The Master crowned at Vic Bay

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GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - Eden Surfriders the past weekend hosted the SA Masters Surfing Championship at Victoria Bay for the very first time. Altogether 124 surfers from eight districts made the journey to Vic Bay and were coldly welcomed by freezing weather and torrential downpours as George was hit by flash floods.

But the chilly welcome did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm as the first surfers battled the stormy waves to paddle out at 07:00 on a dark and frankly miserable Thursday morning.

The eight teams had trained hard to compete in seven age divisions over the course of four days. Each surfer would take part in an opening round with the top two surfers from Round 1 advancing directly to Round 3, while the lower placed surfers would compete again to try to secure a place in the 3rd round.

Thankfully, Friday dawned brighter with the promise of a decent swell, some refined waves and even a splash of sunshine. But tensions were beginning to build in the team camps as the first surfers faced elimination.

Multiple SA champion Wayne Monk from Buffalo City Surfriders helping his team to victory. Photo: Melanie Mare

The competition judges were positioned along the pier with their eyes permanently trained on the small pack of surfers at the backline. Each surfing heat lasted for 20 to 25 minutes depending on whether it was a four- or five-man heat. The top two waves were added up to make the surfer's score for that heat.

To the surfing novice, it's quite a complicated procedure, but thankfully help was at hand in the form of kneeboarding ex-world champion, Gigs Cilliers.

Gigs provided a non-stop commentary on the action-packed proceedings; explaining everything from point allocation to wave selection. This was a crucial element of the contest because it allowed spectators along the Vic Bay point to really feel part of the event and to understand, even just a little bit, what was going on.

Saturday kicked off with the first of the quarterfinals. Fifty surfers had already been eliminated, with 74 proceeding to the quarterfinals and there were 12 Eden Surfriders still in the competition, so it was a massive boost to them to see local spectators and familiar faces arriving at Vic Bay to offer support and cheer them on. Families and friends lined the point, children played in the rock pools, while mums and dads clapped and cheered while balancing ice-creams.

The event was supported by George Tourism and George Municipality and sponsored by Surfing South Africa and the Western Cape Government, so it was wonderful to see local people benefitting and enjoying the occasion - while adhering to Covid protocol by wearing masks and elbow greeting one another!

By the end of a glorious Saturday, there were just 46 surfers left in the contest. Competitive surfing is mentally and physically draining and three days of hard surfing had already taken its toll. The remaining surfers now had to draw on their reserves in readiness for Finals Day on Sunday…

Spectators at Vic Bay. Photo: Melanie Mare

The day kicked off with the hotly contested semi-final heats in all age divisions. The swell had died down, after two days of near-perfect surfing conditions. The smaller conditions were less than favourable and contestants were jostling for the limited waves that the ocean was delivering.

There were tense moments as surfers waited for up to 10 minutes for a set of waves to come through, and then high drama as they snatched back-to-back waves to try to secure crucial points.

Gradually the 42 semi-finalists were whittled down to 28 surfers who had secured their place in the finals. The Over 60 division was represented by local Stephen Hair who took the bronze medal for Eden but only just missed out on gold by less than 1 point. In the Over 55 division, Patrick Cuthbert earned vital points for Eden Surfriders against stiff competition from East London's David Malherbe and KwaZulu-Natal's Chris Knutsen.

In the over 45 Division, Shane Pratt put in a sterling performance against the powerhouse talents of Ethekweni's Shane Thorne and Justin Emslie from Buffalo City, while the Over 40 division saw a special reunion when Olympic Coach Greg Emslie faced off against Vic Bay's favourite sons, Sean Holmes and David Pfaff.

Tasha Mentasti Photo: Deidré Cloete

Emslie was the coach for our very own Bianca Buitendag in the Tokyo Olympics, but this was his moment to shine. The ocean went flat during the Over 40 Final but he managed to score two great waves and took the gold. The last time that Emslie, Holmes and Pfaff met in an SA Champs Final was in the under 18 division in 1994. The years have been kind to them and it's clear that they haven't lost their talent or their love for the sport.

And if this weekend showed anything, it's that surfing is a sport that deserves to be loved. It delivers unpredictable outcomes, edge-of-the seat drama and good clean fun for spectators and surfers alike, with a healthy dose of sea air.

This SA Champs served up a final dose of feel-good factor and some serious "Girl Power" courtesy of Eden Surfrider Tasha Mentasti. Tasha cruised through the women's semi-finals with two outstanding waves and the only perfect 10 score of the whole contest. She was already riding high when she paddled into the final on Sunday.

Her toughest competition came from Heather Clark who is internationally renowned and was ranked third in the world in 2003. But this contest belonged to Tasha. Her final wave in the final had the entire bay on its feet in recognition of the fact that she had managed to secure a gold medal for Eden Surfriders. Not only that, she was also awarded the trophy for Surfer of the Contest in recognition of her outstanding performances and top scoring wave.

Olympic silver medallist and Eden's best known and much-loved surfrider, Bianca Buitendag, was there to support the surfers and also to hand out the medals at the prize-giving ceremony. She spoke of her love for Vic Bay and the special place that it is to so many people. It had been an intense, exhilarating and inspirational few days, but there was still one winner to announce.

Watch a video below:

The final order of the day was to crown the overall winner of the competition. Of the eight competing districts, Eden Surfriders took third place just a few hundred points ahead of Nelson Mandela Bay who placed fourth. Durban-based Ethekweni took second place while Buffalo City lifted the winner's trophy.

It was a well-deserved win for Buffalo City and a huge achievement for the Eden Surfriders who are determined to come back bigger and stronger when they go for gold next time.

The prize-giving ceremony on Sunday at Vic Bay. Photo: Eugene Gunning