Twin Fin Fun Prevails At WSL J-Bay Classic Presented by Corona

 

Team Gilmore Wins Team Challenge

Coco Ho and Michael February Tops Twin Fin Leaderboard as Twin Fin Fun Prevails

JEFFREYS BAY, Eastern Cape, South Africa – The World Surf League (WSL) J-Bay Classic Presented by CoronaSpecialty got off to an exciting start with the Teams Challenge and the first Twin Fin Round, pushing some competitors outside of their equipment comfort zone.

Team Gilmore Wins Team Challenge

The day kicked off with a first-of-its kind Team Challenge, each team captained by former World Champions Adriano De Souza (BRA), Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) and Mark Occhilupo (AUS). Each team had 75 minutes to try and get the best combined score. The top ride from each of the six surfers in the team counted towards their total out of a possible 60. If two team members surfed a wave in tandem and managed to successfully crossover on the wave, those points were added to their total. Team De Souza was up first and set the bar with 27.60 (out of 60). De Souza and Josh Kerr (AUS) scored the best rides for the team.

Team Gilmore answered right back with a total of 29.90, with the top scores coming from the 8-time World Champion herself and Michael February(RSA). Adding an extra 7.00 points to their total was Gilmore and local surfer James Ribbink (RSA) who shared a beautiful tandem wave with a few stylish crossovers to bump their total to 36.90.

Team Occy had a good mix of international and local talent. With a total of 30.57, Frederico Morais (POR) and Joshe Faulkner (RSA) surfed a tandem wave for 4.00 to add to their total, narrowly missing out on the top spot, with Team Gilmore taking out the win.

Twin Fin Fun Prevails as Coco Ho and Michael February Tops Twin Fin Leaderboard

While the waves might have been slow in the morning, J-Bay came alive during the Twin Fin Round. One of the sets of the day rolled through and Coco Ho (HAW) was perfectly in position. Laying down buttery smooth lines, tucking into the barrel and finding the exit, Ho jumped to the top of the leaderboard with an excellent 8.83 (out of a possible 10). 

“I tried to make it look fun, I was so nervous,” Ho said. “The waves were a bit slow so it was nice to get on a big one with some wall so I’m glad I could keep up. I knew I needed a score and I decided to pull into the barrel, I’m glad it worked out.”

Sarah Baum (RSA) was right behind her on another cracker, throwing buckets of spray on her turns and committing to the end section, holding on and riding out to get an 8.33 from the judges.

“I just wanted to push it a little harder,” Baum said. “The first few waves I felt like I played it a little safe so I wanted to push it a bit more and that wave was so much fun. This Shyama Buttonshaw board felt amazing, thanks to Steven Sawyer who gave ito me to try out, I’ll definitely use it again and looking forward to the rest of the event.”

There was at least one perfect set in every heat, and in the men’s draw it was Josh Kerr (AUS), Frederico Morais (POR) and Michael February (RSA) who glided into the excellent range. Kerr found a classic J-Bay wall to carve to pieces with a sure-footed finish in the closeout section for an 8.17, looking dangerously comfortable on his twin fin board.

“I had a couple of waves before where I went horizontal and then I thought, I can actually let loose more,” Kerr reacted. “I managed to let the tail go out a bit on that wave and it felt nice, so I’m looking forward to the waves getting bigger and doing that on an overhead wave. I feel like this wave suits twin fins really well, the speed of the wave makes it feel really fast so having a twin fin to glide around those sections feels so good.” 

Michael February waited a long time for a set wave, and when it arrived, the South African’s soulful style on the Supertubes canvas left no doubt that it was one of the best waves ridden on the day. The judges rewarded February with a 9.00, the highest single wave score of the day, sending him to the top of the Men’s Twin Fin Leaderboard.

It slowly, slowly improved out there,” February said. “It’s really fun conditions, when the waves do come, it’s really good. You just had to sit out there and wait until you got the one, so I’m happy I got a good score.”

 

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