A full field of surfers from eight Districts will be in action at Seal Point in Cape St Francis from tomorrow, Wednesday May 20th to Sunday May 24th when the 2026 SA Masters Championships takes place at this iconic venue.
Seal Point last hosted the annual National Masters Championships in 2016; 10 years ago almost to the day and 20 years after the first SA Masters Championships took place at Victoria Bay, near George.
The event will see several World Champions, numerous National, Provincial and District Champions and a host of International, National and Provincial surfers in action over the four days of competition.
The tournament gets under way with an Opening Function at the Cape St Francis Resort tonight (Tuesday May 19th) and the first rounds of competition get under way at 7.30 am tomorrow morning (Wednesday May 20th) . The Finals will take place on Sunday May 24th.
Over the last 19 years the SA Masters Surfing Championships has always produced high quality surfing and if Seal Point comes up with some special conditions over the next 5 days there will be some outstanding surfing on to watch.
Among the field are former ISA World Masters Champion, five time SA Open Champion and Olympic Coach Greg Emslie (Buffalo City) two former ISA World Masters Champion, Andrew Banks (Ilembe) and former ISA World Masters Champion and multiple SA Open Champion Heather Clark (Ugu), former World Pro/Am Champion David Malherbe (Buffalo City), multiple SA Masters Champion Tyrell Johnson (Buffalo City), Roxy Davis (National representative in three disciplines and a National team Coach (Cape Town), SA surfing stalwarts Sean Holmes, David Pfaff and Stephen Hair (all Eden), World famous big wave surfer, Grant Baker and eThekweni team mates Paul Canning and Rob Moore Boyle, Cass Collier (Cape Town), former Masters Champions Gareth Sepp, Wayne Monk, Nick Pike and Gordon Harmer (all Buffalo City),1980s legend Michael Burness ( Nelson Mandela Bay) and 1981 SA Team captain Barry Campbell (Ilembe) who will compete in the over 65 division ISA World Masters Championships silver medal winner and SA Champion Gary Van Wieringen (UGU).
These are just some of the surfers to look out for in this star studded field.
The draw is available on Liveheats. Go to www.liveheats.com/surfingsouthafrica to view the scores live and follow the contestant’s progression through the rounds. Livestream available using the link https://youtube.com/live/x6F6Z96yvnI?feature=share
The 2026 SA Masters Championships will decide nine individual champions and determine the top District team. Each team member’s points will count towards the Masters Cup.
The 2026 South African Masters Championships is sponsored by the Cape St Francis Resort, Jack Black, Vissla, River Club and Open Plan Pictures.
The event is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Surfriders and is sanctioned and presented by surfing South Africa.
About Surfing South Africa
Surfing South Africa is the official National Federation for the sport of surfing in South Africa. SSA is a member of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and is recognised as the governing body by the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. (DSAC)
Surfing South Africa is responsible for the development of the sport, the hosting of National tournaments, the sanctioning of all International and National events and the selection of National teams in all the disciplines that are part of SSA.
SSA is a member of the African Surfing Confederation (ASC), Union of the Indian Oceans Surfing Federations (UIOSF) and the International Surfing Association (ISA), the World governing body for the sport.
Compiled by
Robin de Kock
0824541149
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