CONTEST RESULTS
|
E.P. Closed Championships, Rincon, P.E - 16 September 2000 |
| Contest Overview: |
| This contest was held in conditions which could best have been described as unpleasant. Combine a cold front, near gale force SW wind and 3 - 5 ft swell and you have the makings of a particularly nasty contest. One often hears the expression about mad dogs and Englishmen wandering around at midday in sweltering heat. Well, it takes ships and mad surfers to take on the conditions I described above. These mad waveskiers went out in these conditions and performed surprisingly well. Suffice it to say that radical off the top moves were rare because the wind would just grab you and sling you right off the wave. Be that as it may, Craig Seale and Neal Stephenson immediately stamped their authority on the event leaving the rest of us trailing in their wind spray. There would have been stronger competition for them but Johann Momberg had been laid low with flu and Mike Fourie had work commitments. So, the results appear below. |
| Results - Senior Division: |
| 1. Craig Seale |
| 2. Andre Rossi |
| 3. Naude Kotze |
| 4. Deon Saaiman |
| Results - Open Division: |
| 1. Neal Stephenson |
| 2. Anton Van Schoor |
| Results - Grand Open Event: |
| 1. Craig Seale |
| 2. Neal Stephenson |
| 3. Jan Kuyler |
| 4. Andre Rossi |
|
Western Interprovincial, Plettenberg Bay, 23 - 25 September 2000 |
| Contest Overview: 'Waveski ala Plett' by Naude Kotze |
| Despite late individual withdrawals from all three provinces, the planned inter-provincial did materialize and turned out to be one of the most enjoyable, relaxed weekends of my waveski competition career. It became a sponsored weekend of leisure in the sun, with surfing the heats when it suited us � no pressure for time or worries about changing tides and weather conditions � all heats took place in just about PERFECT 2 - 3 ft conditions. We had over 20 hours of sunlight available to surf thirteen heats in total, meaning we could afford to be selective about when and where we surfed. An added bonus was that surf crowds were almost non-existent, except for the hundreds of dolphins surfing the waves amongst the competitors and a couple of whales close to shore who didn�t seem bothered by the �foreign� company. We even had time to visit the Oyster festival activities in Knysna, enjoyed a romantic sunset at Robberg with our �loyal supporters� and enjoyed the local laid-back nightlife that the town offered. Johann Momberg found a new pool partner in �Kate� and Anton and Samantha enjoyed a second honeymoon! Fate dealt my trusty Toyota a blown head gasket, but not even that could spoil the enjoyment of this perfect waveski weekend. We encountered four seasons in our two-day stay. On arrival at noon on Saturday, the thermometer peaked just less than 40 degrees Celsius. We opted to surf only round one at the �Waves� at Keurbooms Strand, after which most of us enjoyed a social expression session. Sunday morning, the drizzle poured buckets of water over us, but who minds if the water temperature is 20 degrees and a pair of whales greet you just behind glassy three feet waves. We completed all the heats, except the final, at �Dune Park� at Keurbooms when the wind suddenly started to pump. But who cared when Monday morning was still available and the Knysna festival was waiting! That evening we all enjoyed a round of pizzas and all socialized till late .... very late for some. Monday morning we took a close look at Dune Park and the Waves (both at Keurbooms, about 2 km apart), and eventually we decided on the �Waves�. The Finals held no surprises except for Steff Le Roux, who was knocked into the Loser�s Flow in the first round, but fought his way back into the Final � a great effort. We gave the finalists a half hour heat and a twelve-wave max to ensure that the spectators could witness good quality surfing but, ironically, it was a school of dolphins that took the show, despite some awesome moves and rides by Neal Stephenson. Just before the heat started, all the finalists were Eskimo rolling and doing �tail-stands� on their skis when about five dolphins tail danced continuously between them. At times, all of us watched with absolute amazement thinking that the dolphins were going to crash into the waveskiers. It was a pity that we failed to have a video camera rolling at the time, this would have been the type of footage that can win a prize on �50/50� (A local nature conservation TV programme � Webmaster). (There goes my 4x4!). Neal absolutely outclassed the other competitors in the final, with hardly any mistakes. Johann Momberg was very selective, only surfing the required four waves and Pierre Slabber has developed this amazing cutback on his new ski. However, the person who surfed with all that he had was Steff. This was a great moment for him, and despite blowing a few waves, he had enough good rides to steal second position from the more experienced Johann and Pierre. When the final flag dropped to end a wonderful waveski weekend, it was symbolic that all admired Neal�s victory when he came out of the water because this was the exact spot where, just over two years ago, he almost lost his life when he was savaged by a different great creature of the ocean. EP dominated the team results, taken from the best three results from each province, but this did not seem to matter. The fact that we all enjoyed an unforgettable weekend with other people that enjoy waveski surfing as much as we do, was top prize. Hopefully this will be the start of many more to come��.even the spouses enjoyed it. |
| Results: |
| 1. Neal Stephenson (EP) |
| 2. Steff Le Roux (EP) |
| 3. Johann Momberg (EP) |
| 4. Pierre Slabber (WP) |
| 5. Shaun Holmes (Border) |
| 6. Mario Matraotti (Border) |
| 7. JP Visser (WP) |
| 8. Anton Kruger (WP) |
| 9. Chris te Braake (Border) |
| 10. Naude Kotze (EP) |
| 11. Anton Van Schoor (EP) |
| 12. Jan Kuyler (EP) |
| Shipwreck Prize: Shaun Holmes for creasing his board! |
Top 8 prizes were kindly donated by Macski Waveskis.
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