Ballito Readies For Mr Price Pro Action
2012/07/01
Image caption: Stu Kennedy of Australia launches a massive aerial on a revolutionary surfboard ahead of the Mr Price Pro Ballito July 2- 8, 2012. © Pierre Tostee
Surfers from across the globe have descended on the wave rich KwaZulu Natal North Coast town of Ballito in preparation for the 13th Annual ASP Prime Mr Price Pro Ballito that commences tomorrow, Monday July 2, 2012.
Surfers can expect highly contestable surf for the start of the event with swell increasing in size and intensity from 1 – 1.5 meters, with light offshore winds and low tides in the morning favoring those to be seeded into the early morning heats.
Former ASP World Champion and current World No. 12 CJ Hobgood, USA, has returned to Ballito to capitalize on the ratings points on offer, as well as to challenge himself against the new breed of talent on the ASP Prime tour.
“I love the waves here and I’m looking forward to taking on some of the younger guys and checking out the new talent at this event,” Hobgood said. “The waves pumped last year but it’s a challenging place as it can be on one minute and off the next.”
Hobgood, who came close to falling off the elite ASP World Tour at the end of 2011, knows the importance of backing up his elite tour rating by surfing a selection of Prime events and will be looking to make his mark in Ballito this week.
“I have not had much luck here but that’s why I keep coming back,” Hobgood explained. “There’s a lot of money and points up for grabs at these events and it’s tough to get on and stay on the ASP World Tour these days so these events are important.
ASP World No. 26 Adam Melling, Australia, is another elite tour campaigner looking to earn valuable ratings points on the African leg of the tour.
“Last year was amazing here, that’s why everyone wanted to come back,” Melling said. “This place can handle a decent size swell, we saw some big tubes here last year and that’s pretty much all your can ask for from an event, so we’re hoping we see more of that this year .
The Mr Price Pro Ballito kicks off with the all important local trials featuring eight talented South Africans pitted against one another in two, four man heats in order to earn the final two slots into the main event.
The first trials heat in the water sees David Van Zyl (Umhlanga), Matthew Bromley (Long Beach), David Weare (La Lucia), Daniel Redman (Umdloti) while the second heat Micheal February (Kommetjie), David Brand (Long Beach), Casey Grant (Scottburgh) and Klee Strachan (Winkelspruit).
The first heat of the main event (Round of 96) will commence shortly thereafter,
featuring Tiago Pires (PoR), Yuri Sodre (BRA), Gony Zubizarreta (ESP) and Chad Du Toit (ZAF).
The surf forecast looks promising for the later part of the week with swell expected to peak in the 2-3 metre range.
The Mr Price Pro Ballito includes an action packed beach festival featuring beach entertainment, extreme sports, dedicated children’s programs and a lifestyle and retail area that provides plenty of daytime fun. The ever-popular Mr Price Pro Music concerts will take place on the evening of 6 and 7 July at Salt Rock at no cost to festivalgoer’s.