Big surf at Vic Bay GrompComp

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SURFING NEWS - Young surfers from across the country enjoyed the iconic right-hand point break this past weekend during the Sea Harvest Vic Bay GromComp presented by Rip Curl.

Conditions ranged from perfect on Friday 19 July, to massive and messy on Saturday and finally ending with clean and contestable conditions on Sunday.

In challenging conditions, both Louise Lepront (Scottburgh) and Rory Dace (Cape St Francis) won the u.16 as well as the u.18 boys and girls divisions.

Both surfers put on outstanding performances to outpoint their competitors and take double wins.

"I had a good start to the u.18 final and got a 7.5 ride, but then I couldn't find another good one," said Dace. In this category, Dace was up against Luc Lepront, Clayton Turrel, and Kai Hall. "Then, with about forty seconds to go, I found a good one, rode it through to the inside, and was awarded the score I needed to win. So stoked."

PHOTO GALLERY: Sea Harvest Vic Bay GromComp

Saturday had plenty of drama as huge waves bashed the coastline. Event officials decided to run the u.16 and u.18 boys rounds, with the smaller waves on the forecast better for the younger divisions. Some surfers had tough heats, confronted by huge waves and challenging paddle-outs, but it was a battle of the fittest and the most determined.

On the final day, Ben Esterhuyse from Cape Town put on his best performance ever in the u.14 boys final.

Surfing with his back to the wave, Esterhuyse picked up a great-looking wave at the beginning of the heat to bank an excellent score of 9.0 to start the heat off with confidence.

Victoria Glenny

He found another perfect wave and performed several high-risk moves that compelled the judges to award him a higher score than his previous one. He was awarded a 9.4, bringing his heat total to 18.4, the event's highest heat total.

The results of this event have seen a shake-up in the rankings, which can be seen at liveheats.com/surfingsouthafrica.

Jed du Toit. Photos: Ferdie Müller