Rip Curl Surfers Earn Podiums At Eastern Cape Surf Contests

Watch: Event highlights here - Rip Curl GromSearch Final Event Highlights 

Rip Curl surfers made it onto the podiums at various contests and age divisions in a flurry of junior surfing events in the Eastern Cape. 

East London's Gemma Hanafey was the U18 surfer making three finals out of three events. She placed fourth in the Rip Curl GromSearch Seal Point; in the Sea Harvest SA Champs, she came in second, and at the Seal Point Pro Junior, she also came in second place.

Kai Stubbs from Scarborough placed second at SA Champs U14 Boys division, while Ben Esterhuyse (Camps Bay) took the U14 Boys title, his third national crown in a row at SA Champs.

"Words can not explain how I felt after the win here at Lower Point Jeffreys Bay," said Ben, who suffered a nasty burst eardrum injury at the Rip Curl GromSearch Port Alfred earlier this year. The SA Champs was only his second contest since the injury.

"It has been my biggest goal from the beginning of the year," he continued. "Lots of hours and hard work went in for this result, and I would like to thank Sea Harvest and Surfing South Africa for putting up such an event. Thank you to my parents, family and coaches for the support and my sponsors. Well done to my teammates for ripping hard this contest."

Rip Curl GromSearch Seal Point Video Highlights

Local St Francis filmer Makai Kabot covered the tournament and released a 6-minute video highlights clip. The clip stars the Rip Curl surfers who entered the event, like Gemma Hanafey (EL), Ben Esterhuyse (CT), Kai Stubbs (CT), Rylan Jarvis and Jack Erlank (St Francis), as well as surfers like Rory Dace, Levi Epenetos, Josh Malherbe, and a host of others.  If you ever wanted to know what happens at these events, this video will explain a lot. Watch it > Rip Curl GromSearch Final Event Highlights