Frederico Morais and Sarah Baum held aloft after their wins. Photo: Kody McGregor//WSL
The World Surf League J-Bay Classic, a specialty event taking place at the iconic Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa, has come to a close. First announced in February in response to J-Bay being dropped from the Championship Tour, the competition featured a murderers row of talented surfers competing on both high performance and alternative shapes. However, in the end, there could only be one winner for each event, with Sarah Baum and Frederico Morais taking top honors.
Sarah Baum had perhaps the most exciting path to the finals possible. Photo: Pierre Tostee//WSL
Sarah Baum’s path to victory was a true underdog story. The South African surfer was not part of the originally announced roster, but rather earned her spot in the main competition by winning a trials event held beforehand. As a result, she was the crowd favorite going into her final heat against Australian Sally Fitzgibbons. Though Fitzgibbons built up an early lead with two mid-range scores, Baum finally came online later in the heat by scoring an excellent 8.00 to stay in the game. Then, everything turned around when she took off on one last-minute wave. Two massive turns, capped off with an explosive whitewater exit, clinched her the victory, to the cheers of an ecstatic crowd.
“I can’t even believe what just happened,” Baum told the WSL. “As soon as I made that wave, all the emotions came flowing, uncontrollable. I don’t usually claim waves, but I claimed that wave. I could hear everyone on the beach blowing up, I even had goosebumps on my head.”
“Watching Baumy go for the score and seeing her make that turn and the crowd erupting, I think that’s replaced my best memory of J-Bay by far,” said Fitzgibbons. “To be part of a real significant moment where she’s the first South African to win since 1987, I think that’s a good way to wrap up this week. I couldn’t ask for anything more, I’m so content and satisfied.”
Frederico Morais battled through the doldrums for his men’s event win. Photo: Kody McGregor//WSL
The men’s final came down to a heat between Portugal’s Frederico Morais and South Africa’s Michael February. The pair spent much of the time waiting for sets to roll in, in what even the WSL press release described as “an agonizingly slow heat.” In the end, Morais was able to lock in back-to-back 6.00 and 6.83 scores that put February on defense. February fought hard to come back from behind but, in the end, even when a solid wave did finally appear, it wasn’t enough to steal back the lead.
“J-Bay is not a place, it’s an emotion,” summarized Morais. “It’s the best wave in the world. J-Bay has always been kind to me, the wave, the people, I love it here. It was a super special week with a bit of competition, a bit of freesurfing, it’s just what I was looking for.” He also added that the event was literally his first time surfing a twin-fin, making his victory over style-master February (who pretty much only rides alternative shapes) all the more impressive.
