Seal Point, Cape St Francis—As the Rip Curl GromSearch South Africa 2024 series starts the countdown to the year’s final event, all eyes will be on the U16 division, the series’ Premier Division worldwide.
This final contest will be held at Sea Point, one of the premier high-performance right-hand point breaks in the Eastern Cape,. It will run from Friday, September 20th, to Sunday, September 22nd.
Premier SAST Events
The Rip Curl GromSearch contests are all premier SAST events, with 1,000 points going to the winners and prizemoney per all premier events.
The SAST comprises nine events, including the GromSearch contests. The SAST ratings are calculated based on surfers’ top six performances out of these nine competitions.
Unadjusted SAST division ratings can be found here: Ratings 2024
The Rip Curl GromSearch ratings are taken on the best four out of the five GromSearch contests over the year. So, surfers get to scrap their worst GromSearch result.
It’s always cool when the groms come to town © Louis Wulff.
The initial prize pool for this tournament is R28,000. Rip Curl South Africa is delighted to partner with Zigzag Magazine, Sea Harvest, and the Royal St Andrews Hotel to award additional prizes to the U16 division winners.
GromSearch International Finals
The winners of the premier Boys U16 and Girls U16 divisions will earn an entry into the prestigious Rip Curl GromSearch International Finals. They will also receive R20k towards their travel arrangements. This tournament will be held in Indonesia in November of this year.
If a winner cannot attend the International Finals, the entry slot and travel voucher will be passed on to the next surfer on the Rip Curl South Africa GromSearch rating list.
To see how a Rip Curl GromSearch event plays out, check out this fun video from last year’s event on YouTube.
The Rip Curl GromSearch contest series is run by Surfing South Africa and supported by Sea Harvest. This final event is supported by Kouga Local Municipality, which is always firmly behind the sport of surfing in this region.
Calamari Festival
The Rip Curl GromSearch Finals is part of the St Francis Calamari Festival, an annual celebration held in September in St Francis Bay, the Calamari Capital of South Africa. This vibrant festival brings together locals and visitors to indulge in the region’s famous Chokka (calamari) while enjoying various cultural, culinary and outdoor activities. The festival highlights the local fishing industry’s rich heritage and showcases St Francis Bay’s unique charm. The Calamari Festival is presented by St Francis Tourism.
About Surfing South Africa
SURFING SOUTH AFRICA is the recognised governing body for Surfriding in South Africa. It is responsible for the activities of all its disciplines, such as surfing, longboarding, bodyboarding, kneeboarding, para surfing and SUP surfing. SSA is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), the African Surfing Confederation (ASC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA).
