Pipeline Challenge Final Day - Sacha Spex retains Dk Title

Spex throwing down for Team Saffa and retaining his Pipe DK Title.

The Dropknee division featured a hotly contested final, taken out by South African Sacha Specker, defeating Hawaiian wave wizard and multiple DK World Champion, Dave Hubbard in second, Australia's multi talent Dave Winchester in third and Peruvian powerhouse and 2010 DK World Champion, Cesar Bauer in fourth to claim his second IBA Pipeline Pro DK victory.

Specker had a solid lead early in the final, but Hubbard and Winchester managed to find some excellent barrel rides to keep them in contention. Although Bauer never really found his rhythm during the final, he put on a show-stopping performance, pulling into big barrel over the shallow backdoor reef, keeping the beach spectators cheering on the edge of their seats. Hubbard made a last ditch effort in the last five minutes of the final, but it was speaker who managed to hold onto poll position.

Ben Player (AUS) has taken out the 2013 IBA GoPro Pipe Challenge in pumping 8-10 foot waves at the Banzai Pipeline today, defeating defending champion, Jeff Hubbard (HAW) in second, Pierre-Louis (FRA) in third and multi talented Dave Hubbard (HAW) in fourth in the dying minutes of the final. Player posted an excellent score of 8.75 early in the final for a deep set wave barrel on a left and finished it off with a looping roll. Hubbard answered back with a 7.75 and a 7.2 for two deep back to back barrels on draining left handers. The Frenchman and Dave Hubbard both managed to post a good score each 7.38 and 6.25 respectively, but were unable to lock in substantial second scoring rides. With only two minutes remaining, Player was searching for a 6.21 or better to take out the final. Scooping into a heaving Pipe set wave, the Australian negotiated his way through a long barrel and topped the wave off by launching an invert off the closeout to earn himself 7.38 out of a possible 10 points, rocketing him into first place as the buzzer sounded the end of the 2013 IBA GoPro Pipeline Pro. Victorious, Player was carried up the beach to the podium by good friends and past Pipe Champions, Ryan Hardy and Andrew Lester, accompanied by a cheering crowd of Australian supporters. Player has been competing in this pipe event for the past 19 years, claimed two world titles, and has several grand slam victories under his belt, but until today has never been able to claim a victory at the infamous Banzai Pipeline. 

Captain Kai's World on www.2ov.fm Podcast - Jon Williams Rally, Maloof Winners and Hurley Pro

On this week's radio show I hosted SA Rally driver, Jon Williams, who is also on the DC Shoes team. I was lucky enough to shoot with him last week, as you can see above. He gives us the lowdown on his car, the championship and what its like to be a Rally Driver in SA. Snoddy popped in for a quick chat. I announced the winners of the Maloof Money Cup Hamper and Tickets to the event. Robby MacDonald joined me from Vudu Surf, to discuss the ongoing Hurley Pro at Trestles and some surf updates. Old school music met the latest beats...

Download or Listen to the Podcast HERE

Billabong SA Champs 2012 - Wrap Up

Max Armstrong with a big Slob Air, winning the Zigzag Blowing Up Award (Photo:AVG)

Lets get one thing straight off of the bat, South Africa has plenty of surf talent. Over the 4 days of the SA Champs in Cape Town I saw plenty to make us positive about the future of this countries surfing. From gale force onshore and rainy Long Beach, to shifty and difficult Misty Cliffs, the surfers in this contest were ripping. I know, because I was there for every minute of every heat - I was commentating.

In the Girls it was Tanika Hoffman who really impressed me the whole event. She ran out of steam in the finals, but that's ok. A bit more international experience and a little more killer instinct and she can go far. (She is a super nice, maybe to nice. She needs some aggro out in the water.) In the Woman's competition Nikita Robb was in a league of her own. Even in the free surf before Day 4 got under way, she was the only woman out in the line up at Misty Cliffs mixing it with the guys. She won hands down and I hope she takes that win on the road to France with her and back to the WCT.

In the boys division one guy stood way above the others. Mikey February is looking the full picture. Big power turns, the full air repertoire on demand and he simply makes surfing a heat look casual and easy. Like a mix between Parko and Jordy. The kid has a big future ahead of him. Max Armstrong is also worth looking out for. The kid was swinging with guys 2-3 years older and holding his own. I also enjoyed watching Jared Veldhuis surf and will be worth keeping an eye on him.

In the men it is hard to start. The old guard of Greg Emslie and Shane Thorne, still ripping and giving it hard to the younger guys. Ryan Payne called it when named Greg, "The Wave Whisperer". Dan Redman was on fire. He kept it simple, by which I mean he treated waves with disdain, power carving and snapping their lips into annihilation. Beyrick de Vries is the complete package. He busted some of the biggest and cleanest airs I have seen in competition and backed this up with solid turns and tube riding. Casey Grant flew a little under the radar, but he certainly made it count when it mattered. Casey is awesome to watch surf!

So have no fear - we have the surfers, now we just need them to get the right support to go out there and take over the world.

Results:
In the team awards it was Western Province continuing their undefeated series of victories on home soil. WP have yet to be beaten whenever the SA Champs are held in Cape Town.

In the U20 Girls Heidi Palmboom from KZNC is the new champion. She beat Tanika Hoffman (WP), Emma Smith (EP) and Nikita Kekana (SKZN) into second, third and fourth place respectively.

The U20 Boys was an air-off between Mikey February (WP) and Dylan Lightfoot (EP), with local boy February getting the nod and beating Lightfoot into second. Jarred Veldhuis (EP) was third and Steven Sawyer (EP) came in fourth place.

Nikita Robb from Border was the eventual winner in the Open Women’s division, retaining her title in the process. She beat Chantelle Rautenbach (Bol) in second, Tarryn Chudleigh (WP) in third and Krystal Tavenor (Bol) in fourth place.

The 2012 Open Mens Champion is Casey Grant (SKZN). Dan Redman (KZNC) was a close second, ahead of Beyrick De Vries (KZNC) in third and defending champion Greg Emslie (Bor) in fourth.

The VonZipper Air Show was a punt-fest into the cross shore conditions, with Diran Zakarian (Bol) taking it, and the R1000.

One of the new awards, the Kustom Kustomized Maneuver, went to Jared Veldhuis (WP) along with the R1000 prizemoney.

The DaKine Highest Heat Score Award and R1000 went to Dan Redman for the highest heat score of the event with 17 points.

The Zigzag Blowing Up Award and R3000 went to Max Armstrong (WP).

The BuchuLife Performance Award and R2000 went to Nikita Kekana (SKZN)

The final team placings were:
1. WP – 43950
2. KZNC – 38782
3. EP – 37418
4. BOR – 36840
5. BOL – 35528
6. SKZN – 33990
7. SC – 24660
8. Zul – 19736

Billabong XXL Awards 2012 - The Winners

The 2012 XXL Awards went down last week (Due to my holiday, I am reporting late on this) and the ultimate prize went to Nathan Fletcher for his mind boggling wave at Teahupoo last year. I am still struggling to figure out how a wave not ridden out won, but hell it was crazy! Fletcher won the "Ride of the Year" and the "Monster Tube" awards with this wave. He also took the overall Men's Performance Award. So a good night for Nathan.

The 2012 "Monster Paddle Award" went to Hawaiian, Dave Wassel, for a huge wave earlier in the year at Jaws in Maui.There were stacks of entries from December and January from Jaws, as the world's big wave surfers descended on the previous Tow Surf Spot.

"Biggest Wave Champion" went to Hawaiian, Garrett MacNamara, for his "90"ft ride off the coast of Portugal in 2011. Many thought this wave looked very soft, but the size judges cleared it as the biggest wave caught. Garrett also took the "Verizon Wipeout of the Year" award for a horrible bail at massive Jaws. He was trying to surf the "JetBoard" and went over the falls backwards on a monster of a wave.