Second Semester

With the USSA Surf Championships now behind us the club can look forward to the second semester. And it’s going to be jam packed as usual.

The third term is the traditional party term at Stellenbosch and for all the surf club members that means a braai or two at 33 Cluver, a trip to Elandsbaai and one or two friendly exchange students. So keep an eye on the Facebook page because Andrew will be keeping you posted.

For the new members the busses will be going to Strand on Tuesdays and Thursday. And we offer beginner surf lessons through the very competent team at Son Surf, so please sign-up if you are keen. All you need to do is email either Andrew at surf@sun.ac.za or Candice at candicea@sun.ac.za

Brad Beck Wins The University Surfing Champs

Brad Beck

Now that the damp wetsuits are dry and the dings in the boards have been patched, we can look back on the 2011 University Sport South Africa Surf Championships. It was a competition packed with great surf, the ecstasy of victory and the pain of elimination. For the Maties team unfortunately the former was tasted more regularly than the latter, but once again Lisa Mace’s progressive surfing helped the team to a top three finish.

The 2011 edition was hosted by the George Campus of NMMU at the legendry Southern Cape break, Victoria Bay. Teams from UCT, CPUT, Varsity College, Rhodes University, NMMU, UKZN and of course Stellenbosch, gathered on the evening Sunday the 26^th of June for the opening function, before taking to the water on Monday morning for round one. In the first round the Maties men did remarkably well in sizable and difficult conditions. Of the eight men only Nic Van Wyngaard, who made a disastrous tactical decision, was relegated to the repo-change round. Nic made up for his first round mistake in the second round by winning his heat and thereby joining the rest of the team in round three.

Surfari Backpackers

A big thanks to Surfari Backpackers and the Bruitendag family for hosting, feeding and putting up with the surf club for the duration of the USSA event. The food was fantastic, the accommodation far too luxurious and the location absolutely amazing. It's a must stop for any coastal road trip. Check it out @ Surfari Backpackers.

Champions Crowned At Vic Bay

On the final day of USSA 2011 the ocean came to the party and produced the best conditions of the event and the best final day conditions in many a year. The swell lined up perfectly all day and raced down the point producing walls begging to be hacked to pieces. And the remaining competitors duly obliged.

The first heats of the day were the ladies’ quarter finals. The pick of the quarters was Q3, in which Stellenbosch’s Chloe Humby piped the fancied Kerri Hodkinson for the top spot with a wave on the buzzer. The following heat featured Tammy Lee Smith who due to a round one walk through was surfing for the first time in the event. She did not disappoint and immediately established herself as the clear favourite for the ladies’ title.

Please feel free to copy any of the photos of USSA 2011 from here.

Visagie Shreds Into The Quarters

With a packed schedule Tuesday was always going to be an interesting day in the water but with Monday night holding a special place in USSA surfing lore, USSA Tuesdays are always eagerly anticipated. The traditional initiation ceremony for first time USSA competitors historically takes place on Monday night. So it was no surprise then that the crowd who filtered down to the pier for the nine am meeting was looking a little worse for wear. For the senior team members the cure was simple a surf and a rehydration drink. But for the newbies, they would have to survive the remainder of the event sporting a motley assortment of hairstyles, designed to maximise the humiliation for the wearer.

Top Seeds Advance On Day One

Monday morning dawned in Victoria Bay with a clear sky and a chilly off-shore breeze caressing the swell lines marching towards the coast. With most of the surfers still tucked up in bed the call was made by contest director, Tasha Mentasti to run the event on schedule with the first buzzer sounding at eight thirty. The swell had cleaned up overnight and the drop in ocean swell hardly registering as double over-head clean-up sets raked the point, with the average waves topping head-high.

NMMU’s Clinton Gravett led the charge into the surf with Kyle Myers (UCT), Marcelle Traub (SU) and Kurt Deinke (UKZN) making up the rest of the first heat. As defending champion Clinton was expected to win his heat, as did other top seeds: Josh Salie (UCT), Brendon Booth-Jones (SU) and Shawn Dennis (Varsity College).