Tristan du Preez put in a brilliant display of surfing manoeuvres to win the men’s Open final at the final 2024 King of the Kowie event at Port Alfred’s East Beach on Saturday.
Contest director Richard Heny made the call to delay the start, allowing the tide to change and give competitors the best waves possible.
The decision paid off, with epic barrels and some heavy wipe-outs marking a thrilling day of surfing.
In the semi-finals, Kye MacGregor racked up a perfect 10 for riding an incredible barrel that stretched across the East Beach sandbank. But du Preez bounced back superbly to dominate and secure the Open Final win.
He edged out Travis van Niekerk in to second spot, Carl Wiersma in third, and MacGregor, who finished fourth.
In the ladies division, it was young Springbok surfer, Lily Heny, who was the stand-out performer, accumulating points for huge backhand turns in that final to give her the win.
Heny claimed the No. 1 ranking in the WSL Africa Junior division this year and will compete in an event against the world’s best juniors abroad next year.
With perfect weather and a great vibe on East Beach, the event wrapped up the King of the Kowie series in style.
Said Kowie Boardriders Club chair Mickey Wittuhn: “The contest was held in good solid 5 ft sets of waves that were coming through … we were going to start at 8am but with the full moon and outgoing tide there was just too much water movement. It was decided to have it half hour after the tide had turned – and the waves improved dramatically.”
“Probably the best surfer was Tristan du Preez coming out with some of the Nahoon Reef carves (180 degree turns) showing that he was on top of things and ended up winning the over- 30 division and premier division.”
The King of the Kowie consisted only of three events instead of the usual four this year, due to “time constraints”.
“The first contest of the season is usually very busy, the second a little bit less and the last sees only the guys entering who have a serious chance to win the series out there. The highlights of the year was Lily making the Junior Springbok team. Border winning the SA juniors, Open and Masters titles.”
Wittuhn gave a big thumbs-up to the kiosk upgrade at East Beach.
“A big shout out to Dean (van Tonder) … the kiosk (Ocean Bliss Café) is just fantastic. They are keeping the car park neat; they graded there and levelled the sand out a bit. “The ablutions are great … they are clean and functional. From a surf club point of view we are very grateful for what they are doing and everyone else who is involved.
“Also thanks to the municipality for getting Kelly’s Beach sorted for the festive season.”
The Kowie Boardriders AGM and year-end party will take place on December 7th at Guido’s, where the overall King of the Kowie series winners for 2024 will be announced.
Full list of winners can be viewed @KowieBoardridersClub Facebook page.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, November 21, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
