East London – The second of four events in the 2013 Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS heads to Nahoon Beach in East London this weekend (6&7 April). The country’s top Junior Surfers will all be present, competing for the numerous titles and their share of the prize money. There is a total of R750,000 in cash and prizes for the series, as well as titles in 8 age divisions for boys and girls, and numerous specialty prizes.
There are a few exciting rivalries flaring up in junior surfing at the moment, and this event will allow the best Juniors to once again pit their skills against each other and battle it out. In the U20 Boys division Michael February and Dylan Lightfoot are fighting it out for supremacy, while in the U20 Girls division Emma Smith is holding onto her lead against the determined Nicole Pallet. Jordan Maree has a solid lead in the Boys U16 division at this stage, while Adin Masencamp has a slim lead in the U14 Boys division.
The U20 division, which is now 3A rated, has a few extra slots for this event. As further incentive for the other divisions, the contest organisers have opened up these slots as such:
All four finalists in the U18 Boys division will get a slot into the U20 division.
The top three finalists in the U18 Girls division will get a slot into the U20 division.
The top two finalists in the U16 Boys division will get a slot into the U20 division.
Apart from the top performers awards, there is also the All Aboard Travel Sportsmanship Award for the surfer displaying the best sportsmanship who wins a return ticket and four nights accommodation in Bali, Indonesia, valued at R17k, and the BOS Surfer of the Series award of cash and prizes worth R20k.
Other awards include the VonZipper Flair Up Award and the DaKine Youthful Movement Award which each earn R10 000 for the winners, the Nixon Winner Takes All (WTA) contest where the surfer posting the highest heat score receives a WTA engraved Nixon watch and specialty prizes including an array of high-tech Sony products.
We would also like to welcome Boardstix surfboard pens onboard. Boardstix are environmentally friendly recyclable paint pens for surfers to paint what they ride.
The Billabong Junior Series presented by BOS is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa, recognised by the Dept of Sport and Recreation as the national controlling body for surfing. The events form part of the Pro Surf Tour (PST) with competitors in all the divisions except the U20’s earning points towards their 2013 PST rankings.
The opening function is on Friday 5th April at 18h00 at the Nahoon Lifesaving Club. The forecast for the weekend looks promising, with offshore south west winds and a clean mid-range swell predicted for the area.
