Pumping Surf At Victoria Bay For Opening Day Of The Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro

The 2026 Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro QS 2,000 and Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro Junior opened in superb conditions at Victoria Bay, with long, clean walls reeling down the point from first light.

With the new season officially underway, competitors wasted no time taking advantage of the quality surf as they chased an early foothold on the rankings.

Local surfer Kane Johnstone advanced through to the QS round of 32

© Kody McGregor

Strong Start In The Men's QS 2,000

Competition opened with the Men's QS 2,000 Round of 56, where several surfers wasted no time making their intentions clear.

Local standout Daniel Orpen, Durban's Chad du Toit, and Brazilian goofy-footer Ryan Coelho all advanced comfortably through their opening heats with confident performances in the clean conditions.

Women's QS Round Of 24 Delivers Early Standouts

The Women's QS Round of 24 followed, with East London's Taylor Emslie, Cape Town's Emily Jenkinson, Reunion Island's Hina Maria Conradi, and France's Sarah Leiceaga all claiming heat victories.

Conradi delivered the performance of the round, posting an impressive 15.00 heat total out of a possible 20 to set the benchmark and establish herself as one of the early standouts of the event.

Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro setup

© Kody McGregor

Pro Junior Division Hits The Water

The Pro Junior division hit the water next, with Asbjorn Gwenin (United Kingdom), Nate Colby (Durban), Ryan Coelho (Brazil), and Rip Curl team rider Jack Erlank (St Francis Bay) all securing heat wins to advance through to the next round.

Men's QS Round Of 48 Sees Continued Progression

By the time the Men's QS 2,000 Round of 48 got underway, the wind had begun to influence conditions.

Nevertheless, several surfers still found quality scoring opportunities.

Joshe Faulkner (Pellsrus), Chad du Toit (Durban), Brad Scott (Cape Town), Simon Winter (Cape Town), and Kai Hall (Durban) all posted strong heat totals to progress.

The final heat of the round saw Erlank continue his impressive form.

The St Francis Bay surfer claimed victory ahead of Clay Turrell, while Nate Tayler and Paul Sampson were eliminated from competition.

"There were some good ones out there, but some of them just went flat," said Erlank.

"I got this outside set wave and managed one good hit right in the pocket before it flattened out. It was one of the bigger waves of the heat, so I got a decent score from it."

Erlank said the heat came down to the closing minutes.

"I wasn't sure what I needed towards the end, and then I saw Clay surf past me on a bomb. On my last wave, I went for a layback off the whitewater on the inside. I made it, and they gave me a 3.93, which was enough for the win, so I had to claim it."

Jack Erlank

© Kody McGregor

Competition Resumes Tomorrow

Competition in the Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro resumes tomorrow morning, with officials set to make a call on conditions at 7:30 am.

Watch Live

The Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro will be broadcast live on https://WorldSurfLeague.com and on the free WSL app, bringing all the action from Victoria Bay to a global audience.

Media Information

Complimentary high-resolution images are available for media outlets.

For Rip Curl South Africa media enquiries and photo requests, please contact:

Craig Jarvis

Truth Collective

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t. 082 376 4443

For World Surf League Africa media enquiries, please contact:

Bianca van Aardt

WSL EMEA Communications Manager

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t. +27 82 773 5407