East Beach, Port Alfred – It was an exciting day of surfing for contestants in the Rip Curl GromSearch Port Alfred, presented by Royal St Andrews Hotel and supported by Sea Harvest, with two to three-foot onshore conditions proving challenging but highly contestable. 

Up-and-coming grom Slayde Shooter (CSF) was the top surfer of the day, easily winning his U12 and U14 heats. He also accumulated the highest heat total (14.33)  for his performance in the U12 division heat.

Sarah Scott (CT), Louise Lepront (Scottburgh) and Anastasia Venter (JBay) were the heat winners in the U18 Girls quarterfinals as the first heats of the day got underway. They advanced along with Nina Bone (Strand), Maya Potgieter (Margate) and Gemma Hanafey (EL).

Luc Lepront kept the family name flying high with the highest heat score of the U18 Boys quarterfinals. “It was challenging out there, and I was short of a second wave,” said Lepront. “Luckily I got one wave at the end, and that wave pushed me into first place. Stoked,”

The U16 Boys quarterfinals finished off what was quite a short day of surfing, as it was time to get ready for the Bands At The Beach Music Festival across the river at Guido’s. Rory Dace came alive in the first heat, banking a win and advancing with Kieran Murphy (CT). Josh Malherbe (Coffee Bay) was on form in the second heat, banking a massive 7.83 for the best ride of the heat on his route to victory with Rylan Jarvis (CSF) in second place and advancing, while in the final heat of the day, Matt Canning outpointed Tyson Johnson (EL).

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a long day of surfing, with an early 7:30 a.m. start. Tomorrow will also see the start of the Rip Curl Cup, with the Men’s first round.

Linkonline provides a free high-speed hotspot on the beach for competitors, spectators and officials. More here – LINKONLINE

Images from the Rip Curl GromSearch and the Rip Curl Cup are being uploaded here – GOOGLEDRIVE – click on the day you’re looking for and follow the links. Please tag the photographer and #ripcurlgromsearchportalfred as well as #portalfredeasterfestival

A SuperSport Film Crew will be on-site, producing a show on these two surf contests and coverage of the other Port Alfred Easter Festival events for later viewing. 

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