A local surfer Jeffreys Bay surfer, Kirsty McGillivray comes from a solid surfing family, with brother Matt currently competing successfully on the Qualifying series. Kirsty has obviously watched her brother getting good results due to hard training and a positive outlook, and has assimilated much of his training and discipline to her approach. That, as well as long hours surfing the perfect waves of Jeffreys Bay, have seen her become one of the top surfers in her age group.

There’s a lot of choice in JBay, with so many waves in such a small stretch of coast. Starting off with the fun peak called Kitchen Windows at the lower end of town. Fun, soft left and right, Kitchens is more of a beginner wave. Then there is Magnatubes, the first of the right-handers along the magical stretch. Perfect on a small to medium wave and a pushing tide. Then there’s Boneyards, the main stretch for high performance surfing and tube rides. This is followed by the section called Tubes, then Coins, and finally the Lower Point.
The Lower Point is where the Billabong SA Junior Champs is taking place, and it’s where Kirsty surf the most. A perfect right-hand point-break, Lower Point gets excellent on its day, and Kirsty knows all of her moods and variables, all adding to her local knowledge.
Kirsty was the U15 Champion in last year’s Billabong SA Junior Champs, and this year she has moved up a division and is competing in the U17 division. Currently she is looking like a winner.
Photo by Alan van Gysen
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