by Pierre
27. May 2010 04:48
Image: Beyrick De Vries
All the surfing action is happening down in Brazil at the moment with Maresia Six Star Surf international taking place at Praia Mole in the picturesque city of Florianopolis in Southern Brazil.
Aritz Aranburu from the Basque Country proved victorious against the strong field of Brazilian surfers beating Brazilian journeyman Rodrigo Dornelles in an anti climax low scoring final on Saturday.
South African junior Beyrick de Vries was on fine form and finished ninth after losing to eventual winner Aritz in a seesaw battle in the round of 16. Beyrick de Vries is fired up this year and is looking for huge results and is not scared to take on the big names. Beyrick was the winner of the junior division in the Mr Price WP Open in Cape Town earlier this year and together with a host of other South African juniors including Shaun Joubert, Brandon Gibbons, Chad du Toit, Matt Bromley and Casey Grant, they are ready to show the world that South Africa has a bunch of hot juniors coming through!
With the majority of surfers in the Mr Price Pro Ballito being South Africans, you are going to see the level of surfing lifted as the young juniors mentioned above want to make a name for themselves in the big leagues. Then you add the current experienced campaigners such as Jordy Smith, Travis Logie, Royden Bryson, Dave Weare, Brandon Jackson and Rudy Palmboom. Topped off with retired experienced surfers such as myself, Shaun Holmes, Shane Thorn and Paul Canning, and you got a whole lot to fight for with USD 16000 in prize money and 2000 valuable points and a huge reputation for first place.
This week will see the Reef Wetsuits SA Championships taking place at St Mikes on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. The teams are stacked with big names as they surf it out for SA titles and team pride, and this is a perfect warm up for the upcoming South African ASP leg.
As you would have heard, I had a massive shark scare this weekend while surfing Queensberry Point with Rosy Hodge. Staying calm in the situation saved my life and I praise the lord for keeping me calm, sending me the best wave of my life to get out of there and keeping Rosy and I safe. This is the time of year they are around, so be safe and try to surf with a few people on the exposed points.
Good luck to everyone in SA Champs this week and may the best Border team win!
Greg Emslie