Umhlanga Rocks – The second event of the national Quiksilver Get Free Series is set to take place at Umhlanga Rocks, KZN later this month. South Africa’s best professional surfers will soon make their way to Bronze Beach, Umhlanga Rocks to compete in this Surfing South Africa (SSA) Pro Surf Tour (PST) event which caters for open men, u20 junior boys and u16 boys surfers. The event will run over the weekend of May 30 and 31.

This three-part series got underway in March at Cape Town’s Long Beach and was welcomed by top South African surfers in attendance. Over 90 of South Africa’s best did battle in the cold cape waters for their share of over R40 000 in prize money and prizes. Event organisers are expecting a similar number of entries for the second leg of the series at Umhlanga Rocks.

“The Get Free Series has been very well received by the surfers and the various communities. There are very few surf events on the calendar these days so the guys are really excited about this opportunity. We are hoping for some good, solid surf – which is likely, especially at this time of the year. We are looking forward to a great event at the end of the month,” said Quiksilver’s Marketing Manager Dane Patterson.

Local standout Beyrick de Vries is a clear favorite to take the open men’s title in KZN. Umhlanga Rocks local de Vries won two out of the three Quiksilver events in the same series last year.

“I am really excited that the guys at Quiksilver decided to have one of these events at my home break. I have been traveling a lot this year so it will be nice to compete in an event on my doorstep,” said de Vries.

Other favourites looking to take home top honours include Capetonian Michael February, who recently placed second at the WSL Martinique Pro in the Caribbean, as well as Dylan Lightfoot, Jeffreys Bay, and Durban North’s David van Zyl who have proven to be top contenders in all surf conditions.

In the u20 boy’s division, all eyes will be on Salt Rock’s Shane Sykes. The eighteen year old has grown from strength to strength in his competitive career and will be a firm favourite in the KZN waters, Sykes recently graced the cover of Zigzag Surfing Magazine’s May edition. Other top juniors include current SA junior champion Michael Monk from East London and Matt McGillivray from Jeffreys Bay who put on a fine exhibition of surfing to win the first event of the series this year. The boys u16 division is a new addition to the Get Free Series this year, Adin Masencamp emerged victorious with a convincing win at the first event in Cape town and will be looking to continue his winning form in KZN. Other juniors to look out for include Ethan Fletcher (Kommetjie), Jake Elkington (Kommetjie) and Joshe Faulkner (Jeffreys bay).

The competition will get underway at 08h00 on Saturday. The third and final event of the series will take place in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape on August 29 and 30.

The Quiksilver Get Free Series support sponsors include Zigzag Surfing Magazine, Techniblock sunscreen, Drift Action Cameras, Skullcandy, Neff and Red Bull.

For more information, videos, photos and results go to: www.quiksilver.co.za/getfree.

To enter the Umhlanga Rocks leg of the series go to: www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za