Sweet victories for Sykes and De Vries

Salt Rock resident Shane Sykes and Umhlanga Rocks surfer Beyrick de Vries cleaned up at the final leg of the Quiksilver Takes One To Know One series at Victoria Bay last weekend.

De Vries was unbeatable, winning every heat from round one to the final in the open men’s division. The judges were impressed with his variety of innovative and stylish manoeuvres. In the final the 21-year-old came up against Michael February (Kommetjie) who almost got ahead but De Vries took to the air scoring a nine-point ride to seal the deal.”I am super excited about my win, the waves were so good the whole weekend and the level of surfing was amazing. It has given me more confidence going into the next few international events,” said De Vries.

In the U20 junior boy’s final it was Sykes who opened up with a seven-point ride in the twenty-five minute final and was untouchable thereafter.

The 17-year-old Sykes has been on top form throughout the year but this is the first time it has all come together for him in a big competition.

“The conditions really suited my surfing and I managed to get on the right waves which paid off. I cannot wait for this series next year,” said Sykes.

Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) was named “Surfer of the event” for making both the open men’s final as well as the U20 junior boy’s final, he surfed a total of six heats on the final day.

Beyrick De Vries was announced the overall Quiksilver Takes One To Know One Series winner after back-to-back wins in the series, while Diran Zakarian of Melbosstrand claimed the series win in the junior boy’s division.

The Quiksilver Takes One To Know One series events are all 3A Pro Surf Tour rated events.