Three bodyboarding contests to be run in conjunction with the 2025 Rip Curl Cup Surfing competition presented by Royal St Andrews Hotel next month as part of the Port Alfred Easter Festival, are creating waves of excitement in the region.
The novel decision by organisers proved to be a winning recipe last year as some of the country and region’s top surfers (Rip Curl Cup) and body boarders (Body Boarding Challenge) took to the water to compete in their respective events during the festival.
The 2025 Royal St Andrews Body boarding Classic takes place at West Beach on Saturday and Sunday April 19-20, followed by the RipCurl GromSearch on Friday to Sunday April 18-20, and the Rip Curl Cup (men’s and women’s open division) on Monday April 21.
The SA Open Surfing Championships celebrates its milestone 60th year under the banner of the PA Easter Festival competition with the cream of the crop of SA surfing vying for the prestigious title at East Beach on Wednesday and Thursday, April 16 and 17.
Port Alfred’s Clinton Millard, who won the Masters division at the SA Bodyboarding Champs held at West Beach last year is co-organiser for this year’s Easter Festival event. He says a recent operation has ruled him out of competition and it’s all systems go for the bodyboarding spectacular.
“The body boarding will kick off with Granny Grommets “Expression Session” from 9 to 11am on Saturday (April 19) just to express themselves and demonstrate to everyone how they enjoy body boarding.
“From 11am to 4pm is the SA Body boarding Association contest – divided into eight divisions, Boys, Juniors, Men’s, Pro, Masters, Ladies, Grandmasters, and Drop Knee,” says Millard.
“This will run as heats per division, with four riders in a heat from round one, followed by the quarters, semis, and finals. On Sunday (April 20) the remainder of heats that haven’t been completed will be contested.
“Then it’s the Multi Security dash for cash … (body boarding challenge) what they call a man-on-man competition where you are eliminated immediately as you lose your heat. You advance to the next round in a man to man format – and at the end of the day you can win part of the prize money.
“Hugo Naude, (last year’s winner) who won the title last year and others such as Luke Staniford will be participating.
“Hosting the body boarding and surf competitions jointly worked well last year and now we are doing it again this year. We hope to grow it further… and having them together allowing for a family orientated event which is what we are trying to do with this idea.”
Millard who is head of the PA Business Forum says the PA Easter Festival is of course more than just about surfing and bodyboarding competitions and all the other drawcard events will boost the economy and reveal what Port Alfred and the hinterland offer as a tourism destination.
“It’s not just about the surfing and bodyboarding. It’s about bringing people to Port Alfred and to show them what it has to offer. There’s the bands in the bush, there’s cycling, people can go up the river and on to the game farms. Port Alfred offers it all from land to sea to golf there are all these different aspects. That’s what makes Port Alfred a key destination; to have an event like this shows the diversity what we have in our town. The friendliness, the restaurants and all the establishments are ready to welcome all visitors in to the town.”
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, April 3, 2025. 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.
