The Rip Curl Cup, presented by the Royal St Andrews Hotel
The inaugural Rip Curl Cup is an exciting new event that will take place after the Rip Curl GromSearch. The Rip Curl Cup has only two divisions: Open Men and Open Women.
The Rip Curl Cup and the Rip Curl Gromsearch are both presented by the Royal St Andrews Hotel and supported by Sea Harvest. They are the anchor events of the Port Alfred Easter Festival presented by Sunshine Coast Tourism.
Prize Money.
There is R75k prizemoney for the Rip Curl Cup, to be shared across these two divisions.
The Men’s and Women’s winners get R20k, and the second-placed surfers will receive R10k. Third place will receive R5k, and fourth place in each division will pocket R2,5k.
Team Rip Curl South Africa
The Rip Curl South Africa team members will compete in the Rip Curl Cup. They are:
Gemma Hanafey (East London), Blake Crankshaw (Wilderness), Ben Esterhuyse (Cape Town), Kai Stubbs (Scarborough), Rylan Jarvis (Cape St Francis) and Jack Erlank (S Francis Bay.)
Rip Curl Teamrider Rylan Jarvis cutting back to the source © Louis Wulff
The Venue
East Beach is predominantly a right-hand sand-bottom break, wrapping off the East Pier. On perfect conditions, it provides long waves, ideal for high-performance ripping, and occasionally throws a few perfect barrels. It was a well-known wave, and surfers like Jordy Smith, Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, and Dane Reynolds have all had a few bombs here over the years.
East Pier and a large set rolling through © Louis Wulff
Three Year Deal
The Rip Curl Cup is the first in what will be a three-year minimum deal from the sponsors, and this event will undoubtedly grow over the next few years and become a permanent fixture on the Surfing South Africa calendar.
Water Safety
Water Safety for the Rip Curl Cup will be handled by NSRI Station 11 Port Alfred. They will have safety craft in the water throughout the competition, and they will also be doing a safety demonstration at the opening function on Thursday evening before the easter weekend. The Opening function will be at the Royal St Andrews Hotel.
NSRI Station 11 Port Alfred
The Rip Curl Cup is a Surfing South Africa event and is supported by Sea Harvest.
