Team South Africa maintained its position amongst the front-runners for both individual and team honours as competitors battled giant three metre and larger waves on Day 2 of the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Peru yesterday.

In ‘victory at sea’ conditions where most heats were decided by totals of less than 10 out of a possible 20 and luck played a massive part in wave selection, seven of the eight SA surfers in action successfully negotiated their way into the next round of their respective Qualifying streams.

Only team captain Greg Emslie fell foul of the conditions, becoming the first SA surfer to drop into the cutthroat men’s Repecharge rounds. The vastly experienced former Dream Tour campaigner could only accumulate 6.20 points from his best two rides to place third behind Brazil’s Alan Jhones (8.66) and local Peruvian big wave hero Gabriel Villaran (7.20).

The rest of the SA team members produced gutsy performances as huge walls of whitewater swept through the two contest areas at Senoritas and Caballeros. Chad du Toit was acknowledged as one of the standouts of the day on the men’s division, relegating 2004 ISA World champion Hira Teriinatoofa (Tahiti) to the runner-up spot while winning their men’s Round 2 heat.

Casey Grant recorded 10.84 points, almost double the total of his three opponents, in winning his heat while Warwick Wright finished second behind Brazilian prodigy Peterson Crisanto to advance to the last 32 in the men’s Qualifying stream.

Both SA girls, Chantelle Rautenbach and Stacey Guy, won their women’s Round 2 encounters on a day when only the two Peruvian girls and current World No. 6 Chelsea Hedges (AUS) could amass double digit heat scores. Rautenbach and Guy are now into the final 16 in the women’s division Qualifiers.

Two-time ISA World Longboard champion Matthew Moir maintained his proud record of having won every heat he has contested at the ISA World Games by delivering one of the four highest scores of the division. Competing in the rights at Caballeros, Moir used his flowing backhand repertoire of big turns interspersed with occasional traditional nose-riding manoeuvres to clinch the heat victory.

Brad Weare, competing in his first ISA event, joined Moir amongst the last 32 in the Longboard division Qualifiers by overcoming the elements and winning his opening encounter.

With only one round of women’s Repecharge heats completed, Team SA remains amongst 21 nations who have yet to have any of their team members eliminated from the event. The double-elimination format used sees competitors stay in the Qualifying stream until they finish lower than first or second in a heat. Placing outside the top two in a Repecharge heat results in elimination.

Every national team has at least one surfer in the Repecharge rounds with South Africa, Australia and France having one men’s division competitor in the do or die situation while defending team champions USA have one women and the rest of the nations are at risk of having more than one competitor eliminated in their next heat.

Surfline, the official surf forecasters for the event, predict even bigger surf for today’s third day of action and the organisers have warned that they may have to close the Senoritas venue. However, they hope to be able to continue running the event at in the right hand breaking waves at Caballeros on the other side of the bay in Punta Hermosa, 60 Kms south of Lima.

All the action can be followed live on www.isasurf.org starting at 8am daily (3pm in South Africa). Daily updates and images will be posted on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and further updates will be available on the Facebook page Surfing SA.  

The 2010 South African surfing team is supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund and Surfing South Africa along with Skullcandy, PowerBalance and Future Life.

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

Ends 

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock – General Manager
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com
Web:                www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

Team South Africa completed a confidence building clean sweep on Day 1 of the 2010 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Peru yesterday, winning all six of the heats they contested in the “Olympics” of surfing which features national teams from 31 nations and over 200 competitors.

After the colourful Parade of Nations and the moving Sands of the World ceremonies were staged on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace in downtown Lima, the challenge for the gold medals in Men’s, Women’s, Longboard, Tag team and the overall Team trophy got underway under grey skies and inconsistent two metre waves at the two venues of Senoritas and Caballeros in Punta Hermosa.

The opening round of both the men and women were completed yesterday with the seeding matching the SA team members up against surfers from Ecuador, Guatemala, Uruguay and the UK.

Warwick Wright was the first SA surfer to take to the surf and the 2002 ISA World Junior champion set the standard by posting the first double-digit heat total of the event, scoring 12.0 points out of a possible 20 in winning Heat 4.

Chad du Toit (13.06) and Casey Grant (12.27) also recorded comfortable victories in their respective encounters before team captain Greg Emslie delivered 13.67 points in Heat 32, the last of the day, to join his compatriots in Round 2 of the Qualifying stream in the double elimination format used at the event.

In the women’s division, Chantelle Rautenbach’s 14.60 point total was too good for her opponents from Ecuador and the UK to match while Stacey Guy triumphed in her wave-starved, low scoring heat to stay on track for higher honours.

The rest of the top five surfing nations suffered mixed results with the powerful Australian team that includes five current or former World Tour surfers losing one of their members to the Repecharge rounds, as did France. USA, the defending ISA team champions have brought a young squad to the event but won all six of their clashes while Brazil saw two of their team dropping into the repecharges.

Of the smaller nations, hosts Peru along with Costa Rica and New Zealand kept all their competitors in the Qualifying stream with a mixture of first and second placed heat results. The teams from Puerto Rico, Mexico and Venezuela performed well and surfers from the UK, Spain, Portugal and Argentina posted heat victories.

The Billabong ISA World Surfing Games continues until Thursday 27 October and today’s schedule sees Qualifying Rounds 2 for women and men in the left-breaking waves at Senoritas while Round 1 of the Longboarding, featuring SA’s two-time ISA World champion Matthew Moir and Brad Weare, takes place in the rights at Caballeros after the women’s Repecharge Round 1.

Surfline, the official surf forecasters for the event, predict massive triple overhead (3 to 5 metre faces) on Thursday and Friday, dropping slowly to 2 to 4 metres over the weekend before a new swell kicks in next week.

All the action can be followed live on www.isasurf.org starting at 8am daily (3pm in South Africa). Daily updates and images will be posted on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and further updates will be available on the Facebook page Surfing SA. 

The 2010 South African surfing team is supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund and Surfing South Africa along with Skullcandy, PowerBalance and Future Life.

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

Ends

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa
Contact:            Robin de Kock – General Manager
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com
Web:                www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

 
Durban (Sunday 12 September 2010) – Surfers riding Safari Surfboards shaped by master-craftsman Spider Murphy bagged two Gold and one Bronze medal at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships which concluded in Panama on the weekend.

Chris Knutsen and Heather Clark successfully defended their Grand Kahunas (Over 50) and Women’s Masters (o/35) titles while David Malherbe placed third in the Kahunas division (o/45).

‘Knutto’, the only surfer in the 42 year history of SA surfing to have won the SA men’s title four times, went unbeaten throughout the 2010 ISA Masters and scored the only perfect 10 point ride of the entire event on his way to victory in the final. The 53 year-old from Durban added a third ISA World Masters gold medal to his tally following his triumph in the Grand Kahunas in Peru in 2008 and in the Kahunas in Puerto Rico in 2007.

“As always I felt comfortable and secure on my boards which went 110%,” said Knutsen of the Safari surfboards he used in Panama. “Spider is so good to work with, he’s always there to give advice and I used my ‘Podium Model’, the one I won the SA title on at St Mikes, and it took me to the podium again.”

‘Fergie’, SA’s ‘Queen of surfing’, completed an astonishing recovery from a life-threatening motor accident in October last year to add the 2010 gold medal to the one she earned in Peru in 2008, the first time the Women’s masters division was included in the event. A former ASP Women’s World Tour campaigner and still the only SA surfer ever to win the Hawaiian Triple Crown of Surfing, Heather has won every heat she has contested in two ISA Masters events.

“Spider always delivers the goods and my boards were brilliant,” said Clark. “I used all of them in the practice sessions but I was really nervous going into the event with the bigger surf so I used ‘Old Faithful’ and it worked unreal. Now I want one of those new Hydro X boards everyone is raving about!”

‘Herbie’, the ASP World Pro-Am champ back in 1990, the SA men’s champ in the mid ‘90’s and a multiple SA Masters champion, took the bronze medal in Panama, going one step better than his copper medal for fourth place in the Grand Masters in the inaugural event in Puerto Rico.

“My quiver of Safari boards were fantastic – I just wish I surfed as well in the final as my boards were going,’ commented Malherbe on his boards. “The wave was similar to Nahoon Reef, except the tidal difference was huge, about six metres between high and low, but Spider has been consistently delivering top-class boards for 30 or 40 years and mine went well in all conditions.”

The trio, who arrived back in South Africa late last week, have all been collaborating with Spider for many years while riding to victory on Safari Surfboards. Chris is currently riding Spider’s new Hydro X model which is receiving critical acclaim across South Africa and globally. A host of top-class performers are claiming it is 20% faster and more maneuverable than any surfboard previously ridden!

“Fantastic results for Chris, Heather and David,” said legendary surfboard shaper Spider Murphy, himself a former SA Masters champion. “They are all really experienced competitors and still love surfing so it’s a pleasure working with them to fine-tune their surfboards.”

Safari Surfboards was established in 1963 and is the exclusive provider of Spider Murphy’s shapes. Contact boards@safarisurf.com for more information.

/ends

Issued on behalf of:

Surfari Surfboards
Contact:            Lonnie Tiegs
Email:               lonnie@safarisurf.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

The South African Masters surfing team netted a six medal haul at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship which concluded in clean, well shaped two metre waves at Santa Catalina in Panama yesterday (Saturday).

The medals comprised three Gold, one Silver and two Bronze with Heather Clark (Women’s Masters) and Chris Knutsen (Grand Kahunas) successfully defending their titles while Andrew Banks (Masters) won his first ISA World title. Brothers Andre and David Malherbe earned Bronze in the Grand Masters and Kahunas respectively while Team South Africa took the Silver medal behind Australia in the team event.

The battle for the team title went down to the last heat of the event, the Masters final, where despite Banks winning the Gold, the two Aussies finished second and third to dash SA’s hopes of a third consecutive Team Gold by a mere 260 points – 10 456 to 10 196.

An elated Banks (Port Shepstone) clinched the Masters (o/35) title with an outstanding heat total of 17.57 out of 20, taking the lead in the final with an 8.50 and then grabbing the Gold with a 9.07 that left Silver medalist Brett Banister needing 8.98 while fellow Aussie Dean Hall and defending two-time champion Juan Ashton (PUR) were combo’d.

“I feel extremely happy, this is the reason why I came here,” Banks said. “This is what I was praying for, and I was not going to be happy with second place. It was a tough final and I gave it my all for my late brother, Robbie - I surf for him.”

Heather Clark (Port Shepstone) has won every heat she has entered in her two appearances in the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship. She completed remarkable recovery from a life-threatening motor accident last October to secure her second consecutive ISA Women’s Masters (o/35) Gold medal. In the final she scored 17.86 (a pair of 8.93 rides) that left Andrea Lopes (BRA) in second, Patricia Rossi (TAH) in third and Sandra English (AUS) in fourth.

“It was hard because all the surfers in the final are really good and we all got waves over the 6.00 point range,” Clark said after being mobbed by her teammates on the beach. “I had support in the water, at the beach and I wanted really bad to get my second world title.” 

Durban’s Chris Knutsen won his second successive Grand Kahunas (o/50) ISA World Title and third Gold medal overall after winning the Kahunas division in the 2007 edition in Puerto Rico. The 53 year-old displayed smart wave selection and his customary huge manoeuvres to post the only perfect 10-point ride of the entire event in yesterday’s final.  Backing that up with an 8.5, ‘Knutto’ left Javier Huarcaya (PER) in second, Kenneth Myers (PAN) in third and Javier Gorbea (PUR) in fourth. 

“I came here trying to win a third ISA World Title, a hat trick, and I managed to pull it off,” an emotional Knutsen said. “I think God gave me the waves as it was amazing to get a 10. I caught the wave and it looked like it was going to be a good one.  I just rode it the best I could and luckily it worked out well for me. I am so happy, this happens because if you really love what you do, and I love surfing, you can only get better.”

Andre Malherbe (East London) completed a gutsy run in the event, placing third in the Grand Masters (0/40) division behind three-time Gold medalist Juan Ashton (PUR) and Glen Pringle (AUS) after dropping into the repecharge rounds early on and having to battle through six heats of cutthroat competition just to reach the Grand final.

Brother David Malherbe (Coffee Bay) also earned a Bronze medal, one better than his Copper medal in Puerto Rico, when he placed third in the Kahunas (o/45) final yesterday, behind Rod Baldwin, Australia’s only individual Gold medalist, and Sergio Penna (BRA).

Wayne Monk (East London) placed equal 9^th overall in the Masters division, Rob Moore-Boyle finished 7^th in the Grand Masters and fellow Durbanite and SA team captain Marc Wright just missed out on the final and the opportunity to defend the Kahunas title he won in Peru in 2008, placing 6^th overall in Panama

The Closing Ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, as well as the Vice President, Minister of Tourism and Minister of Economy, who assisted ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, in awarding the medals.

Showing great interest in surfing, the President of Panama told the visiting surfers, “Tell everybody about the perfect waves we have and come here, you are more than welcome,” before ensuring the ISA President committed to bringing another international event to Panama in the summer of 2011.

ISA President Fernando Aguerre closed the event by saying, “I want to thank the Panamanian people, the government and the private sector for their commitment with this sport. This is the most exciting part of the event, the medals ceremony, but it is also the part when we remember everything, the rainy days, the wind, the great waves, the broken boards, and the emotions. We want to let all the Panamanians know that we leave your country with our hearts filled with great memories.”
 
The ISA World Masters Surfing Championship will be held again next year in a soon to be announced location.  

2010 ISA World Masters Surfing Championships

Santa Catalina, Panama

Team Medallists
Gold: Australia – 10456 points
Silver: South Africa – 10196 points
Bronze: Brazil – 8770 points
Copper: Puerto Rico – 8684 points

Masters
Gold: Andrew Banks (RSA)
Silver: Brett Bannister (AUS)
Bronze: Dean Hall (AUS)
Copper: Juan Ashton (PUR)

Grand Masters
Gold: Juan Ashton (PUR)
Silver: Glen Pringle (AUS)
Bronze: Andre Malherbe (RSA)
Copper: Ricardo Villanueva (PUR)

Kahunas
Gold: Rod Baldwin (AUS)
Silver: Sergio Penna (BRA)
Bronze: David Malherbe (RSA)
Copper: Martín Jerí (PER)

Grand Kahunas
Gold: Chris Knutsen (RSA)
Silver: Javier Huarcaya (PER)
Bronze: Kenneth Myers (PAN)
Copper: Javier Gorbea (PUR)

Women Masters
Gold: Heather Clark (RSA)
Silver: Andrea Lopes (BRA)
Bronze: Patricia Rossi (TAH)
Copper: Sandra English (AUS)

Final Team Standings:
1: AUSTRALIA
2: SOUTH AFRICA
3: BRAZIL
4: PUERTO RICO
5: PERU
6: VENEZUELA
7: ARGENTINA
8: FRANCE
9: PANAMA
10: COSTA RICA
11: MEXICO
12: ITALY
13: URUGUAY
14: REP.DOMINICAN
15: JAMAICA
16: NEW ZEALAND
17: GUATEMALA
18: TAHITI
19: EL SALVADOR
20: GERMANY
21: IRELAND

Videos, photos, results and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com. Further details are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships was made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

Ends

ATTENTION MEDIA
Daily high quality pictures and TV resolution video highlights for editorial use, rights free, are  available here:
 
Host: ftp.isasurf.org
User: isasurf_wmsc
Password: download1

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.  

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. The President is Fernando Aguerre and the four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock, General Manager
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

Team South Africa remains on track to claim a historic third successive team title at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships in Panama after the completion of the fifth day of competition yesterday (Thursday) when the finalists in the qualifying streams of the Masters, Grand Masters and Kahunas were determined..

SA, along with Australia and Brazil, still has all eight team members in contention in their various divisions with four South Africans and Australians yet to lose a heat, followed by three each from Puerto Rico, Peru and Brazil and one each from Panama, France and Tahiti.

In the Masters (o/35) division, Andrew Banks (Port Shepstone) advanced to the qualifying final along with heat winner Carlos Santos (BRA). These two will be up against two-time defending champion Juan Ashton (PUR) and Dean Hall (AUS) who relegated Wayne Monk (East London) to the repecharge rounds.

The top two in the qualifying finals advance to the Grand Final where they are guaranteed medals and a shot at clinching the World Masters title.

In the Grand Masters (o/40) division, Rob Moore-Boyle (Durban) couldn’t find the high scoring waves and joined Andre Malherbe (East London) in Heat 2 of repecharge Round 4. Malherbe, who has fought his way through two rounds of sudden-death repecharge heats already, posted a strong second place finish behind defending champion Magoo de la Rosa (PER) yesterday.

David, the elder of the Malherbe brothers, continued his rich vein of form at the event by winning his Kahunas (o/45) Round 3 heat yesterday, finishing ahead of Rod Baldwin (AUS) with SA team captain and defending ISA World Kahunas champion Marc Wright (Durban) in third place.

Malherbe and Baldwin will take on Sergio Penna and Martin Jeri (PER) for a place in the Grand final while Wright now has to fight his way through three cutthroat repecharge heats to reach the Grand final and the opportunity to defend his crown.

Defending world champions Heather Clark (Port Shepstone) in the Women’s Masters (o/35) and Chris Knutsen (Durban) in the Grand Kahunas (o/50) did not need to compete yesterday as they have already reached the qualifying final in their respective divisions.

All of the 52 surfers from 14 countries remaining in the ISA World Masters Championships will be in action today. Action at Santa Catalina in Panama will get underway at 7:00am (2pm in South Africa) with the following schedule:

 ISA World Masters Surfing Championships

Schedule for Friday 3 September (South Africans in Brackets)

2 HEATS MASTERS REPERCHARGE 4                       (Wayne Monk)
2 HEATS KAHUNAS REPERCHARGE 4                      (Marc Wright)                                  
2 HEATS GRAND MASTERS REPERCHARGE 4       (Andre Malherbe & Rob Moore-Boyle)
1 HEATS MASTERS QUALIFY 4                                     (Andrew Banks)
1 HEATS KAHUNAS QUALIFY 4                                     (David Malherbe)
1 HEATS GRAND MASTERS QUALIFY 4
1 HEATS GRAND KAHUNA QUALIFY 3                       (Chris Knutsen)
1 HEATS WOMEN MASTERS QUALIFY 3                     (Heather Clark)
1 HEATS GRAND KAHUNAS REPERCHARGE 3
1 HEATS WOMEN MASTERS REPERCHARGE 3
1 HEATS MASTERS REPERCHARGE 5                       (TBD)
1 HEATS KAHUNAS REPERCHARGE 5                      (TBD)
1 HEATS GRAND MASTERS REPERCHARGE 5       (TBD)

Country standings after five days of competition:

1: SOUTH AFRICA
1: AUSTRALIA
1: BRAZIL
4: PERU
5: PUERTO RICO
6: ARGENTINA
7: VENEZUELA
8: COSTA RICA
9: PANAMA
10: FRANCE
11: MEXICO
12: ITALY
13:REP.DOMINCAN
14: JAMAICA
15: URUGUAY
16: NEW ZEALAND
17: GUATEMALA
18: TAHITI
18: EL SALVADOR
20: GERMANY
20: IRELAND

All the action from the event, including live webcasts, daily videos, photos, results and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com.

Event updates are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships is made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

Ends

ATTENTION MEDIA
Daily high quality pictures and TV resolution video highlights for editorial use, rights free, will be made available here daily:
 
Host: ftp.isasurf.org
User: isasurf_wmsc
Password: download1

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.  

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. The President is Fernando Aguerre and the four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock, General Manager 
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

Andre Malherbe was the only South African surfer to compete on Day 4 of the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships in Panama on Wednesday as the organisers ran four rounds of repecharge heats that whittled down the field of surfers aged 35 or older from 107 to just 70.

The East Londoner took to the solid 2 to 2.5 metre waves with gusto and ran out a convincing winner in his Grand Masters repecharge Round 2 heat, earning scores of 6.0 and 6.33 (both out of 10) for a total of 12.33 that left his opponents from Venezuela, Italy and New Zealand floundering in his spray.

Malherbe, a copper medalist in the last ISA Masters event in Peru in 2008, is now through to repecharge Round 3 and still four heats away from a place in the Grand Final of the division.

Although only so-called ‘losers’ heats were run, the highest scores of the entire event were posted when Costa Rican Craig Scheiber was awarded 17.17 out of 20 (9.17 + 8.00) in his Grand Masters heat. And the man who is competing in two divisions at the event didn’t stop there, racking up 15.50 points when he contested his Kahunas heat.

Meanwhile in the Masters division, former ASP World Tour No. 3, Victor Ribas from Brazil, finally found his rhythm and was the best surfer of his age group, scoring 16.10 (8.67 + 7.43).

Team South Africa remains on track to retain the ISA World Team Champions title they have won at the previous two editions of the event and are leading the ratings along with Australia, Peru and Brazil who are the only nations with all their surfers still in contention.

Today’s action at Santa Catalina in Panama will get underway at 7:00am (@ 2pm in South Africa) with the following schedule:

 ISA World Masters Surfing Championships

Schedule for Thursday 2 September (South Africans in Brackets)

Masters Qualify 3                            (Wayne Monk & Andrew Banks)
Kahunas Qualify 3                          (David Malherbe & Marc Wright)
Grand Masters Qualify 3               (Robert Moore-Boyle)
Masters Repecharge 3
Kahunas Repecharge 3
Grand Masters Repecharge 3       (Andre Malherbe)
Women’s Masters Repecharge 2
Grand Kahunas Repecharge 2

All the action from the event, including live webcasts, daily videos, photos, results and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com.

Event updates are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships is made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

Ends

ATTENTION MEDIA
Daily high quality pictures and TV resolution video highlights for editorial use, rights free, will be made available here daily:
 
Host: ftp.isasurf.org
User: isasurf_wmsc
Password: download1

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.  

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. The President is Fernando Aguerre and the four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock, General Manager
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

Heather Clark and Chris Knutsen closed to within one heat of earning medals at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships in Panama yesterday as South Africa continued its push towards winning the team title for the third consecutive time.

Clark, the defending Women’s Masters World Champion, dominated her Round 2 heat in the solid two to three metre waves at Santa Catalina yesterday and has now posted the two highest heat tallies and three highest single ride scores in the division.

“I was extremely nervous because I know Andrea Lopes from previous years and she’s a really good competitor. I tried to get a first wave fast so I could relax. Once I did that I got into a bit of a rhythm and made it through,” said Clark. 

The 39 year-old from Port Shepstone has now reached the final of the winner’s stream in the Women’s Masters. A first or second place finish in her next heat will guarantee her a medal and the opportunity to clinch a second ISA World title.

Knutsen, winner of the Kahunas (o/45) title in Puerto Rico in 2007 and the Grand Kahunas (o/50) in the last edition of this event in Peru in 2008, is in the same position as Clark after cruising to victory in his Round 2 Grand Kahunas heat yesterday.

While Team SA did ‘lose’ its first team member to the repecharge rounds on Day 3 when Andre Malherbe (East London) paced third in his Grand Masters (o/40) heat, they still have more competitors in the winners bracket (seven) than any other team. Australia is next with six surfers and Brazil with five.

Robert Moore-Boyle (Durban) in the Grand Masters and team captain Marc Wright (Durban) in the Kahunas placed second to advance to Round 3 of their respective divisions. David Malherbe (Coffee Bay) was SA’s star of the day, racking up his second total of more than 15 points out of 20 to win his Kahunas heat.

The Masters (o/35), where Andrew Banks (Port Shepstone) and Wayne Monk (EL) are safely through to Round 3, did not compete yesterday.

Andre Malherbe, in Heat 3 of Grand Masters repecharge Round 2, will be the only South African in action on Wednesday in Panama as the organisers run repecharge heats that see any surfer finishing outside the top in a heat eliminated from the event.

ISA World Masters Surfing Championships

Schedule for Wednesday 1 September (South Africans in Brackets)

Grand Masters Repecharge 1
Kahunas Repecharge 2
Masters Repecharge 2
Grand Masters Repecharge 2       (Andre Malherbe – Heat 3)

All the action from the event, including live webcasts, daily videos, photos, results and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com. The event is scheduled to start at 6.30am local time daily. (1.30pm SA time).

Event updates are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships is made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

Ends

ATTENTION MEDIA
Daily high quality pictures and TV resolution video highlights for editorial use, rights free, will be made available here:
 
Host: ftp.isasurf.org
User: isasurf_wmsc
Password: download1

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.  

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. The President is Fernando Aguerre and the four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock, General Manager
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

 
Team South Africa, back-to-back Gold Medal winners of the previous two editions of the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship dominated Day 2 of the 2010 event in Panama on Monday, winning all eight heats they contested, posting many of the highest scores and ending the day the only one of the 21 nations competing that has all eight team members in the winners round.

The waves improved for the second day of the competition, reaching 12 feet (4 metres) at times, and in light offshore wind and sunny skies, SA’s supremacy today was stunning. Stellar performances from David Malherbe with a heat tally of 15.43 out of a possible 20.00, and former Kahunas and Grand Kahunas World Champion, Chris Knutsen with a single ride score of 9.5 out of a possible 10.00, were the highest recorded in the event so far.

Malherbe, from East London, who was a copper medalist in the ISA World Masters in Puerto Rico 2007, said, “I am happy about my performance and I am not feeling the pressure. I would like to do well in this event and I’m looking forward to tomorrow, it’s is going to be a great day.”

Knutsen, from Durban, was equally happy after winning his heat. “I have been fortunate to go to the last two ISA World Masters and it just seems to get better. It’s a huge mission to pull off a contest like this and there is a great team of people doing a fantastic job.”

South Africans also had Heather Clark (Port Shepstone), the defending ISA World Champion, and Wayne Monk (East London) posting the highest combined and single wave scores in the Women Masters and Masters divisions respectively.

Team captain Marc Wright (Durban) convincingly won his opening heat to join David Malherbe in Round 2 of the Kahunas while Andrew Banks (Port Shepstone) joined Monk in Round 3 of the Masters.

According to Surfline’s official forecast, the wave size will hold steady through the day Tuesday with possibly larger sets in the afternoon. 

ISA World Masters Surfing Championships

Schedule for Tuesday 31 August (South Africans in Brackets)
Grand Masters Main Event R2 (Andre Malherbe + Robert Moore-Boyle)
Kahunas Main Event R2 (David Malherbe + Marc Wright)
Women Masters Main Event R2 (Heather Clark)
Women Masters Repecharge R1
Grand Kahuna Repecharge R1
Grand Kahuna Qualify R2 (Chris Knutsen)
Masters Repecharge R1
Kahunas Repecharge R1

All the action from the event, including live webcasts, daily videos, photos, results and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com. The event is scheduled to start at 6.30am local time daily. (1.30pm SA time).

Event updates are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships is made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

Ends

ATTENTION MEDIA
Daily high quality pictures and TV resolution video highlights for editorial use, rights free, will be made available here:
 
Host: ftp.isasurf.org
User: isasurf_wmsc
Password: download1

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.  

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided over by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA’s four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock, General Manager 
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

Andre Malherbe set up South Africa’s bid to defend team title at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships in perfect fashion by posting the highest scores on Day 1 of the event staged in reeling two metre surf at Santa Catalina in Panama on Sunday.

Malherbe led throughout his Round 1 Grand Masters (over 40) heat, finishing with counting scores of 8.50, the highest of the day, and 6.83 (both out of 10) for a heat tally of 15.33 out of 20, also the day’s highest. The East Londoner left his opponents combo’d and needing to improve on both their scores to overtake him at the final siren.

Malherbe advanced to Round 2 of the qualifying stream in the double elimination format being used at the event, along with compatriot Robert Moore-Boyle (Durban), who comfortably won his low-scoring opening encounter.

Team SA’s strength in depth was further demonstrated when Wayne Monk (East London) and Andrew Banks (Port Shepstone) dominated their opening heats in the Masters (o/35) division. Monk tied Dean hall (AUS) in recording the highest single ride score of the division, 7.83, and also claimed the second highest heat total, 14.0, while Banks earned the fifth highest heat total.

After three days of torrential rain and onshore winds that turned the contest site in the rural Pacific coast village into a mud bath, the first day of competition enjoyed great weather and overhead surf for the 120 competitors from 20 countries participating in the world’s biggest contest for surfers aged 35-and-over.

South Africa, Australia, Brazil and Puerto Rico were the only countries to see all four of their competitors remain in the qualifying stream after the completion of Round 1 of the Masters and Grand Masters divisions.

Today’s schedule sees Round 1 action for the Women’s Masters (o/35), Kahunas (o/45) and Grand Kahunas (o/50) where SA’s Heather Clark (Port Shepstone), team captain Marc Wright and Chris Knutsen (both Durban) will start their respective campaigns to defend the ISA World titles they won at the previous edition of the event in Peru in 2008.

All the action from the event, including live webcasts, daily videos, photos and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com. The event is scheduled to start at 6.30am local time daily. (1.30pm SA time).

Event updates are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships is made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

Ends

Photo: ISA / Gatica

ATTENTION MEDIA
Daily high quality pictures and TV resolution video highlights for editorial use, rights free, will be made available here:
 
Host: ftp.isasurf.org
User: isasurf_wmsc
Password: download1

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.  

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided over by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA’s four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa
Contact:            Robin de Kock, General Manager
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za

The South African Masters surfing team is set to defend four World titles at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships which get underway with the Parade of Nations and Sands of the World ceremonies on the Pacific coast of Panama later today (Saturday).

After a 40-hour journey that saw the team fly to Sao Paulo, Panama City and Santiago before embarking on a 5-hour overland trip to the contest venue of Santa Catalina, the South Africans have enjoyed excellent surf in the 2-2.5 metre range for the past two days.

“We’ve settled in well at Santa Catalina, a very rustic village on the edge of the jungle with incredible rainfall – there was 200mm overnight,” said team captain Marc Wright, who will be defending the Kahunas (over 45 year-old) title he won at the last ISA Masters event in Peru in 2008.

“The spirit in the team is fantastic and it’s such an honour to be appointed captain given the amount of experience the other guys have. We’ll be going all out to bring home the gold,” the Durbanite added.

Andrew Banks (Port Shepstone), a semi-finalist and member of title winning 2008 SA team, concurred by saying, “Santa Catalina is an awesome place to compete and the wave is pretty tricky – big, powerful and perfect. We traveled for 40 hours to make it here and we intend to take the trophy home for the third consecutive year.”

The event features a veritable United Nations of surfing with more than 120 surfers, all 35-and-older, from 21 countries competing in the Masters (o/35), Grand Masters (o/40), Kahunas (o/40), Grand Kahunas (O/50) and Women’s Masters (o/35) divisions.

Team SA holds the proud tradition of having won the team gold medal at both the previous editions of the event – in Puerto Rico (2007) and Peru (2008). Along with Wright in the Kahunas, Chris Knutsen (Durban) will be defending the Grand Kahunas title (he was also crowned Kahunas champion in Puerto Rico) and Heather Clark (Port Shepstone) is the defending Women’s Masters champ.

The rest of the South African team is made up of Masters Wayne Monk (East London), Grand Masters Andre Malherbe (EL) and Robert Moore-Boyle (Durban) and David Malherbe (Coffee Bay), a two-time finalist in the Grand Masters division who has moved up to the Kahunas this year.

The team is coached for the third time by 1977 ISA World Champion Ant Brodowicz (Margate) and the manager is Dave Fish from East London.

On Saturday the international teams will march through the streets of Sona, 45 minutes from Santa Catalina, in the Parade of Nations before attending the Sands of the World and Opening ceremonies.

The first heats in the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships get underway at Santa Catalina on Sunday morning with Round 1 of both the Masters and Grand Masters scheduled for completion.

The event uses a double-elimination format that sees the top two in each four-man heat progress in the ‘qualifiers’ stream while those finishing outside the top two drop into the cutthroat ‘repecharge’ rounds where anything other than a top two placing  means elimination from the event.

All the action from the event, including live webcasts, daily videos, photos and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com. The event is scheduled to start at 6.30am local time daily. (1.30pm SA time).

Event updates are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships is made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

Ends

ATTENTION MEDIA
Daily high quality pictures and TV resolution video highlights for editorial use, rights free, will be made available here:
 
Host: ftp.isasurf.org
User: isasurf_wmsc
Password: download1

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.  

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided over by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA’s four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Karín Sierralta (Peru).

Issued on behalf of:

Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock, General Manager 
Cell:                  082 454 1149
Email:               surfingsouthafrica@gmail.com

Compiled & Distributed by:

Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
Tel:              +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax:             +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile:         +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:           lifesabeach@mweb.co.za