Tag: jbay open

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Billabong Junior Series fires on Day 1 in Jbay 2015

To be honest I was a little bleak we were on at the same time as the Jbay Open yesterday, but that feeling dissipated real fast as the Under 16 and Junior Boys heats took to the water at Magnatubes in Jbay and the level of surfing went through the roof! Top junior surfers like Matti Mcgilivray and Dylan Lightfoot battled with international super juniors like Seth Moniz and Griffin Colapinto. Matti landing a hail mary air in his quarter final to get a 10 point ride and Griffin getting the first perfect 10 of the event in his Round 1 heat. Check out the video and be impressed! Seriously I reckon you would have been more entertained at the Junior event than at the main event at Supertubes.

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Tom Curren talks Style, Competitive Surfing and Jbay

The man is a legend! He redefined performance at Supertubes on his first wave ever at the point and when he paddled out for his ASP Heritage heat against Occy, he showed the World once again how good he is. Arcing turns, drawn out bottom turns and a perfect ten tube ride. It was a huge privilege to get to interview the man who inspired me to surf Jbay as a grom. His thoughts on surfing Jbay and what he thinks of Owen Wright, Matt Wilko, Joel Parkinson and of course Mick Fanning may just change your views on these surfers. So sit back, relax and listen to the master…

(Photo: Billy Ackerman – https://www.facebook.com/billy.ackerman)

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Incredible Final Day at the Jbay Open

The ASP and the World can rejoice once more! Jbay is back and as usual delivered one of the best days of surfing on tour for the Finals. Even the Goofy footers can rejoice, though two naturals in the final, the semi final runs of both Matt Wilko and Owen Wright were incredible, with Wilko especially showing new levels of commitment never before seen at the famous point of Supertubes. In the end Parko was in sublime form to to beat Wilko in their semi final, but it took all his energy and he lost momentum going into the final. Mick Fanning on the other hand was surgical in his destruction of the Supertubes waves and once again showed how high his level of fitness is, cruising the final to take the win. Another highlight of the day was watching Occy and Tom Curren have a crack at the massive walls of water running down the point, with Tom getting the deepest tube of the day. The beach was more packed than ever before, I am sure the webcast numbers were huge and everyone is super stoked that Jbay is back on tour.

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The Calm Before the Storm – Jbay Open Final Day Preview

It seems pretty calm on the beach at Supertubes. The sun is out, there are small perfect waves flaring down the point and there is a sense of anticipation building as the forecasted swell should arrive for Saturday. Take a look at what went down in Round 4 and I preview the 3 guys, Taj Burrow, CJ Hobgood and Freddy Patacchia, that should be super deadly if the waves go 8-10ft.

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Upsets, Tears and Goofy Footed Domination at the Jbay Pro Day 3

Just look at the bemused smile on CJ Hobgood’s face after knocking out the favorite, Jordy Smith. CJ must have been wondering how he did it, but I can tell you how, he stuck to the gameplan. Jordy wanted to impress his home crowd so much he tried too hard and ultimately it hurt him. Going for the massive layback snap and going down, all he had to do was 3 more average turns and he would have got the middling 6 points he was after. The crowd sighed in disbelief and CJ was left smiling on the beach wondering how he pulled off such an incredible win against the odds.

Another Goofy who put it to the odds was in form surfer, Matt Wilko, not only beating Kelly Slater in their Round 3 match up, but putting the King in combo land. I don’t think many people called that one. Josh Kerr, Taj Burrows, Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson stuck to the Jbay script and dominated their encounters. One more upset was on the cards though, as Alejo Muniz took out World Number 2, Michel Bourez.

There was great surfing and we are now ready for Round 5 and the final day of surfing. Hopefully the swell forecasted for the weekend arrives.

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Jordy Smith schools the Pro Tour on Day 1 at the Jbay Open

Thats right, Jordy Smith schooled the pro tour! Two high 9’s in 4 minutes, then snapped a leash and did the run around, while the poor goofy footers in his heat anxiously tried to compete while in combo land. Jordy popped back into the lineup and promptly caught the wave of the day, absolutely destroyed it and got a perfect 10. He clearly wants to defend his title at Jbay.

Other standouts living in Jordy’s rather large shadow, were Josh Kerr ripping and pulling the first Kerupt Flip at Jbay, Kai Otton with one of the best tubes of the day taking out Parko and Mick Fanning. Local wildcard, Dylan Lightfoot surfed super well against Kelly Slater in Round 1 and Gabriel Medina in Round 2. He did not get through, but certainly did not embarrass himself either. The experience of surfing against these guys will have been an invaluable learning experience for the young man.

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RVCA JBU Super Trials 2014 Highlights

The RVCA JBU Super Trials were held last week in pretty fun looking and hollow Supertubes. With the winner getting a slot in the WCT Jbay Open, the game was on, between a great mix of old and young SA surf stars. Last years Jbay Open, which saw a great mix of old and young saw the old boys keep the grom challenge down, but this year was to be the year of the kids, with the whole final being under the age of 22. Local kid, Dylan Lightfoot ended up with the win and will now see his dream of competing against his heros at his home break come true. I will be covering the event and will keep you posted on how the local kid does.