Port Elizabeth’s young grade 8 Grey High School scholar, Matt McGillivray, won last week’s Billabong Pro Junior u14 Championships in large surf at Vic Bay in the Southern Cape. McGillivray enjoyed a solid performance in the final round, outscoring Strand’s Steffen Burrows and Cape Town’s Jordy Maree. Showing that South Africa junior surfing has some exciting future talents, the finalists showed maturity and courage as they mastered the heavy seas in seach of the perfect wave. McGillivray is one of the shining stars of Eastern Province surfing and under the guidance of coach Llewellyn Whittaker and the support of sponsors Hurley, Oakley, Dakine and Scull Candy, he is expected to rise to the highest levels of surfing.
The 4-day national surfing event saw day 3 being cancelled due to massive waves with day 4 offering only a slight drop in swell to ensure the Billabong Pro Junior Finals went down in dramatic fashion in solid 6-8 foot surf with some very committed and valiant surfers taking on the biggest and best that Vic Bay had to throw at them.
The U16 Boys division then raised the bar even higher. With a packed Vic Bay boardwalk, the U16 finalists put on a show that many will never forget, and what some, including legendary surf coach Graham Hynes, are calling the finest final they’ve watched in years. Ultimately it was two of South Africa’s brightest surfing talents going blow for blow in the still ‘sizey’ and consistent conditions. EP Surfer, Dylan Lightfoot of Jeffreys Bay, picked off the monster waves and racked up a 9 and a high 8 point score to take the lead and secure a memorable victory, much to the delight of the cheering crowd.
With the ocean beginning to settle and rippable conditions prevailing, it came time for the much anticipated finale of the Premier Pro Junior Boy’s division. Umhlanga’s Beyrick De Vries, still fresh off the plane from France was up against rival Nick Godfrey, who had managed to take down St Francis Bay compatriot Dale Staples in their semifinal match-up. With both surfers being event-standout’s it was always expected to be a nail bitter, and after the first exchange of rides, it looked to be heading that way. When the final buzzer sounded, the crowd erupted and elated top seed Beyrick De Vries was crowned the Billabong Pro Junior Vic Bay Champion for 2011.
The internationally rated Pro Junior men’s event is sanctioned by ASP Africa, the regional office for ASP International, while the Pro Surf Tour (PST) women’s and boy’s events are sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport. Images and video, results, heat sheets and news from the Billabong Pro Junior Vic Bay are available on www.billabong.com. The Billabong Pro Vic Bay was proudly supported by Sony, Von Zipper, Kustom and Nixon and Zigzag Surfing Magazine.
