Nicole Annells (Warner Beach) set the pace on day one of the Roxy Wahine Cup, presented by Virgin Mobile in association with Resolution Health. The event, which is the first on Durban’s busy summer season calendar, takes place at Suncoast Beach in Durban from November 30 to December 2.
Annells rose to the top with the highest open division heat score in round one of the ninth edition of South Africa’s premier stand-alone women’s surfing contest.
Seasoned competitor and Roxy team surfer, Annells lost her seeding for the event as she has not surfed any South African events in 2007, due to accepting a Media and Marketing study exchange programme in Australia for the first six months of the year.
"I always enjoy surfing from the first round so I didn’t mind losing my seeding. I am so pleased that I got the day’s top score. It served as a practice round and has helped to build up my confidence for Saturday’s clash.
"It’s going to be a hard heat but I am ready for it," said 20 year old Annells who will square up against Jessica Matthews (St Francis), Lynne Mackey (Westville) and Tammy Lee Smith (Salt Rock).
Annells finished her round one heat with a tally of 10.25 out of a possible 20 points for her powerful forehand turns. Her performance was impressive in the extremely difficult onshore 2 foot (0.5-metre) surf conditions. She defeated Morag Steele (Somerset West) and Tanah Rivalland (Durban).
The second highest open heat score went to 15 year old Tanika Hoffman (Kommetjie) who finished with a heat total of 8.5 out of 20 points. Hoffman played the waiting game sitting out at backline in the bumpy conditions and managed to secure some of the biggest set waves during her heat.
The out-of-town surfer triumphed over Lois Hansmeyer (Mtunzini) and rising star Jessica Swart (Durban) who finished second and third, respectively.
In the first open heat of the day East London sensation Alice McGregor’s excellent wave selection helped her to overcome a strong charge from her sibling Laurie McGregor, with Sabrina Scott (Durban) hot on their heels in third place.
Experienced surfer and well known coach Roxy Towill (Kommetjie) had a tough time fending off relative newcomer Nastuzja Less (Durban). Towill finished half a point ahead of Less with Gabrielle Kool (Durban) placing third ahead of Roxy van Eyk (Durban) in fourth.
The open division carries a 3A Surfing South Africa Pro Surf Tour rating and boasts a prize purse of R15 000 with the winner taking home R10, 000.
The fiercely contested open women’s event will continue today (Saturday) from 8.00am to 10.40am, followed by the U14 girls, novice, U18 girls and U16 girls rounds with the open quarterfinals taking place mid-afternoon from 2.20pm to 3.40pm. The third round of the novice division will wrap up the day’s action from 3.40pm to 4.00pm.
Saturday sees the emergence of the big guns such as top seed Sarah Maritz (Warner Beach) as well as number two Stacey Guy (Melkbosstrand) and third seed Tammy Lee Smith (Salt Rock).
"The 2007 Roxy Wahine Cup was off to a great start on Friday. Despite testing surfing conditions the girls rose to the challenge with some spectacular performances. Conditions look set to improve over the weekend," commented Roxy Marketing Manager Candice Mac Nicol.
The Roxy Wahine Cup has attracted a bumper number of entries. Divisions include open, novice, U14, U16 and U18 and the first heats take to the water at 08h00 on Saturday and Sunday. The prize giving is scheduled to take place at about 2.20pm after the finals on Sunday.
The Roxy Wahine Cup is a Surfing South Africa (SSA) event and part of the Pro Surf Tour (PST). SSA is the governing body for the sport in South Africa
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