Seal Point, Cape St Francis, Sunday 5 October – The surf had settled after Saturday’s solid afternoon surge, and the challenge for the Premier U16 Finals was finding two good waves. In the U16 Girls, Emily Jenkinson found her two, but Leah Lepront was hot on her heels, finding the corners, trying her best to swing enough backhand hooks to edge in front. At the final buzzer, it was Lepront in front, but Jenkinson in front in the GromSearch Series and taking the overall win and the trip to Hossegor, France, for the Rip Curl GromSearch International Finals in November.
Header Image: Your Winner, Kai and Emily © Kody McGregor
In the U16 Boys final, it was a game of strategy, with the natural-footers Kai Stubbs and Carl Weirsma choosing to sit down the Point, while the goofy-footers Ben Esterhuyse and Loghann Tilsley decided to sit further up the Point.
The strategy worked for the left-foot-forward crew, with Kai taking the event win and the Rip Curl GromSearch series title, while Carl Wiersma finished second in this final heat.
“I started up at the top, and after my first wave, I moved down to the bottom. Luckily, a good one came my way and I got a decent score,” said Kai. “Then I got one or two more down the point.” Kai and Emily will head on over to the Rip Curl International Final In Hossegor in November.
The rest of the Rip Curl GromSearch Seal Point was a fight for the numbers in small, inconsistent, but highly contestable and fun conditions at the Point. The contest had definitely seen four seasons in three days, with strong easterly winds swinging around to the west, swell going from the east direction, to south, to a mix of south and west swells. The wind was all over the place like it does in St Francis, finally settling on a medium southwesterly to finish off the event.
Saturday’s swell had dissipated, and the finals heat had a significant element of luck. In the U12 Girls, Ella van der Made took the win from local surfer Summer Harding, while in the U12 Boys, it was Ethan Schermbrucker who outpointed local goofy Leo Macleod.
In inconsistent conditions, Charlotte Copson took out friend and rival Emma Schermbrucker, while the U16 Boys saw Seb Copson win comfortably, with Luc Jackson in second place.
The U18 Girls finals had both the Venter girls in the mix. Anastasia took the win, Taylor Emslie placed second, Jasmine Venter placed third, and Emily Jenkinson was in fourth.
The men’s U18 division was an old-school battle for supremacy with two goofy-footers in Clay Turrel and Matt Canning pitted against natural-footers Rory Dace and Josh Jefferies.
Local knowledge prevailed in this heat, and Dace found a bomb that opened up further down the Point, scoring 9.33 and ultimately securing the win, with all his opponents comboed. Matt Canning was second, Turrell was third, and Josh Jefferies was fourth.
The Channel Islands Surfboards went to Lazaro De Bruyn for his gutsy performance on Saturday in the powerful surf. Banking 8-point rides in the powerful conditions, De Bruyn impressed judges and officials and was deemed the winner of the custom board, valued at R15k.
Channel Islands Surfboards South Africa has committed to a long-term partnership with the Rip Curl GromSearch series going forward and will be rewarding our young surfers throughout the 2026 season.
Final Results
U12 Girls
- Ella van der Made
- Summer Harding
- Skyla Nadauld
- Adriana Canning
- Kayla Bone
U12 Boys
- Ethan Schermbrucker
- Leo Macleod
- Tom Pearson
- Lazaro de Bruyn
U14 Girls
- Charlotte Copson
- Emma Schermbrucker
- Brin Jarvis
- Maya Malherbe
U14 Boys
- Seb Copson
- Luc Jackson
- Ethan Schermbrucker
- Lazaro de Bruyn
U16 Girls
- Leah Lepront
- Emily Jenkinson
- Max Kauffman
- Camilla Heuer
U16 Boys
- Kai Stubbs
- Carl Wiersma
- Ben Esterhuysen
- Loghann Tilsley
U18 Girls
- Anastasia Venter
- Taylor Emslie
- Jasmine Venter
- Emily Jenkinson
U18 Boys
- Rory Dace
- Matt Canning
- Clayton Turrell
- Joshua Jefferis
Rip Curl GromSearch International Finalists
Kai Stubbs and Emily Jenkinson
Channel Islands Surfboard Award
Lazaro De Bruyn
