Nahoon Reef Hosts SA Open

Nahoon Reef in East London is famous for its powerful, challenging surf and contestants in the 2007 O’Neill SA Open of Surfing (presented by Surfing South Africa) will be holding thumbs that the "Reef" will produce the type of conditions that match the Pro Surf Tour event’s reputation.

The 16-strong field in the Women category of the O’Neill SA Open, which gets under way on Thursday April 27 and ends on Sunday April 29,  will compete in a 2A rated event for R5,000.

Over 60 surfers will contest the three divisions at this year’s Open and while local knowledge may assist Nahoon Reef specialists such as Nikita Robb, Alice Mc Gregor and Telana Flanagan, and will need more than local knowledge to make their mark.

Major rivals to 2006 Women’s Division winner Stacey Guy (Melkbosstrand) are Heather Clark (Port Shepstone), Tasha Mentasti (Durban), Sarah Maritz (Warner Beach), Nikita Robb (East London) and Tara Hossack (Newlands).

The 2007 O’Neill SA Open of Surfing comes hard on the heels of the highly successful O’Neill Scottburgh Pro, and is a major event on the 2007 Surfing South Africa Pro Surf Tour.

Thanks to funding allocated to SSA by the Lotto for Elite competition, and ongoing support by Cape based wetsuit and clothing company O’Neill, the third edition of the event has increased its rating across the board, and is now the single biggest PST tournament on the 2007 calendar.

"O’Neill is proud to once again sponsor the prestigious SA Open at Nahoon Reef this year,” said O’Neill Team and Brand Manager Chris Bertish.

“We look forward to a great event with Nahoon Reef’s world class, powerful right handers being ridden by most of the country’s top surfers."

Surfing South Africa will accept entries for the SA Open up until 6pm on Monday April 23.

Entries must be completed online at Surfing South Africa’s website.

Accepted entries will be available on the SSA website, and surfers should check to see if their entry is listed or not.

Heat draws will be available on the website on Wednesday April 25, and all surfers and officials are required to attend registration at Buccaneers near Eastern Beach at 7pm on Thursday April 26.

The O’Neill SA Open of Surfing is proudly presented by Surfing South Africa and hosted by Border Surfriders Association.