Surf event opens summer festival
Berea Masters surfer took top honours in his division at the Lizzard Hurricane Summer Surf competition.
MORE than 100 entrants participated in the 2016 Lizzard Hurricane Summer Surf competition which launched the Umhlanga Summer Festival hosted by Just Juice.
Conditions on Saturday were very tricky with rain and small 1-2 foot surf. However on Sunday it all turned on and surfers were greeted with glassy 3-4 ft waves with very little wind.
Masters (35+) surfer Rob Moore Boyle was a late entry but arrived with a determination and won most of his heats throughout the competition. It was a very close affair in the final and he narrowly beat his opponents Gary Van Weirengen, Andrew Banks and Paul Canning. Judges had Rob and Gary as tie first and reverted back to highest wave score of the heat which went to Rob with a 7.5 ride.
The Open Men’s Division was won by Ballito local Richard Kidd who displayed solid consistent surfing over the two days and took home R5 000 cash from Lizzard for his efforts. Mt Moreland surfer Matt Kruger was thrilled to place second and pocket R2 500 as it was his first competition in many years. Chad du Toit from the Berea placed third for the third year in a row and vows he will be back next year for a win. Dan Redman got fourth place and shared the balance of R2 500 with Chad.
Cape Town surfer Natasha Van Greunan showed some real talent and not only took home the win and R5 000 in the Open Ladies event, but also won a further R1 000 cash from Zigzag magazine for being the surfer who stood out over the weekend. Runner up was Lynne Mackey, Nicole Pallet took home third and Heather Clark from the South Coast was fourth.
Hurricane Surfboards gave a custom made board valued at around R5 200 to Matt Kruger as the surfer who not only surfed brilliantly, but also has a great attitude and approach to people and the ocean.
The Just Juice Tag event was again the highlight of the weekend with local Umhlanga Club ‘Wave Wizards’ taking on their fierce rivals from North Beach Durban ‘North Swell Club’. Local Beyrick de Vries came alive and posted a 9 point ride helping the on form team to victory. Team mates Dan Redman, Matt Kruger, Mikey Venter and Teal Hogg were all smiles knowing they had won the lions share of the R10 000 prize money. Northswell Club placed second, the Masters Team third and the Grom Team fourth.
