Tayler, Zedde win Rookie Rippers gold for iLembe
Zedde leads the U12 boy's South African Surf Tour rankings, while Tayler is in a close second in the U14 boy's behind Ben Esterhuyse.
iLembe’s Nathan Tayler and Marcello Zedde used their home break advantage to claim gold in the O’Neill SMTH Shapes Rookie Rippers last week.
Providing the curtain-raiser for the main Ballito Pro event, the duo faced off against the country’s best U18 surfers and claimed the U14 and U12 boys’ titles respectively.
The event also served as a stop on the ongoing South African Surf Tour (SAST), which crowns an annual age group national champion.
In mostly beautiful surfing conditions, Tayler grew in confidence as the event went on, edging through his quarter-final in second place behind Loghann Tilsley.
Photo: Pierre Tostee/Ballito Pro.
But come the later stages he looked unbeatable, raking in big score after big score to leave the competition behind.
He set the tone in the semi-final with a strong first wave score of 5.67, adding a 6.67 to win by almost three full points ahead of second-placed Ben Esterhuyse.
The final proved even more dominant for the talented youngster, as his massive combined score of 16.50 put him almost six points clear of the chasing pack to earn a sweet home victory.
It is his third win in the past four SAST events and he is now just 45 points behind series leader Esterhuyse.
Photo: Kody McGregor/Ballito Pro.
Zedde continued his total control of U12 boys surfing in South Africa, winning his fifth of the seven SAST events to date and building up a 2 000 point buffer ahead of fellow iLembe rider, Sean Tayler.
In a low-scoring quarter-final, Zedde showed why he has claimed so many victories, earning eight points in tough heat conditions where the next highest scorer only managed 0.73.
The semi-final was a similar story, with Zedde’s 8.17 final score giving him almost six points of clearance from iLembe’s Tyler Balfour.
And he made it three heat victories in a row come finals day, coupling scores of 5.67 and 3.83 to win comfortably ahead of Tayler (2nd) and Balfour (3rd).
Photo: Nicolette Tostee/Ballito Pro.
Elsewhere in iLembe colours, Maxine Kauffman claimed fourth spot in the U14 girls category, and Rylie Balfour finished fourth in the U14 boys section.
The future is certainly bright for North Coast board riders.
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