JEFFREYS BAY/South Africa (Tuesday, June 5, 2012) – The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay 2012 is just around the corner, and the town of Jeffreys Bay is preparing to welcome all the competing surfers. This year the contest is an ASP 6-Star event, opening up the tournament to a wealth of local South African talent, along with the top ranked World Championship Tour surfers who have entered. There are so many surfers out there who have chosen to travel to South Africa and surf J-Bay regardless of the contest status, and the event organizers are expecting the full 144 entries into this prestigious event.
Rated seventh in the world, Jordy Smith will be retuning to his favourite wave in the world, Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay, to try and get his hat-trick of wins at this event.
“I love surfing at Jeffreys Bay,” said Jordy. “I spent so much time surfing there when I was younger, and it always feels good to come back to J-Bay.”
Joining Jordy will be surfers of the ilk of fifth-ranked John John Florence, fourth-ranked Adriano de Souza, and twenty-ninth ranked surfers Damien Hogbgood and Pat Gudauskas. Local contingent includes the legendary Frankie Oberholzer and the nemesis that is Sean Holmes, as well as surfers like Greg Emslie, Davey Weare and Warren Dean who can also totally dominate at Supers on any given day. There is also the young crew of surfers like Dylan Lighfoot, Jack Freestone, Beyrick De Vries, Stevie Sawyer and Mikey February who are all hungry for results.
The dates for the event this year are the 10th – 15th July, and the venue is Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay. With a prize purse of over R1,2 million, this event is the perfect opportunity for South African surfers to compete at the best wave in the country against some of the greatest surfers in the world and earn great prizemoney in the process.
“This year is going to be another year of amazing competitive surfing at the Billabong Pro,” said Billabong South Africa Marketing Manager Chad D’Arcy. “Along with the Nixon Winner Takes All event and the 5FM Music Festival, it’s all set to be the type of surfing festival that the public and the surfers alike have grown to love and enjoy for over a quarter of a century.”
Nixon will again be running their Winner Takes All prize at the Billabong Pro. The Nixon WTA is an award of a US$10,000 (R85,000) jewel-encrusted one-of-a kind watch for the highest heat score in the event. Any competitor can win this prize – when the waves at Supers turn on, high scores are commonplace. July is historically one of the best months for large swells and favourable wind conditions at Supertubes, and the competitors are sure to score excellent winter waves for the event.
Event co-sponsors include: Monster Energy, Carling Black Label, Sony Xperia, Nissan, Vida e Caffe, VonZipper and Nixon.
In conjunction with the Bilalbong Pro there will also be the 5FM Music Festival on the weekend of 13th – 15th July. More details on this event will follow within the next two weeks.
