Aritz takes Nazare comp…
Aritz Aranburu has won the 5th annual Allianz Perfect Chapter powered by Quiksilver in nine foot waves at Praia do Norte, Portugal, honoring the organization’s last-minute invitation with a dominant performance throughout the event. The 31-year-old Basque surfer took the win by defeating Balaram Stack (2nd), Dylan Graves (3rd) and Gabe Kling (4th) in the final.
Aritz, who entered the competition as a last-minute wildcard, was indeed the man of the event. A part from a €10,000 1st place check, he was also rewarded with the Allianz Best Tube (€2,000) and KIA Best Score (€1,500) awards for performing the best tube ride (9,80 pts) and best score (19,05 pts) of the competition in his Round 3 heat, making the best of his debut in this invitees-only tube riding contest taking place in Portugal every year.
The organization’s unprecedented decision to postpone the event to October/November (the original waiting period ended in April) proved to be right as Praia do Norte finally offered the kind of conditions the organizer and contest director were seeking for since the very beginning. 9 feet waves and light offshore winds set the ideal scenario for Bruno Santos, Nic von Rupp, Pedro Scooby, Tiago Pires and others to go head-to-head for the best tube rides, turning impossible barrels into the most exciting moments in the history of the event.
In the end, Aritz came up as the undisputed winner with a jaw-dropping display of the talent that once set him among the world surfing elite, signing up his name on Perfect Chapter’s champions list alongside with Tiago Pires (2012), Nic von Rupp (2013 and 2014) and Bruno Santos (2015).
“This was an incredible day”, Aranburu said. “I’d surfed here before but never got it this good. Right in round 3 I had a very special heat and started building up my confidence. I knew I was going to meet very strong opponents in the final so I kept my feet on the ground. I’m glad I came up on top”.
Photos:
https://mab.to/6SEkVZ7t01q
tag: Vitor Estrelinha
Fb: facebook.com/vitor.estrelinha
Water shots:
http://bit.ly/2fqCT2z
tag: Vasco Lazaro / Water Solutions
Ig: @vascolazaro
Fb: facebook.com/vasco.lazaro
