Old school surfing Mo-ments

It was all about style, flow, seventies fashion and well manicured Movember moustaches at the second Off The Lip Movember surf jam at Beach Bums at Westbrook on Saturday November 22.

The event was hosted by Quiksilver and the Movember Foundation and close to R10 000 was raised that will be donated to Movember and their men’s health partner CANSA.

Ten six-man heats were surfed throughout the day using the traditional beach start and the top six scores of the day made their way into the final.

In true seventies style the participants were riding classic single or twin fin surfboards.

Dylan Stewart of Umdloti emerged the best of them all with some real style on extremely tricky two feet onshore surf conditions.

“It was such a rad event. It was not easy surfing these old boards but we all had fun and it was for a good cause so even better,” said Stewart.

The legendary surfboard shapers Johno Hutchinson from Ballito and Spider Murphy from Durban had the tough task of being the judges for the day.

Unlike modern day surf competitions, the heat winners were determined by their style, flow and creative approach to every wave.

But it was Stewart who looked the most comfortable on his retro watercraft.

Chris Leppan from Umhlanga finished a close second while Justin Bing from Durban in third place. Dale Staples of Westbrook, Paul Canning of Durban and Shane Sykes of Salt Rock placed fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Other awards on the day went to Dale Staples for the most vertical manoeuvre, Justin Bing for the best 360, Ryan Bisset for the worst wipe-out, Ant ‘Mogwai’ Molgora for the best ‘toes on the nose’, Chris Leppan for the best floater manoeuvre and Shane Sykes for the best ‘drop the wallet layback’, Sophie Bell for the best ‘Mo Sista’ and Rein van de Wall for the ‘best dressed’.

Quiksilver’s Marketing Manager Dane Patterson was very pleased with the event.

“We could not have asked for a better day, the sun was out and the surfers and spectators had a blast, we are very proud to be associated with the Movember Foundation and what they stand for. This retro seventies day out is the perfect fit for Quiksilver and we hope to see it grow every year.”