Womans Day Surf Challenges across SA

Tanika Hoffman ripping some clean Long Beach in Cape Town (Photo: Surfing SA)

National Women’s Day is being celebrated yesterday by the surfing community through the holding of the second edition of the Women’s Day Surf Challenge presented by Surfing South Africa (SSA) and supported by Sport and Recreation South Africa.

Simultaneous events in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town attracted the cream of the country’s past and present female surf stars who were vying for prize-money and points in the SSA Pro Surf Tour ranked events while dozens of aspiring surfers were using the opportunity to meet and mingle with their heroines and compete for valuable prizes in the Rookie division.

Each venue featured 1A rated PST events for Open Women, Under 20 and U16’s with
R2 500 in prize-money at stake in each division, while the Rookies, who have not previously represented their Province, took home plenty of prizes.

Durban Beach (Photo: Surfing SA)

Just three of South Africa’s legends surfing in the Durban event were reigning ISA and SA Women’s World Masters Champion Heather Clark, former multiple SA champion Kay Holt, who has represented SA on seven occasions, and national Under 20 Champion Sarah Baum.
Clark has just been selected to defend her title as a member of the 2011 SA Masters Team. The team will travel to El Salvador in October to participate in the ISA World Masters Championships. South Africa has won two and come second in the three ISA World Masters Championships held.

Julz Buchanan and Tanika Hoffman (Photo: Surfing SA)

Tanika Hoffman ripping her home break. (Photo: Surfing SA)

The Cape Town Women’s Day Surf Challenge took place at Long Beach Kommetjie, the same venue as last year. 2011 SA national team member Tanika Hoffman, 2010 winner Kerri Hodgkinson and finalist Stacey Guy as well as SA Championships and SA Masters Championships finalist Tasha Mentasti were the pick in the strong Women’s field.
Also competing in this division were top international campaigners Tarryn Chudleigh and Chantelle Rautenbach. Nicole Pallet is one of the up and coming stars in the Under 20 & Under 16 division along with Ruth and Holly Armstrong and Anoush Zakarian.

PE delivered some surf for the ladies. (Photo: Surfing SA)

Faye Zoetmulder charging. (Photo: Surfing SA)

The Port Elizabeth event where SA Champion Nikita Robb, Faye Zoetmulder and sisters Emma and Gina Smith were included in the event. Inge Mclaren, Cara Mac Donald and a host of East London, PE and J Bay girls were some of the young stars in the field. The contest took place at Pollock Beach .

The Women’s Day Surf Challenge was supported by Sport & Recreation SA while the website partner for the events is Gsport for Girls.

The Women’s Day Surf Challenge is proudly partnered by Skullkandy, Reef Wetsuits, Swatch Watches, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Power Balance and Zig Zag Magazine.
The heats and schedule for the Women’s Day Surf Challenge is available on Surfing SA.

Surfing South Africa is the governing body for the sport and is recognized by Sport and Recreation SA (SRSA). SSA is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).

Very Cheesy Slide Show -
Womens Day 2011 - Surf and Beach Webcams, Wind, Swell and Tides for Cape Town