The World Surf League Africa and Surfing South Africa announced the launch of the Longbeach Open presented by the Western Cape Department of Culture, Art & Sport and Sea Harvest, a new Qualifying Series 1,000 event set to take place at Longbeach, Kommetjie 12 - 13 March 2022. The event will see some of the best South African men and women compete for the valuable ranking points on offer and R30,000 in prize money in each division.
"WSL Africa is excited to be involved in the Longbeach Open presented by the Western Cape Department of Culture, Art and Sport and Sea Harvest. The collaboration with Surfing South Africa is extremely valuable at this stage for our South African surfers and it's the first time since 2004 that the professional league and governing sports body are pooling their efforts to make an Open event happen. A big thank you to Western Province surfing who will both assist with and host the event and also to supporting sponsors SMITH shapes and Boardtalk magazine for making it happen," said Josh Louw, Events & Marketing Manager, WSL Africa.
Local surfer and currently sitting in third on the WSL Africa rankings, Eli Beukes is looking forward to compete at his home break.
"It is always a great experience being able to surf an event at your local break, and it is a good feeling to share your local break and welcome some of the best surfers in South Africa. Longbeach is a fairly consistent wave, as well as a very high-performance wave. It allows for entertaining surfing and always provides good entertainment for spectators. The wave is also easily accessible which makes it a perfect place to run a contest," said Beukes.
"Surfing South Africa is stoked that Longbeach will be hosting a World Surf League event. This will give our athletes a chance to earn valuable WSL ratings points which will help them qualify for the important Challenger Series events that are coming up soon. It also gives South African surfers an opportunity to compete at a familiar venue and in addition to ratings points, earn some much needed prize money," said Robin de Kock, Surfing South Africa General Manager.
"Surfing South Africa is proud to be a partner in presenting the Longbeach Open alongside WSL and is very grateful to the handful of individuals whose hard work has ensured that the event will take place. Our thanks to DCAS, Sea Harvest, SMTH Shapes and Boardtalk for getting behind the first ever Longbeach Open."
A special thanks to Robert Scott and WP Surfing for their support and the working group of individuals who launched and delivered the project.
The event will be streamed live on YouTube.
The Longbeach Open is supported by the Western Cape Department of Culture, Art and Sport, Sea Harvest, SMTH Shapes, Boardtalk, WP Surfing and Advanced Harbour Bay Surgical Centre.
