Junior is for surfers under the age of 20 and will have a total of US$ 10,000 in prize money (R75, 000). The event will showcase a full contingent of junior surfers including the likes of on-form SA Junior Team Captain Beyrick De Vries from Durban, Brendon Gibbens and Matt Bromley, both from Kommetjie, Shaun Joubert from Mossel Bay and Dale Staples and Nick Godfrey from St Francis Bay. Durban stalwarts Chad Du Toit and Shawn Dennis will also be representing at the event which should see a strong field of over 60 of the country’s best junior surfers on Durban’s Golden Mile.

The Quiksilver King Of The Groms event is made up of two division, the premier U16 division and an U14 division. The winner of the U16 premier division will take home R5, 000 and will go with his coach to compete in the international King Of The Groms event in France in September during the Quiksilver Pro World Tour event, all paid for by Quiksilver. The winner of the International King Of The Groms event in France is rewarded with a wildcard into the Quiksilver Pro France and Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast World Tour events in 2011. The Quiksilver King Of The Groms is a SSA Sanctioned PST event and will have R19,500 in prize money on offer.

The Future Stars event will feature 8 surfers who have come through the Surfing South Africa transformation and development surfing program, who will get a chance to surf off for a spot in the Pro Junior main event. Quiksilver and Surfing South Africa decided that this event would be the perfect platform to showcase the progress that SSA has made with the transformation of the sport of surfing in South Africa.

Quiksilver South Africa Marketing Manager Dane Patterson is upbeat about the upcoming event “We are very excited about staging a Pro Junior event of this magnitude in April,” said Patterson of the event. “There is a currently a wealth of junior surfers around South Africa doing big things at the moment and to be able to get them all on Durban’s newly renovated beachfront together and competing for some serious prize money is going to be unreal. With the winner of the main event taking home US$ 2,500 and the U16 King of the Groms winner receiving a trip to France we are certain that there will be a show of some fierce and attractive surfing.”

All event information, results, videos, photo’s and surfer profiles can be found at the event mini-site after the 15th of March: www.quikprojunior.co.za

Entries are open at: www.aspafrica.com (U20) and www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za (U16 and U14).

Hey, it’s almost time – we are heading up to Tofinho, Mozambique on a surf trip this weekend. We will be shooting images and a TV show for Boardriders TV with all the latest Quiksilver boardshorts that will be coming this summer (Aug – Dec)..

We got a good crew coming: Brandon Jackson, Dan Redman, Beyrick De Vries, Kyle Lane, Mikey February, Slade Prestwich, Brendon Gibbens and Davey van Zyl. Tere will also be two filmers and Luke patterson shooting stills.

We are up there for 8 days and are staying on the beach.. should be lots of fun – just hope the sun is out and there are some waves..

Check the photo of the point when it is on – wouldnt mind some of this!!!
Patto

Piha Beach, New Zealand – In an exciting final day of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships, Team South Africa place a solid fourth in the team event, as well as scoring final places in two divisions in the individuals event. Team Australia won the Championships from Hawaii in second, and the USA in the third, with South Africa right behind them in fourth.

In the U18 girl’s division Durban surfer and Roxy team rider Sarah Baum fought a tough battle, and despite some strong rides and her typical goofy-foot flair, ended up in third place. Baum had been finding form all week in the beachbreak conditions of the venue, but

South African Team Captain Beyrick De Vries

fell short of a big result in the final heat.

Another Durban surfer and Quiksilver rider Beyrick De Vries also had a great week, surfing dynamically and turning heads in all of his heats. Beyrick looked like he was headed for victory in the U18 boy’s division, and had many people calling him as the man to beat. Although De Vries surfed an excellent final, he came up against a crew of determined international surfers who were going crazy in the three-foot right hand bowls, and found himself in fourth place. Team captain De Vries surfed a good contest and captained his team well, and his place in the final was a fine testament to a job well done.

The U18 division title was won by Brazilian sensation Gabriel Medina with a final heat score of 19.90 points out of a possible 20 from Jordin Watson (Aus), Tamaroa McComb (Tah) and Beyrick de Vries (ZAF). In the U16 division Australian Matt Banting came out on top while Aussie team mate Tyler Wright fended off a strong field to take the U18 Girls title.

In more good news Quiksilver surfer Jarred Veldhuis from Kommetjie was awarded a 2010 ISA Individual Scholarship, along with fellow South African team member Papi Makanyane.

Quiksilver South Africa’s Marketing Manager Dane Patterson was pleased with the results. “We are very happy with Beyrick, Sarah and Jarred’s achievements,” said Dane. “They flew the SA flag high. The event was great and really showcased the best junior surfers in the world, Beyrick was on fire and really proved that he’s one of the best junior surfers in the world at the moment. He will be a forced to be reckoned with in the years to come!”

The Olympic style ISA Aloha Cup, which pits national teams against each other, was also won by Team Australia. France finished in second, with South Africa in third place. All results and final points can be found on the ISA event website: www.isaworldjuniors.com

For this event the South African team was funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), and Quiksilver South Africa were the official South African team clothing sponsor. Power Balance and Skullcandy also gave their support to the team.

Surfing South Africa is the organisation recognised by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, (SASCOC) Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the International Surfing Association (ISA) as the governing body for the sport in South Africa.

So they still havent run round two yet.

Today the wind was pumping onshore and according to windguru the wind should be creating some windswell for tomorrow, being wednesday.

Chady Du Toit managed to pull up two good tcores and jump into round 3 with myself and Klee. Round two should be underway super early in order to run as many heats as possible when the waves are actually surfable.

I am sitting at the public internet place at the caravan park. Bored outta my mind and lookin for something to do, if anybody knows anything to do in sydney please let me know.
cheers
beyrick

yoooooo.

So after a week of flat waves in Narrabeen, Sydney, some windswell has finally arrived, not huge but surfable and contestable. So far the Zaffa crew are 50% through, unfortunately Kyle lane and Casey ” Cdog” Grant, battled to find waves in their heats and are in round two.

I drew the brazilian phenom, Gabrielle Madina who most of you have seen in the King of the groms final in france this year where he scored two perfect tens to win the final, however he battled to find a good wave and i managed to post a 6.67 and a low four to take the win, skip round two secure my self a spot in round three. The other south african was Klee Skei Strachan who managed to pull off a last minute miracle and jump to first, so he will find himself in round three too.

Chad du toit is yet to surf his round one heat. i will keep you guys updated as to how he does tomorrow.

Unfortunately both the girls, Sarah Baum and Bianca Buitandag were not able to find the requirements in order to progress straight into round 3 but you can bet your bottom dollar that all the south africans in round 2 will give it horns and more than likely find a spot in round three!

cheers for now
beyrick

HEY.

So this is my first blog in ages…December holidays in umhlanga got the best of me.

I had an awesome month rest of traveling and although relaxing was nice…i am too amped to surf another heat, i am currently in Australia, sydney for the world juniors at Narrabeen where all the top under 21′s from all over the globe will be competing,from a ypung age i been coming over to australia to do the under 16 contests and have watched all the older guys like rudy palmboom and jordy smith compete here and since those are some of my heroes i have always dreamed of doing this contest.

From Sydney i fly straight to Aukland, New Zealand, for the Quiksilver ISA world juniors which is the U18 World champs…I was recently chosen as captain for the team going over there and due to South africa, in my eyes, have the best juniors in the world, have strong faith that this will be the year in which South Africa bring home the gold!!!!! individualy and the overall team cup!

I will keep updating as to how many of these goals we manage to tick off and which ones, if any, slip passed us.

cheers
beyrick de vries

hey weblanders!

So i am super stoked! I have extended my trip in hawaii for another week due to a jack up in the swell forecast, looks like i actually am going to witness the infamous Banzai Pipeline pumping! I am frothing at the mouth to get a stand tall barrel and hopefully you will be able to see the outcome in the next issue of Zigzag surf mag.

This is what i travelled half way around the world for, to get some big waves, big barrels and hopefully i wont be too scared and i can get some big shacks!

Until then, its still farely small, just rippable waves at otw and rocky’s rights and lefts.

I will keep you informed about whether the swell does come and things do go according to plan.

Until then.
leka!
Beyrick.

OK! so i am here for only six more days and i still have not witnessed the inside of a barrel on the north shore f O’ahu…hawaii.

the trade winds, i think north east, are perminantly howling, and its not offshore! Its crosshore so even if there were waves, the wind would be too hard to surf well.

Had a surf this morning with Conrad Carr from Malibu, california and as we thought that we were going to have one of those really fun surfs with no one out on our peak, guess what happened? The whole of the north shore decided to come surf at once so we just came straight in before getting to agrovated.

On the positive side, i am not looking as pasty as i was before i arrived here, i got a slight tan today and, have not hit the reef yet, touch wood.

The swell is meant to arrive in the morning, not outstanding but at least a little push behind the waves.

I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Cheers.
beyrick.