Eastern Cape Surfers a force at New Pier

(New Pier, Durban)- Warm water and clean offshore conditions, heralded the start to the 3A rated Mr Price Pro Junior, sanctioned by Surfing South Africa, which saw St Francis surfers Dale Staples and Nick Godfrey dominate the 0.5 meter waves on offer, at New Pier, on Friday.

A consistently top performer on the Junior SSA Pro Surf Tour, Staples kicked off the morning with a series of excellent scoring rides, advancing through two heats as the day’s top performer.

Posting two rides in the excellent category, including an 8.0 and a 9.5 (both out of a possible ten) to defeat Blake Freeguard (Umhlanga), Staples advanced into round two where he maintained his winning form, taking another deserved victory over Brandon Roberts (Cape Town).

Fellow St Francis local and National Junior team member Nick Godfrey, waited until round two, to unleash his true potential. Throwing down the second highest single wave score of the day, Godfrey posted an excellent 8.50 score (out of a possible ten), to edge out second place surfer Rudy Palmboom (Bluff).

“I was stoked to take out Rudy, it was really tricky out there and I was just lucky Rudy was out of position on my 8.5 wave,” said Godfrey. ‘It`s a really big event, one of the biggest in South Africa and if you do well here, you know you`re one of the top, top under-20`s in the country.”

Surfing his very first Mr Price Pro Junior, Jaco Steyn (Melkbosstrand) made light work of the deteriorating conditions caused by the high tide and light onshore wind, which arrived in the afternoon. His lightening fast snaps and fluid tail slides, earning him an impressive victory over defending Mr Price Pro Junior Champion Brandon Jackson (Durban North).

U18 South African Junior Champion Klee Strachan (Winklespruit) took a solid win during round two, his smooth style, coupled with radical manoeuvers, earning him the top spot ahead of Chad Schwab (Bluff) who finished in second.

2006 Pro Junior finalist Josh Redman (Umdloti) made sure he remained on the radar, with the day’s second highest combined two- wave heat score, of 15.50 (out of a possible 20.00). The powerful natural footer (right foot forward stance) defeated U18 National Junior team member Kyle Lane (Durban), both surfers advancing into round three.

Four heats of the girls division were completed in the late afternoon which saw Alice McGregor (East London) dominate heat three, with an impressive 8.0 point score, for a ride all the way to the sand.

New Pier local Amber Kilfoil (Durban), Morag Steele (Somerset West) and Kirsty Delport (Durban) were other heat winners advancing ahead of Holly Armstrong (Cape Town), Sabrina Scott (Cape Town), Nastuzja Less (Durban) and Michelle Immeson (Warner Beach) who advanced in second.

The Mr Price Pro Junior culminates with the boys and girls finals at approximately 14h15 tomorrow (Sunday).

The event holds a total prize money purse of R25 000 with the winner’s each receiving R4000.

The Mr Price Pro Junior is part of the ten day Durban Beach Festival which runs from the 29 June- 8 July 2007.