The Cape Town provincial unit are determined to successfully defend their SA Bodyboarding title at the SA Body boarding championships that kicks off today Monday September 23 at Port Alfred’s West Beach.
Among the nation’s top bodyboarders from six provinces, joined an information session at Royal St Andrew’s Hotel to receive a hearty welcome from local organiser and former SA bodyboarding champ, Clinton Millard, national bodyboarding chair, Pat Harris and competition judges.
The competition is over four days with the finale scheduled for Thursday September 26.
The provincial units participating in the competition are Cape Winelands, Eden, Ugu, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ethekwini.
The teams will be vying for the prestigious “Fish Man trophy” up for grabs – and the Cape Town team believe they are right there in the mix after some solid training sessions in the build-up.
“We feeling good … we have a strong team … we have had some good training sessions in Cape Town. Weather conditions are looking good for Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday,” said Cape Town bodyboarder Brendan “Bart” Larter.
“There’s always good competition … the wedges can be tricky because of the wind on the East Coast but I still think we have a good chance.”
There was all-round relief that the Ethekwini team arrived safe and sound in Port Alfred following the fierce snow storms that blanketed the N3 at the weekend. Ethekwini captain, Tracy Delport, said they were somewhat relieved they weren’t seriously affected by the weather conditions.
“We headed off on Friday … it was wet; but we were lucky not to have any dangerous snow situations. The rest of the team came through on Saturday … they were a bit excited actually they were loving the snow … there were a few delays with stop and gos. But all in all we got here safely and we don’t have any issues.
“I’m feeling confident in the team because they are showing a lot of excitement … they are super motivated and driven. Although we didn’t take 1st place last year, we do have a very young team with a lot of untapped talent and I believe we do have the ability of lifting that Fishman trophy again.”
About 140 bodyboarders in various divisions will be participating for various awards at the championships – boys, junior, pros, men’s, ladies, development for boys and girls and grandmasters and drop knee.
Some of the top names in SA bodyboarding will be participating like Vaughan Harris, Mark Webster. Other top names are SA Tour leader Hugo Naude (Eden), 2023 Pro Champ Wesley Coetzee (Ugu) and last year’s women’s champion, Caitlyn Steenkamp (Ethekwini).
Former SA bodyboarding champion and local competition organiser, Clinton Millard, says it’s all systems go for the championships.
“It’s gone quite nicely, we had quite some good impact from local sponsors and they’ve all jumped on board to help with accommodation, food, prize-money and it’s made it a lot easier for us.”
“We have it for the first year as a livestream event … but those who don’t need to, don’t sit on the internet and watch the contest. Please come to the beach, we have four days of great weather and come and support the guys on the beach.”
SA Boyboarding chair and contest director, Pat Harris, has been in a senior administration role for 30 years – she is confident of a very successful hosting of the 2024 SA Bodyboarding Championships in Port Alfred.
“I love this place, it’s good for the kids … the waves are very contestable. So they got to be wide awake on the ocean. The hotel (Royal St Andrews) they are always helpful, Talk of the Town, … there’s just so many to mention.
Those who have knowledge of local conditions say that though waves are contestable on West beach, the wave motion at the moment is churned up and swells relatively small. Prevailing easterly winds on the first day might make conditions difficult. Harris says organisers are well prepared for any eventuality.
“We will look at the conditions each day … if they good we send the pro riders out … if not, and it’s dropped out and a bit mushy out there we’ll do the ladies, development, and the boys at the halfway stage (the first day). Obviously we here for the safety of all our riders too.”
Judges made it clear at the info session that violation of the rules will lead to point deductions – for example, disputes should not be made to the judges but to a special panel with the 20-minute time limit for complaints to be adhered to.
“We are not going to give warnings (in case of violations) … we have already given warnings … they will be penalised and points deducted. We’ve got to be stricter, we have got to be professional. This is not lackadaisical sport.
A major coup for SA Bodyboarding has been the acquisition of experienced French official Tom Cahour who will be judging the competition with his fellow-SA judges on the shoreline at West beach.
