Cape St Francis, Seal Point. First blood came a little late for the winning Border/KuGompo Masters surfing team last weekend.
By that I am being a little cheeky with the emphasis on first — Gareth Sepp was first in his over-55 age division, with Border teammate Wayne Monk finishing second.
That was two big strikes for Border and a solid addition to the team points tally.
In truth, we had been scoring points before the Sepp/Monk juggernaut, but they were second positions in our finals tally.
In the over-65 category, our Gordon Harmer came home a close second to Eden’s Steve Hair.
In the over-60 division, our David Malherbe placed second to on-form maestro Mike Burness from Nelson Mandela Bay.
Over 60 also being this writer’s category, I blundered my wave selection and got knocked out in the semifinal round.
Team points are scored when a surfer finishes in the competition.
Take home a win in the finals of the premier division and you will score 4,000 points for your team.
Second-place points are 10% lower than first, third place is 10% lower than second place, and so on.
In a surfing heat a surfer’s best two rides will count.
A heat is usually 20 minutes with four surfers competing. The top two advance. The bottom two are now the support crew if they know how to look after their team.
All rides are scored by five judges and positions are tallied.
In a clear win a surfer might have five first positions, which is a unified statement from all judges, but in a split position a competitor may have one first position, three seconds and one third.
The first and the third position are discarded and the three second places count. In this way, most bias is eliminated.
At last weekend’s national championships, the Border team result was in a tough place on Sunday morning.
Nelson Mandela Bay gave a very good account of themselves and had 16 surfers in the semifinals to Border’s 11. They were ahead of our home team by five surfers.
However, as Border over-45 surfer Zaheer Bhyat said in his closing message on the team group chat: “It’s inspirational how the whole team steps it up into 7th gear with their surfing and their support at every SA Championships.
“The Border family team is like no other.”
In the cut from the semis to the finals Border very much held their ground and once the momentum kicked in, first and second positions began to roll in.
Surfer of the contest Greg Emslie (over 45) had our home team roaring with approval when he opened his final on the buzzer with a fantastic, perfect 10-point ride.
In his victory speech, Emslie thanked his wife, Chantel, for holding the fort in their family hospitality business while he was out leaning into fierce practice sessions.
Emslie’s speed, flow, class, precision, timing, aggression and particular hunger were exhibited in a masterful display of top-tier surfing.
The problem for opposing teams is the depth of excellence in the Border masters team.
Right behind Greg, last year’s over-45 winner and surfer of the contest, our own Tristan Johnson put in a solid account of himself to lock in a very well-deserved second position.
In the over-40 division, the one-man demolition squad of Tyrell Johnson “blew up”, in surfing parlance.
Usually even the best surfer needs the best wave to win, but not Tyrell Johnson.
He can take a mediocre wave and tear it apart with such speed and violence that a ride which should be only a 3-pointer is suddenly 7 or 8 points.
The man can manufacture points out of nothing.
On one particular wave he faced a very difficult take-off over a rock. He clawed his way over the edge and used the white-water foam as a cushion and freakishly excellent timing to get over the rock.
On the face of the wave, he was now too far back with too much ground to cover.
Where he found so much speed, I do not know, but he had the time and wit to crack three huge off-the-tops on the small wave as he came flying through at superhuman speed.
It was no surprise when the judges awarded him national champion in his age division.
In the premier over-35 division, Border were thrilled to support home champions Keegan Nel and Clinton Gravett.
Gravett opened his account with a solid 5.5 ride to defend his 2025 SA title, closely followed by Nel with perhaps the wave of the day, huge turns and 7.67 points.
Many in our team thought he had been underscored and that a 9 or 9.5 would not have been unreasonable, but what the judges call is the way it is and suddenly the ocean went flat and the surfers were scratching for rides.
With 3 minutes and 30 seconds to go in the 20-minute final, Gravett was lying third but managed to scratch into a medium wave and hammer 4.7 points out of the ride.
Not enough to take the win but more than enough to drive the one/two combination punch for home team Border.
Keegan Nel, who has been away from competition surfing for 20 years, endorsed his welcome return to our home team with the national title in the over-35 division and a good reason to celebrate his 40th birthday last week.
With eight provinces competing and 160 of the nation’s best surfers in the water it is a feather in the cap of Border/KuGompo surfing that our masters have come home again as national champions with 18 victories in 20 events in 21 years.
Team positions were: 1. Border 40,825 points, 2. Nelson Mandela Bay 36,580, 3. Ugu 31,120, 4. Cape Winelands 29,960, 5. Cape Town Surf 29,950, 6. Eden 29,740, 7. Ethekwini 29,383, 8. Ilembe 23,459.
Nelson Mandela Bay are commended for their spirited performance.
