Cape Town Surfriders win the Mandela Bay Trophy for the eighth year in a row at the 27th edition of the Sea Harvest South African Grommet Games in Port Elizabeth.
The Cape Town Surfriders Grommet Team made it eight wins in a row when they took overall honours at the 2019 Sea Harvest South Africa Grommet Surfing Games in Port Elizabeth on Saturday (March 23rd).
The three day event, supported by the Department of Sport and Recreation SA, was completed in perfect weather and ideal surf at its traditional venue, the Pipe at Pollock Beach.
The strong, well balanced Cape Town Surfriders team, posted 32324 points to beat their Garden Route neighbours Eden Surfriders into second place. Eden scored 23461 points and this result is their best since the event was first held 27 years ago. Cape Winelands, another Western Cape District, scored 22618 points to end third overall.
Hosts Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders came fourth with 20816 points and fellow Eastern Cape District, Buffalo City Surfriders’ 18706 points earned them fifth place. Ugu Surfriders came sixth with 13495 points and eThekweni Surfriders, last year’s runners up, posted 12184 points and came seventh.
Cape Town Surfriders successfully defended their 2018 Sea Harvest Aloha Cup title beating Cape Winelands Surfriders into second place. Buffalo City Surfriders were third, Eden Surfriders came fourth and Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders came fifth.
The team from Cape Town dominated the surfing results producing ten finalists across the eight divisions to win the Sea Harvest Surfing Trophy.
Cape Town’s continued dominance at this unique 27 year old event is a credit to the commitment shown to the event by the Cape Town Surfriders Committee under Chairman Robert Scott.
Close to 100 girls and boys ranging from Under 8 to Under 16 represented seven Districts at this annual event which is Surfing South Africa’s premier entry level inter-provincial tournament. Continued sponsorship from Sea Harvest, and generous support from Sport and Recreation South Africa along with friendly hosting by Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders ensured that this edition of the annual South Africa Grommet Surfing Games was a success once again.
The event was coordinated with great skill by Event Director Shirley Fairall while Contest Director Anne Wright, Head Judge Luqmaan Bruce and his officials did a great job over the three days of competition.
Surfing South Africa President Johnny Johnny Bakker presided at the opening function and was on hand to lend his support and expertise during the event.
Although the Grommet Games is made up a number of elements, Surfing takes the main focus. There are eight individual surfing categories and the youngest gold medalist was Ezraa Vosloo of eThekweni Surfriders who won the Under 8 Division. The Under 10 Champion was Malachi Wolmarans of Buffalo City Surfriders while the Under 12 Girls and Boys Champions were Yannah Figl of Cape Winelands Surfriders and Ryan Schoon of Cape Town Surfriders respectively.
The Under 14 Girls gold medal was won by Luanne Hurst of Cape Town Surfriders and Thor Knutsen of eThekweni Surfriders, son of five time World Champion, Chris, won the Under 14 Boys title.
Honours in the Under 16 Girls and Boys Divisions went to Meeca Mclelland of Cape Winelands and Calvyn Rostrom of Nelson Mandela Bay respectively. Ryan Schoon was named as the Sea Harvest Supersurfer.
Thor Knutsen of eThekweni won the Sportsmanship Trophy and Cape Town based Grant Arendse was presented with the Judge of the Contest Award.
Eden Surfriders, who displayed a banner and a commitment to keeping the oceans clean and plastic free, won the coveted Team Spirit Award.
Paddle Battle honours went the way of Sea Harvest Surfing Excellence recipient Ashley August of Cape Town Surfriders, who won the Girls race and Calvyn Rostrom of Nelson Mandela Bay Surfriders, who was the Boys Champion.
The full surfing and Sea Harvest Aloha Cup results and a gallery of photos by Petronel Posthumus are posted on the Surfing SA facebook page and onwww.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
The SA Grommet Games is a national tournament with a primary focus on transformation and development within the sport. Strict targets are set when selecting teams to participate in the event. While the main focus of the event is on surfing, participation in events such as a Paddle Battle and a Tag Team contest are an integral part of the Grommet Games activities.
The 2019 Sea Harvest South African Grommet Games was presented and run by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa (SSA) is the recognised governing body for the sport of surfing in South Africa and is a member of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), the African Surfing Confederation (ASC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).
Cape Town Surfriders celebrate their eighth consecutive Sea Harvest Grommet Games victory – Photo Petronel Posthumus