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Pumping Surf at Victoria Bay for Opening Day of the Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro

The 2026 Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro QS 2,000 and Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro Junior opened in superb conditions at Victoria Bay, with long, clean walls reeling down the point from first light. With the new season officially underway, competitors wasted no time taking advantage of the quality surf as they chased an early foothold on the rankings.

 

Local surfer Kane Johnstone advanced through to the QS round of 32  © Kody McGregor

Competition opened with the Men’s QS 2,000 Round of 56, where several surfers wasted no time making their intentions clear. Local standout Daniel Orpen, Durban’s Chad du Toit, and Brazilian goofy-footer Ryan Coelho all advanced comfortably through their opening heats with confident performances in the clean conditions.

The Women’s QS Round of 24 followed, with East London’s Taylor Emslie, Cape Town’s Emily Jenkinson, Reunion Island’s Hina Maria Conradi, and France’s Sarah Leiceaga all claiming heat victories. Conradi delivered the performance of the round, posting an impressive 15.00 heat total out of a possible 20 to set the benchmark and establish herself as one of the early standouts of the event.

 

Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro setup © Kody McGregor

The Pro Junior division hit the water next, with Asbjorn Gwenin (United Kingdom), Nate Colby (Durban), Ryan Coelho (Brazil), and Rip Curl team rider Jack Erlank (St Francis Bay) all securing heat wins to advance through to the next round.

By the time the Men’s QS 2,000 Round of 48 got underway, the wind had begun to influence conditions. Nevertheless, several surfers still found quality scoring opportunities. Joshe Faulkner (Pellsrus), Chad du Toit (Durban), Brad Scott (Cape Town), Simon Winter (Cape Town), and Kai Hall (Durban) all posted strong heat totals to progress.

The final heat of the round saw Erlank continue his impressive form. The St Francis Bay surfer claimed victory ahead of Clay Turrell, while Nate Tayler and Paul Sampson were eliminated from competition.

“There were some good ones out there, but some of them just went flat,” said Erlank.

“I got this outside set wave and managed one good hit right in the pocket before it flattened out. It was one of the bigger waves of the heat, so I got a decent score from it.”

Erlank said the heat came down to the closing minutes.

“I wasn’t sure what I needed towards the end, and then I saw Clay surf past me on a bomb. On my last wave, I went for a layback off the whitewater on the inside. I made it, and they gave me a 3.93, which was enough for the win, so I had to claim it.”

Jack Erlank © Kody McGregor

Competition in the Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro resumes tomorrow morning, with officials set to make a call on conditions at 7:30 am.

Watch Live

The Rip Curl Vic Bay Surf Pro will be broadcast live on WorldSurfLeague.com and on the free WSL app, bringing all the action from Victoria Bay to a global audience.

 

Media Information

Complimentary high-resolution images are available for media outlets.

For Rip Curl South Africa media enquiries and photo requests, please contact:

Craig Jarvis
Truth Collective
e. craig@truthcollective.co.za
t. 082 376 4443

For World Surf League Africa media enquiries, please contact:

Bianca van Aardt
WSL EMEA Communications Manager
e. bvanaardt@worldsurfleague.com
t. +27 82 773 5407

Sponsors and supporters

 

 

 

Louise Lepront. Photo: Kody McGregor

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The World’s Largest Man-Made Urban Forest

One of the most surprising facts about Johannesburg is its status as a “green” city. When the first settlers arrived, the Highveld was a barren, treeless grassland (savannah). To support the mining industry, millions of trees were imported and planted to provide timber for mine underground supports. Fast forward to the present day, and Johannesburg is widely considered the largest man-made urban forest in the world.

There are an estimated 10 million trees within the city limits. This includes 1.2 million trees on sidewalks and in parks, and over 4.8 million in private gardens. This forest is so dense that satellite images of the northern suburbs often resemble a tropical rainforest. The most iconic of these trees is the Jacaranda, which was imported from South America in the early 20th century. Every October and November, the city turns a vibrant shade of purple as thousands of Jacarandas bloom simultaneously. However, this “forest” also highlights the city’s historical inequality; during the Apartheid era, trees were predominantly planted in wealthy white suburbs, leaving townships like Soweto as dusty plains. In the last two decades, “Greening Soweto” initiatives have seen hundreds of thousands of trees planted to bridge this “green divide,” emphasizing the role of urban forestry in social justice and climate cooling.