Solid lines greeted the competitors on the opening morning of the Rip Curl GromSearch at Seal Point, Cape St Francis, with three to four-foot waves and light onshore conditions, making for highly contestable sets.<\/p>\n
Header Image: Ben Esterhuyse, First Heat Of The Day Winner \u00a9 Kody McGregor<\/em><\/p>\n The contest organisers wasted no time in getting going, and the U16 Boys were the first division to hit the water. Good performances from Loghann Tilsley (14.67 out of a possible 20 points) and Kai Stubbs (15.50) set the mood for the day, with good scoring potential across the inside section of the fabled pointbreak.<\/p>\n Other surfers to stand out in this division included Ben Esterhuyse, Slayde Shooter, Olie Pascoe and Tyson Johnson, putting his Nahoon Reef experience to the test.<\/p>\n With much on the line, it was an exciting start, with the top U16 Boy in the series as well as the TOP U16 Girl set to win entries and R20k prizes towards the Rip Curl GromSearch International Finals, set to take place at Hossegot in France in November. With a very close spread amongst the top three U16 boys and the top two U16 boys, there was no time for mistakes.<\/p>\n The Rip Curl GromSearch International Finals will be hosted this year by World Champion and Rip Curl Team Rider Molly Picklum, along with Crosby Colapinto, also from team Rip Curl.<\/p>\n It is a\u00a0Surfing South Africa<\/strong>\u00a0event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"