Sarah Scott, from Kommetjie, and Muizenberg’s Paul Sampson won the World Surf League (WSL) Cape Town Surf Pro Qualifying Series at Long Beach, at the weekend.
Fellow SA surfers Jessie van Niekerk and Adin Masencamp finished runners-up respectively at the event, held in contestable two-to-three foot surf.
With a dissipating swell and the offshore wind expected to pick up, the Women’s Final got off to a quick start with Scott first on the board with a 5.83 (out of a possible 10).
Van Niekerk stayed busy under priority to build on her score, squeezing everything out of the smaller waves on offer while Scott, Kira Hofmeyr and Aimee du Preez waited for bigger opportunities to roll through.
Scott’s patience and local knowledge played in her favour when she found the best wave of the heat, staying in the pocket of the wave to crank out four great turns and earning an excellent 8.33, enough to secure her the win with a total of 14.16 (out of a possible 20). Van Niekerk finished runner-up ahead of Du Preez and Hofmeyr.
“It feels amazing to take out the first event of the year, I’m really stoked,” Scott said. “It makes me feel really confident, plus it was at my hometown. The waves were really fun, despite the cold water,” she said.
Scott, who is in her final school year, won’t be competing on the Challenger Series this year but has her sights set on qualifying for the 2024/2025 season.
“This year I’m in matric, so I won’t be doing the Challenger Series, but this win obviously gives me the confidence for next year to try and qualify, because I’d like to compete on the CS. This year I’m just going to do all the local competitions to keep my surfing and rhythm going, so I’m really happy with this win.”
In the men’s division, a stacked final saw 2022/2023 WSL Africa Regional QS champion Luke Thompson up against Adin Masencamp, Brad Scott and Paul Sampson.
The lead changed several times in an exciting heat as the competitors went blow-for-blow in the small but fun conditions.
Sampson stuck to his impressive air game, finding the perfect ramps under priority to boost full rotation manoeuvres, while the rest of the field waited for the set waves to arrive.
All the drama played out in the final five minutes, when all surfers found scoring opportunities.
Sampson saved the best for last, being rewarded with a 9-point ride for two quick turns and a critical and committed aerial manoeuvre into the flats. The tension was palpable on the beach, as the buzzer sounded and surfers were left waiting for the final scores to drop, which saw Sampson take the win in the end.
“I can’t even explain how I feel at the moment,” Sampson reacted. “I’m emotional, happy, stoked. The work paid off. My coach told me how to pace the heats and that’s what I did from the start of the contest right until the end. I left that one until the last minute, and it paid off.”
This is Sampson’s first-ever Qualifying Series victory, his biggest result of his young career.
“This is a big result for me, I’ve never made it this far,” Sampson said. “I was so stressed while waiting for the scores to drop. I knew I needed a score, and because the judges were taking so long I knew it was probably going to be a good score,” he said.
Quick to congratulate Sampson, runner-up Masencamp had nothing but praise for the winner. “Well done to Paul, he really showed us how its done and he did an amazing job. I’m really happy for him. I’m stoked with my performance this weekend, despite the small and slow conditions,” he said.
Scott and Sampson top the WSL Africa rankings heading into the second and final event of the season next weekend, the SA Open of Surfing at Pollok Beach in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape. While Scott might not eye CS qualification this year, this win has opened up a whole new door of opportunity for Sampson.
“To be honest, now I’m thinking about qualifying for the Challenger Series,” Sampson said. “Before this I was just going to enter competitions to have fun, but now this is actually what I really want to do. It’s been difficult because I haven’t had the opportunity to do this, so if I’m able to do the QS and qualify I want to push it all the way. Right now though, I’m just enjoying this moment,” he said.
City of Cape Town’s ward councillor in Kommetjie, Simon Liell-Cock said Long Beach deserves to be a global surfing destination.
“Recreational tourism is our biggest economy. This event is attracting international competitors, foreign currency and placing Kommetjie on the map and I hope more people will come here and support this event in the future.”
