Rip Curl GromSearch Kommetjie Kicks Off

16 February 2024:

Ryan Schoon © Louis Wulff

The Rip Curl GromSearch Kommetjie kicked off at Long Beach this morning with some excellent waves underneath an early morning drizzle. By mid-morning, the sun was out, and the action was non-stop. Some top performances from Ryan Schoon, Cooper Smith, Levi Epenetos and Matt Canning in the U18 division set the tone for the morning, with Schoon amassing the top points for the opening U18 round.

The waves were predominantly left-handers in the early morning high tide, with the occasional right-handers coming through as well. The goofy-footers were in their element, with Schoon, Epenetos and Canning all right-foot forward surfers.

Long Beach is renowned for its very tricky and, at times, brutal shore break, and it was those surfers who managed to master this shore-dump who were being rewarded generously by the judges. Some surfers also took to the air with impressive aerial moves and were also rewarded with big scores for these high-risk manoeuvres.

Rip Curl team rider Ben Esterhuyse was on fire in the U14 Boys division, with the highest heat score of this division, as the waves dropped off slightly with the lower tide. Valdemar Gwenin, Liam Le Roux and Harry Walton were other surfers performing well in this division.

Ben Esterhuyse © Louis Wulff

The forecast for the next few days looks promising, and the tournament will start tomorrow morning at 7:30. The Rip Curl GromSearch Kommetjie is the first in a 5-event series and finishes on Sunday afternoon.

The Rip Curl GromSearch contests are all premier SAST events, with 1,000 points going to the winners as well as prizemoney per all premier events.

For the complete set of results, please go to the LiveHeats Page.

Downloadable photos here – Grom Downloads

The Rip Curl GromSearch Kommetjie is a Surfing South Africa event and supported by Sea Harvest.