Rory Dace and Louise Lepront emerged as the overall series winners when the Rip Curl GromSearch final surfing event, presented by Sea Harvest, was held at Seal Point in Cape St Francis last weekend.
They received an entry into the Rip Curl Global Finals in Bali in November and a R20,000 travel voucher.
In small onshore conditions during the contest, Taylor Emslie and Dace were victorious in the premier U16 division.
Emslie caused a major upset by taking out the highly-rated Louise Lepront in this final.
She was trailing Lepront but picked up one absolute gem of a wave and performed some critical turns on the open face for a well-deserved score of 6.33 to sneak into the lead.
Lepront was chasing a 4.16 — a difficult score to find in the dwindling conditions — and a last-ditch effort on a small wave was unsuccessful.
East London surfer Emslie was the stoked and deserving winner, with Lepront in second place, followed by Jasmine Venter and Emily Jenkinson.
The premier U16 boys was a tumultuous affair. Loghann Tilsley had a strong lead from the start, but local surfer Dace was hot on his heels.
Dace needed just more than seven points to take the lead and picked up a rough-looking wave that opened up for him on the inside, and he managed to get a few big hits for a score of 7.33 and the lead.
With only three minutes left, the ocean teased and toyed with the competitors but produced nothing more of any value to the surfers.
Dace hung onto the lead until the final siren to take the win.
“After my first turn, I knew that I had a good score coming out, but I just didn’t know how good it was going to be,” Dace said.
“The wave closed out on me right on the inside, so I was trying to get another move in, and I knew it would be close. Luckily, the judges gave me the score needed.”
The final result had Dace in front, with Tilsley second. Josh Malherbe and Tristan Gaylard Ralfe were third and fourth.
In the U12 girls’ final, goofy-footer Brin Jarvis took the honours, beating Ella van der Made into second position, with Adriana Canning and Camilla Prins third and fourth, respectively.
Another goofy-footer, Leo Macleod, caused an upset in the U12 boys with a decisive win, defeating Levi Vosloo.
Seal Point local Slayde Shooter was third and Marcello Zedde was fourth.
Leah Lepront took the U14 girls’ division in a closely fought final, beating Lila Aszalos into second place. Jasmine Venter came third and Camilla Heuer was fourth.
Ben Esterhuyse has been one of the most successful surfers of the 2024 Rip Curl GromSearch series, triumphing in most of the events and making several finals in the U16 division.
He was stoked with his victory in the U14 boys, ahead of Vosloo, Sebastian Copson and Shooter.
Louise Lepront continued her winning ways in taking the U18 girls’ division with a decisive win over Anastasia Venter.
Emily Jenkinson was third in the final, with Catherine Jacob in fourth.
Levi Epenetos was on fire in the U18 boys, eventually defeating Tilsley in an exciting final.
Tilsley had found form the entire event with some massive scores in the earlier rounds, but Epenetos found waves with open faces and got the scores with his backhand hooks.
Luc Lepront and Kane Johnstone battled to find decent waves and settled for third and fourth places respectively.
Dace, Lepront take overall honours in GromSearch series
Image: KAI WULFF
Rory Dace and Louise Lepront emerged as the overall series winners when the Rip Curl GromSearch final surfing event, presented by Sea Harvest, was held at Seal Point in Cape St Francis last weekend.
They received an entry into the Rip Curl Global Finals in Bali in November and a R20,000 travel voucher.
In small onshore conditions during the contest, Taylor Emslie and Dace were victorious in the premier U16 division.
Emslie caused a major upset by taking out the highly-rated Louise Lepront in this final.
She was trailing Lepront but picked up one absolute gem of a wave and performed some critical turns on the open face for a well-deserved score of 6.33 to sneak into the lead.
Lepront was chasing a 4.16 — a difficult score to find in the dwindling conditions — and a last-ditch effort on a small wave was unsuccessful.
East London surfer Emslie was the stoked and deserving winner, with Lepront in second place, followed by Jasmine Venter and Emily Jenkinson.
The premier U16 boys was a tumultuous affair. Loghann Tilsley had a strong lead from the start, but local surfer Dace was hot on his heels.
Dace needed just more than seven points to take the lead and picked up a rough-looking wave that opened up for him on the inside, and he managed to get a few big hits for a score of 7.33 and the lead.
With only three minutes left, the ocean teased and toyed with the competitors but produced nothing more of any value to the surfers.
Dace hung onto the lead until the final siren to take the win.
“After my first turn, I knew that I had a good score coming out, but I just didn’t know how good it was going to be,” Dace said.
“The wave closed out on me right on the inside, so I was trying to get another move in, and I knew it would be close. Luckily, the judges gave me the score needed.”
The final result had Dace in front, with Tilsley second. Josh Malherbe and Tristan Gaylard Ralfe were third and fourth.
In the U12 girls’ final, goofy-footer Brin Jarvis took the honours, beating Ella van der Made into second position, with Adriana Canning and Camilla Prins third and fourth, respectively.
Another goofy-footer, Leo Macleod, caused an upset in the U12 boys with a decisive win, defeating Levi Vosloo.
Seal Point local Slayde Shooter was third and Marcello Zedde was fourth.
Leah Lepront took the U14 girls’ division in a closely fought final, beating Lila Aszalos into second place. Jasmine Venter came third and Camilla Heuer was fourth.
Ben Esterhuyse has been one of the most successful surfers of the 2024 Rip Curl GromSearch series, triumphing in most of the events and making several finals in the U16 division.
He was stoked with his victory in the U14 boys, ahead of Vosloo, Sebastian Copson and Shooter.
Louise Lepront continued her winning ways in taking the U18 girls’ division with a decisive win over Anastasia Venter.
Emily Jenkinson was third in the final, with Catherine Jacob in fourth.
Levi Epenetos was on fire in the U18 boys, eventually defeating Tilsley in an exciting final.
Tilsley had found form the entire event with some massive scores in the earlier rounds, but Epenetos found waves with open faces and got the scores with his backhand hooks.
Luc Lepront and Kane Johnstone battled to find decent waves and settled for third and fourth places respectively.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Latest Videos
Most Read
Sport
Soccer
Rugby
Cricket
Rugby