Rip Curl GromSearch Seal Point 2024

presented by Sea Harvest.

The Rip Curl GromSearch was a series of junior surfing events around our country during the year. The series always culminates at Seal Point, where the final event occurs. It is also the venue where the series winners are decided. The GromSearch series is focussed around the U16 Division, which is classified as the Premier Division.

This year, the U16 Girls and U16 Boys winner would win an entry into the Rip Curl GromSearch Global Finals in Bali, as well as tickets to Bali and accommodation and hosting by Rip Curl International.

Hot-Bed Of Talent

Unsurprisingly, St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis are a veritable hotbed of surfing talent. With so many good waves in the hood and JBay just around the corner, top surfing is a natural progression, with our young surfers getting more water time in quality surf than most other zones in the country. Unfortunately, the Rip Curl GromSearch Seal Point was dogged by onshore conditions, but that happens at surf contests. It is impossible to change the weather, so the show must go on. There were a few moments when the wind slowed down and the tide was full, which showed some excellent waves pouring through, but for the most part, the surf was pretty poor.

National Series

The series consisted of events at Long Beach in Cape Town, East Beach in Port Alfred, Nahoon Reef in East London, Dairy Beach in Durban and Seal Point in Cape St Francis. Ironically, Seal Point is usually the most consistent regarding swell and offshore winds. Still, for this contest, Mother Nature sent us a high-pressure cell lurking over the ocean and puffing easterly winds over the point for the duration of the event.

The Seal Point event precedes the SA Junior Champs in JBay, and funnily enough, this event had perfect conditions for their five-day event, which began just a few days after Seals.

Our Local Contingent

In the U12 Girls division, Brin Jarvis took top honours for a fine performance on her backhand, while Camilla Prins got 4th. The U12 Girls division will be a force to be reckoned with in years to come, with the local crew of 5 or six girls in the water every day they can.

In the U12 Boys division, new talent Leo MacLeod was the surprise and deserving victor, beating favourite and local surfer Slayde Shooter into 3rd. However, Slayde went on to win the SA Champs in the U12s and brought home another trophy to put in his bulging trophy case.

Slayde also surfed in the U14 Boys division at Seal Point and managed 4th place in this more senior division.

Rip Curl GromSearch Series Win

Local Cape St Francis surfer Rory Dace took out everyone in the U16 Boys Premier division and, in the process, claimed the Rip Curl GromSearch U16 Boys series win and the trip to Bali for the International Finals.

Louis Lepront from Scottburgh was the U16 Girls winner and will be surfing in the Global Finals in Bali along with Dace.

Despite the poor conditions, the Rip Curl GrmSearch Seal Point is always a lekker event with good vibes and a general sense of excitement for the youngsters. It is the end of the year’s contest surfing apart from the SA Junior Championships and the culmination of hard work for many.

The Cape St Francis Resort hosted the contest officials and fed them at the beach daily, and the food, service, and accommodation were excellent. It was great to have Kouga Municipality on board as co-sponsors of the Seal Point tournament, recognising the importance of junior surfing in our zone, one of the best surfing regions in the country.

The Bali Project

The ‘Bali Project,’ - sending two of the country’s top surfers to the global event to The Island Of The Gods, was sponsored by Zigzag Magazine, and supported by Royal St Andrews Hotel and Sea Harvest. The local service provider TCS-WiFi provided the event officials and contestants with free Wi-Fi onsite at the contest.