Tag: beyrick de vries

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Beyrick De Vries and Friends Tour Africa in “Higher Light”

Beyrick surfing close to home in South Africa. Image: Alan van Gysen

Its taken a while for Beyrick de Vries to premier

Beyrick de Vries comes across as a funny guy. Believe me, he is very, very funny. Just follow him on Instagram to find out for yourself. But, underneath the humour and laughs lies a very serious competitor and a perfectionist. Hence, it took a bit longer to get his signature film out than planned, because it had to be perfect.

Brendan Gibbens blasts away at a lip in Senegal. Image: Alan van Gysen

A serious cast of surfing talent

I was fortunate enough to be in the water at a few locations where the film was shot. Beyrick was a standout at every session.

Joining him in the varied African lineups was a tight crew of his friends, who all happen to be some serious rippers themselves. Brendon Gibbens is probably the most famous free surfer to ever come out of South Africa. Shane Sykes is one of the most talented of the younger generation, hailing from Salt Rock in Ballito. Then you have perennial charger, Dale Staples, in the mix.

All in all, a stacked lineup of South African surf talent.

Beyrick de Vries contemplating life as an African surfer in Senegal. Image: Alan van Gysen

Location, location, location – Beyrick de Vries chose well!

You cant have a good surf film without some dam good surf locations. Beyrick de Vries knows this, so for “Higher Light” he took the crew to some of Africa’s top wave destinations. The crystal clear waters of Mozambique, deadly tubes of Namibia and the fun, exotic destination of Senegal give the film a real African flavour. Then you add some thundering tubes on the East coast of South Africa and the frigid waters of the Cape and you have all the ingredients for an A grade film.

Watch the film, you will enjoy it!

The crew under the direction of, Steve Michelson and Monster Energy have put out an incredible film. So sit back and enjoy one of the best South African surf productions to date!

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Best West! Vans Surf Pro Classic fires off at Lamberts Bay

I love the West Coast! Every time I head up there I just fall in love all over again. One of the main reasons is what I like to call the “West Coast Handshake”. For this event, myself and Stanley Badger drove up a few days early and we arrive at pretty good Elands Bay in the morning with quite the crowd on it. Have a surf, go have lunch, come back to the point and the crowd gone and an old guy from the coast in the parking lot. We have a quick chat and he says, “Enjoy the empty lineup, I am paddled out and heading home.” and he shakes my hand. We score three hours of uncrowded perfection.

This is followed by the first ever WSL event on the coast and as per usual YoYos delivers whether 2ft, 8ft, crossshore or offshore and high tide or low tide. The kids are going off, the Pros are frothing and the vibe is super chilled and everyone is smiling. (Just watch the videos I tell you!) Mike February is looking sublime, but Beyrick de Vries has a look in his eye. Funny then that both end up in the final with Beyrick just pipping Mikey. In the juniors Jordy Maree smokes the field and it is good to see the Grom smiling from ear to ear with a big victory. No huge party follows, just fire, braai and a few beers. West Coast style.

I find myself parked at one of the multitude of reefs along the coast road, one surf down already on a Monday. The waves are out there and looking pretty good. A car pulls up with a bunch of frothing surfers who have just arrived. I say hi, we chat about the event and how the waves looking. A good little set peels off down the reef. I tell them to go enjoy themselves, I am hitting the road. We shake hands and I drive off with a big smile on my face.

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The Ballito Pro 2015 – Ladies Finals & the Trials

We had an action packed day 1 down at the Ballito Pro with both the mens trials and the ladies competition surfing to completion. In the trials we saw Brazilian domination with Roberto Santos taking the win from Flavio Nakajima, who both got wildcards into the main event. In the ladies it was Nikita Robb taking the win from Faye Zoetmulder in the final and walking home with a R10’000 payday. We also caught up with top junior surfer, Ntando Msibi and ladies competitor, Tarry Chudleigh. This insert was broadcast on the Expresso Show on SABC 3.

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Mr Price Pro Day 1 #ActionUpdate

A great first day at Ballito for the Mr Price Pro with some tubes in the morning and super fun bowls through the day. Biggest disappointment was Beyrick de Vries getting knocked out on a priority interference, after he dominated his heat, which was the highest scoring heat of the day! South Africans through to Round 2 were Jordy Smith, Travis Logie and young gun, Davey van Zyl. Check out all the action…

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Mr Price Pro Preview & Trials 2014 – #ActionUpdate

The bank at Ballito is great and we have seen some good waves leading into the Mr Price Pro. Check out the trials with Shane Sykes getting 2nd and Brandon Jackson winning, both getting wild cards into the main event. I chat to Beyrick de Vries and Nic von Rupp. Check back every day for a short highlights video and all the latest news and action from the event.

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Best of South Africa 2013 – Surfing

I hope you guys and gals had a great Xmas and New Years and welcome to 2014! It’s going to be a mental year of action sports in SA, but as we get underway I thought I would look back at 2013, and first up the world of surfing.

Best Surfer – Grant Twig Baker

Starting the year looking down the barrel of a gun financially as he lost his major sponsor and the year’s big wave season stuttered and started very late, Grant Baker came back guns firing! With the announcement of the ASP Big Wave World Tour, twig looked me in the eye and stated with total sincerity and focus, “I am going to be the Big Wave World Champion”. The nay sayers would say he is getting too old, his time is passed, etc etc. Twig shrugged it all off, trained his ass off and when the waves finally arrived in late winter, blew minds with his commitment and focus. (While watching the Dungeons segment below, make note of John John Florence on the boat in the channel and what he says watching one of Twig’s waves!) When the first official big wave event on the year was called on in Europe, many of the big names chose to remain in Hawaii, where they had just arrived. Twig got back on a plane and missioned across the globe to dominate the event and take the number 1 spot on the ASP BW World Tour. The kids going on tour this year like Beyrick de Vries, Slade Prestwich, Mikey February and Dane Staples need to take a leaf out of Twig’s book. If your mental game is on, your body fit and ready for anything and you believe in yourself so much you intimidate your competitors, you can be the champ! The ball is rolling for Twig out of 2013, lets see what 2014 brings…

Twig: A Calculated Madness from SURFING Magazine on Vimeo.

Best Tour Surfer – Beyrick de Vries

I checked Beyrick getting a lot of flack through the years. I don’t think people took his challenge for the tour seriously. Those people, all have egg on their faces now though! An incredible year of results, culminating in what has been called the best tube ever ridden at Sunset and a solid Triple Crown showing has put Beyrick on the cusp of qualifying and with a a super seeding for 2014. Now the pressure really starts as the World number 49 heads out as the number 3 South African seed on tour behind Jordy and Travis. With an able support cast in Dale, Mikey and Slade, I am really looking forward to watching the Qualifying Tour in 2014.

Best Junior Surfer – Slade Prestwich

The big kid made big name in 2013. Long touted as the heir to Jordy Smith’s power game, Slade came right after a rather shocking start at the first Billabong Pro Junior at the beginning of the year. His big break came winning the Volcom Pro Junior in Durban and getting a slot in the competition at Fiji. With the powerful lefts of Cloudbreak as his pallet, Slade proceeded to slash and burn the competition in front of a global webcast audience. A massive win for the kid from Scottys and suddenly his head was back in the game. For me his best surfing was to come at the Junior World Champs in Brazil, where he lost to Gabriel Medina in the Quarter Finals (Medina smoked every heat in the competition), where more importantly it came to a last minute count back by the judges as Slade was the only surfer to challenge Medina the entire event. Slade has the skill, he is an immensely nice guy and he has the support of some great sponsors. My feeling is that with the right support and management he can go all the way!

My 2014 Wildcard – Dale Staples

Ducky has more than proven himself in big surf and tubes. Name made on the North Shore, a proven track record out at Jbay in front of a home crowd (Not long now till the return…) and a solid bag of tricks in the small stuff. The World number 71 has a decent seed going into 2014 and after speaking with him, he definitely has the desire to get onto the Championship Tour. Put Dale Staples on the Dream tour and watch magic happen… Now he just needs to go out there and qualify!

All in all we are poised for a massive year in professional surfing in South Africa. We have some serious firepower hitting the Qualifying Tour and make no mistake Travis Logie will go about business like he does every year. The biggest question on everyone’s lips must be, “Will Jordy Smith win a World Title this year?” He has looked me in the eye and told me there is nothing else more important to him than that exact goal and I believe him. I have put the bottle of champagne on ice in anticipation…

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The Vans US Open 2013 Review

Wow, what a show, oh and they had a surf contest! Thats right, the greatest show in surfing at the world’s softest and placid wave in the worst months for waves in California is done and it was won by a Brazilian from the Californian golden boy and the “Surfers” rioted afterwards…

Well done to Vans for putting on a huge spectacle of action sports – really I mean it, it was incredible. Its just a pity the waves are so shit every year for this contest. Could they not do it later in the year, maybe before Trestles? June Gloom is not the ideal contest environment and the inland hooligans on holiday certainly don’t add good vibes to the event – read, girl fights, riots, looting, etc.

Anyway, the surfing was good and Alejo Muniz (I thought he was Argentinian, but the Brazzas claimed him.) defeated kohole Andino in the final. Both surfers ripped the whole contest. For us South Africans, more important news was that Bianca Buitendag won the ladies Pro Junior (See video 2) showing once again she is the top young ladies surfer in the World. Jordy Smith made the quarter finals pushing him to the top of the World Rankings and Beyrick de Vries got through some rounds and now sits within solid striking distance of World Tour Qualification at 35 on the rankings. One more solid result for the kid from Umhlanga Rocks and he is in!

So, away from the chaos and riots and off to the promised land! Teahupoo in 2 weeks time for the Billabong Pro!