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THE all-conquering Kommetjie Kids continued their conquest of the SA surf scene when the aptly named Volcom Baboonfish contest brought a host of the country's top surfers to the Cape Peninsula last weekend.

It was recent Kommetjie transplant Brendon Gibbens who stole the limelight when he clinched the premier Open men's title in windblown waves at Koeelbaai despite only turning 15 a month ago. Last year's SA u/14 champ was in devastating form, totally dominating a final that included former WQS winner Dan Redman (Durban), fellow Kom local Brett Shearer and J-Bay's Ryan Payne, who finished in that order.

The only person to beat Gibbens on the day was another Kommetjie standout in Matthew Bromley, who won both the Junior (u/17) and Grom (u/15) titles, relegating Gibbens to the runner-up spot in the Juniors. The likes of Daniel Mace, Michael February and Tarryn Chudleigh, all of whom reached the last four in their respective divisions, now have invitations to the grand finale of the Volcom Qualifying Series in Durban in March next year.

An outstanding long range Westerly swell really produced the goods for the Deep South big wave brigade last week when members of SA Tow Surfing enjoyed a couple of sessions of excellent waves that reared up to 50 foot (16 metres) faces with huge barreling sections at Dungeons beneath the imposing cliffs of the Sentinel on Wednesday and Thursday.

With the Westerly direction of the swell missing Vulcan Rocks and Tafelberg Reef, Dungeons was lined up like Jeffreys Bay and as the wind died on Wednesday the likes of former four-time world kneeboard champion Gigs Celliers and tow partner Jevon le Roux, the 1999 ASP Africa champ, got the rides of their lives.

The news spread quickly and by 5am on Thursday the Kommetjie tow teams of Glenn Bee & Pierre du Plessis, Simon Lowe & Mickey Duffus and Mike Schlebach & Jake Kolnick were joined by Reinhardt Fourie & Dave Smith in Hout Bay harbour. The waves were still six to eight times overhead and all had an epic session with the original Cape tow-in veterans Bee and du Plessis distraught at having to leave the scene at 09:30 to return to their "day-jobs" while the rest of the crew carried on riding the gigantic waves until midday.

And Kommetjie's influence on the African surf scene stepped up a notch when Dene Botha spent last week in Mozambique conducting the first ever course for surf school instructors in the idyllic tropical paradise of Turtle Cove in Tofo, 500 km north of Maputo. Tourism is expanding rapidly in the former Portuguese colony, and consistent waves in clear, warm water make surfing a natural pastime for the hundreds of tourists visiting the area.

And it wasn't all work either as SA?s only accredited surf coaching trainer and assessor caught the tail end of the big swell as it swept up the coast on the weekend, riding overhead waves at the excellent right-hand point break at Tofinho.

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