That\u2019s a wrap on CLUTCH! The finalists had the judges on edge for weeks to determine who deserved the win. Each round was packed with incredible barrels. All three finalists packed some proper tubes and left the judges puzzled. There was plenty of discussion between the judges as they dissected every frame of the three waves, but in the end, there could only be one winner.<\/p>\n
Over three months, we received 69 entries from surf spots around the globe. Over five thousand surf fans voted for their favourite waves, and three finalists emerged. To refresh your memory, the criteria for CLUTCH! was simple: anything that gets the audience on their feet, cheering! With that in mind, the judges cast their votes.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take another look at the three finalists\u2019 waves:<\/p>\n
The original judging panel comprised Monster Energy, Zigzag, Monster Team Riders and you, the public! The public vote came down to the wire, but in the end, Chad Du Toit got the nod with 41% of the votes.<\/p>\n
Monster Energy\u2019s Head of Communications, Ryan Payne, spent time analysing each wave and came to this conclusion: \u201cThe battle of the barrels \u2014 wow, what a showing by our local surfers! Picking a winner out of these three incredible entries was not easy; each one deserved the title. We looked at size, and all three waves were of a similar height, which is solid. Chad\u2019s may be a few centimetres bigger. Then, takeoffs \u2014 Levi\u2019s was a little more under the lip and critical. Barrel time \u2014 both Twig and Chad were actively driving through the sections at a Mach 3 pace. Twig\u2019s wave was the prettiest to look at. It was throaty, wide open, and perfectly ridden in true Twig fashion, not to forget coming out after the spit. After nitpicking every aspect of each ride, we gave Chad the win by a whisker. His wave was a touch bigger, the barrel was a smidgen longer, it looked like he navigated over a massive foam ball after driving through multiple sections, and lastly, the spit totally engulfed him before he popped out. CLUTCH!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Zigzag team deliberated amongst themselves and finally came to a decision. Zag\u2019s Dave Armstrong said: \u201cChad\u2019s wave embodied what CLUTCH! is all about. You can\u2019t watch that wave and not be amazed. He was so deep and had to go full throttle to make it out with the spit. That\u2019s our winner.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was then down to Monster team rider Eli Beukes to cast his vote: \u201cI\u2019ve decided to vote for Levi Kolnik as the winner. I remember being out there during that session and was right next to him, backing him up on that wave because I wanted it as well, haha. I saw him take off under the lip really late and didn\u2019t think he\u2019d make it, let alone sit on the foam ball the whole way. For me, that takes the win. Just a core Saffa cold water pit. Back it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Chad Du Toit came out on top with a convincing three out of four votes in his favour.<\/p>\n
And there you have it \u2014 Chad Du Toit is the CLUTCH! Fuelled by Monster Energy and presented by Vans winner! He earns himself an international surf trip and a cash prize of R25,000! And Sisonke Ndumndum wins the videographer prize of R12,500! What a year of competition it was.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"