De Vries wins surf event

LOCAL surfer, Beyrick De Vries, surfed his way to victory this weekend in the premier open men's division at the second of three Quiksilver Get Free events.

More than 70 of South Africa's top competitive surfers were greeted with solid four to five foot groundswell for the final day of competition at Bronze Beach, Umhlanga.

De Vries was a clear standout and looked very comfortable in every one of his heats throughout the two-day event at his local surf break. De Vries’s power surfing combined with his impressive aerial moves proved too good for his competitors and he clinched the title ahead of Capetonian, Michael February who placed second, Dale Staples of Westbrook took third place and Brandon Jackson also of Durban finished in fourth place.

“It was so nice to win at my home break. I just got back from Los Angeles so have been a bit jet-lagged but I am really stoked with the win, thank God there were waves, Bronze beach was cooking today,” said De Vries.

Day one of the event was called off early due to the small swell and a rising tide. The last four heats of the Open Men's division were moved to day two, which produced near perfect competition conditions.

In the U20 junior boys division it was pre-event favourite, Shane Sykes of Salt Rock who stole the show winning a cool R4 000. J-Bay’s Dylan Lightfoot placed a respectable 2nd while Matt McGillivray also of Jeffrey’s Bay was relegated to 3rd place. McGillivray who is back from a recent injury showed good form to find himself a podium finish, while Wade Simkiss from Umdloti finished in fourth position.

Sebastian Williams of Berea took top honors in the U16 division. Williams stamped his authority on the final and claimed the title ahead of Ethan Fletcher (Kommetjie), Jake Elkington (Hout Bay) and Adin Masencamp (Strand), who placed second, third and fourth, respectively.

Event sponsors, Quiksilver were very happy with the second event of the series.

“We could not have asked better beach weather this weekend. Bronze Beach came alive on the final day proving to be a world class beach break with South Africa's best surfers pulling out all of the stops to impress spectators. Even though the first day of competition lacked swell and was difficult for the competitors, conditions were perfect for the final day. With explosive surfing in 4-5 foot clean conditions, we were very proud to be the title sponsors of this event and we would like to thank everyone that took part,” said Quiksilver team rider and event co-ordinator, Brandon Jackson.

The third and final stop of the Surfing South Africa 3A rated event series will take place in Port Alfred on 29 and 30 August.