The Nazaré event has been called on with Andrew Cotton and Tom Butler in the starting line up… Looks like Tuesday is the first possible day. Fingers crossed the local wind cooperates.
WSL PRESS RELEASE
Today, the World Surf League (WSL) Big Wave Tour (BWT) is placing the Nazaré Challenge in Nazaré, Portugal, on Green Alert to commence on Tuesday, December 20, 2016. With a a series of major swells heading towards the region, all eyes will be on the world’s best big wave surfers as they take on the waves of Praia do Norte (North Beach), a break notorious for its powerful waves and dangerous whitewater speeds.
“We are excited to call the inaugural Nazaré Challenge on,” said Peter Mel, WSL Big Wave Tour Commissioner. “We have been closely tracking the WNW North Atlantic swell and see that everything should align for a Tuesday start. The waves are projected to be 35-45-foot-plus with favorable winds. We are all eager to see how the world’s best big wave surfers push the boundaries with the debut of this event.”
The highly-anticipated Nazaré Challenge is an all-new event on the WSL Big Wave Tour and will be the first paddle-in event to take place at the venue that put Portugal on the map as a big wave haven. The event will be contested by 24 of the best big wave surfers, led by BWT ratings leader Grant “Twiggy” Baker (ZAF), 2015/16 BWT Champion Greg Long (USA), as well as regional event wildcards Alex Botelho (PRT) and Andrew Cotton (GBR).
Surfline, official forecaster for the WSL, are calling for:
Significant storm activity in the North Atlantic in the next few days will deliver a series of XL to possibly XXL swells for Nazaré for most of next week. The first of these swells, which will arrive on Tuesday, is currently expected to produce waves of 30-40’ on the face, with the largest sets potentially hitting 50’ if the storm behaves as forecast in the next couple days. A similar size swell looks possible for Thursday before fading Friday. Local wind will be variable for much of next week, although does look favorable Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning and potentially all of Thursday and Friday.
While the competition is scheduled to start early in the morning Portugal time on Tuesday, December 20, organizers are also keeping the option open of competition days on Wednesday, December 21 and Thursday, December 22, should the local weather conditions call for it.
The Nazare Challenge will be webcast LIVE at WorldSurfLeague.com and on the WSL app.
The total prize purse for the Nazare Challenge is $100,000.
Nazaré Challenge Competitors:
Greg Long (USA)
Billy Kemper (HAW)
Nic Lamb (USA)
Carlos Burle (BRA)
Damien Hobgood (USA)
Cristian Merello (CHL)
Ramon Navarro (CHL)
Gabriel Villaran (PER)
Grant Baker (CHL)
Trevor Carlson (HAW)
Koa Rothman (HAW)
Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
Aaron Gold (HAW)
Kai Lenny (HAW)
Pedro Calado (BRA)
Will Skudin (USA)
Kealii Mamala (HAW)
Kohl Christensen (HAW)
Alex Botelho (PRT)
Hugo Vau (PRT)
Joao de Macedo (PRT)
Antonio Silva (PRT)
Andrew Cotton (GBR)
Tom Butler (GBR)
Jordy Smith WINNER of the VANS World Cup of Surfing at Sunst Beach, Hawaii today.
Congrats to Jordy who’s popped his Hawaiian event win cherry with first spot at Sunset. Big news for this side of the pond is the qualification of Frederico Morais and Joan ‘Fred’ Duru.
The Sunset event is the last hurrah for the QS and is the career making or breaking spot for QS hopefuls. Europe has done well for a change with new blood in the shape of powermongers Frederico Morais (PRT) and Joan Duru (FRA) making the cut and of course there’s the historic qualification of Italian Leonardo Fioravanti, tour stalwart Jeremy Flores has also sealed the deal for another go round in the big league. So plenty of Euro interest for next season. Now if we can just add a Brit and a Spaniard to the mix that’d be awesome.
In the heaviest qualification event of the year, Jordy Smith (ZAF), No. 3 surfer in the world, took the win at the Vans World Cup and stamped out his first victory on Hawaiian waves. Undeniably the most on point athlete at the big wave venue today, Smith overtook a stacked Final that included Frederico Morais (PRT), Torrey Meister (HAW) and Tanner Gudauskas (USA).
“Unbelievable, can’t believe it,” said Smith. “I feel like this event has eluded me in the past. I didn’t have any expectations, I think that was the difference for this event. I just kind of went out there with an open mind. Thanks to everyone who supported me.”
A Qualifying Series (QS) 10,000 rated event, the Vans World Cup marks Smith’s second competitive victory this year, his first a Championship Tour (CT) win at the Hurley Pro at Trestles in September. But a win in Hawaii has eluded him since he began competing professionally.
“Early in my career I made a couple finals out here, I really had something going with the place,” continued Smith. “I don’t know, it’s been like six or seven years where I just couldn’t do a thing right. And then, everything just came together this year so I’m just really happy.”
Gudauskas opened the Final with two waves for a leg up on competitors and set the tone with strong backhand turns and a 5.0 for keeps. Smith answered back with a super smooth 6.33 on an open face and demonstrated his tactful rail game and signature carves.
Frederico Morais SECOND in the Final of the VANS World Cup of Surfing at Sunst Beach, Hawaii today.
With priority, Morais dropped the first score of significance to take the lead, an 8.23 for a nice carve which set him up for a layback snap on the inside section. Steadily pacing himself throughout the event, Morais made few mistakes and jumped up the QS ratings to the No. 3 slot after his runner up finish today.
Meister, the most inform athlete representing Hawaii, went vertical on his first wave for a 4.77 and showed an uninhibited attitude with his commitment. But drama unfolded after Jordy secured an 8.73 – the highest single wave score of the Final – to shake up the final standings. Morais and Meister attempted to catch the South African with a few more waves, but Jordy’s excellent score cemented his lead on opponents and ultimately the win.
“He always fits this wave really well,” Meister said of Jordy after the awards ceremony. “He’s always one of the best guys out here. Just his hacks, he’s got probably the best hack in the business. He really suits this wave and he’s really powerful.”
Of monumental note was the seven qualifying hopefuls that reached the Quarterfinals, which made for a tense and highly dramatic second half of the day. Ezekiel Lau (HAW), Jack Freestone (AUS) and Jadson Andre (BRA) went on to compete in the Semifinals, which secured a 10th place position on the QS for Freestone and No. 8 for Andre. Lau sits in the 11th spot and need a double qualify situation in order to receive a slot into the 2017 CT.
The 2016 international QS came to a close after today’s event conclusion and sees a new organization of names in the top 10 spots. Athletes listed in order of 1st through 10th on the QS: Connor O’Leary (AUS), Ethan Ewing (AUS), Frederico Morais (PRT), Joan Duru (FRA), Kanoa Igarashi (USA), Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Jadson Andre (BRA), Ian Gouveia (BRA) and Jack Freestone (AUS).
The surf industry now moves to Pipeline where the Billabong Pipe Masters – the final event of the Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour and last gem of the Vans Triple Crown – takes plae from December 8 – 20. Morais now leads the Vans Triple Crown ratings after John John Florence (HAW) was ousted in Round 4 by Tanner Gudauskas ,while Ethan Ewing (AUS) secured the Vans Triple Crown Rookie Award after today’s performance at Sunset Beach.
RESULTS Surfers shown in order of 1st through 4th, all athletes from Hawaii unless otherwise noted.
Final
1st – Jordy Smith (ZAF), 10000 points 2nd – Frederico Morais (PRT), 8000 points 3rd – Torrey Meister (HAW), 6700 points 4th – Tanner Gudauskas (USA), 6300 points
In an absolutely insane day, 22-year-old John John Florence (HAW) clinched the 2016 World Surf League (WSL) Title with a victory at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal in Peniche. This is the first time a Hawaiian has held the world surfing crown since the late Andy Irons (HAW) in 2004.
“I honestly can’t believe it right now, it’s obviously not sunk in just yet,” Florence said. “I know my mom and family are watching online right now and I really wish they were here with me. I’m so stoked. I’ve worked my whole life towards this and I have so many people to thank for this.”
Florence’s season started out slowly with mediocre results across the Australian leg, including the Rip Curl Pro Bells, before posting a victory in Brazil in May. He carried the momentum of his Rio de Janeiro win to strong showings in Jeffreys Bay (2nd), Tahiti (2nd) and France (3rd) while challengers Gabriel Medina (BRA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Jordy Smith (ZAF) and 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater (USA) were unable to maintain consistency, eventually falling out of reach in Portugal. It was a tight win, with his success coming from both Medina and Wilkinson’s early round losses.
“It’s been a long year, but one of the best years in my life, so many fun events and just having a really good time all together and I’ve learned so much,” he continued. “I was expecting it to go to Hawaii and I was just trying to keep surfing through heats.
“My whole life has gone into this, everything I’ve done but just this year especially, learning so much about competitive surfing, focusing completely on it and having so much help and support, it’s been amazing.” Florence added. “The title was my goal this year so at this point I’m just going to go out and have fun.”
FLORENCE 2016 WSL CT RESULTS –
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast: 5th
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach: 13th
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro: 13th
Oi Rio Pro: WINNER
Fiji Pro: 5th
J-Bay Open: 2nd
Billabong Pro Tahiti: 2nd
Hurley Pro at Trestles: 13th
Quiksilver Pro France: 3rd
Meo Rip Curl Pro Portugal: WINNER
Billabong Pipe Masters: TBD
While John John was reigning victorious at the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, the big wave surfers were further up the coast taking on Nazaré.
Courtesy: Turismo do Centro de Portugal
The Meo Rip Curl Pro Portugal, the final European stop of the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour, got underway today and ran through Round 1 in clean three-to-four foot (1 – 1.2 metre) surf at Supertubos. The world’s best surfers fought to avoid elimination Round 2 and advance directly to Round 3.
Current World No. 4 on the Jeep Leaderboard Jordy Smith (ZAF), 28, successfully launched his Peniche campaign with a Round 1 win over Jeremy Flores (FRA) and rookie Kanoa Igarashi (USA) to advance straight into Round 3. The winner of the Hurley Pro at Trestles suffered a shock elimination in the second round in France and will look to find his rhythm back in the hollow peaks of Portugal.
“Conditions are pretty good out there and it’s just a matter of finding the right waves, it’s really low tide and pretty much dry off your first turn,” Smith said. “Luckily enough I found a couple lefts. I found I’d have a few opportunities on a little right bank, but here you just have to adapt on the fly.”
Miguel Pupo (BRA), 24, secured the first excellent score of the day, an impressive 8.17 for a combination of a clean barrel ride and a solid forehand turn at Supertubos. Pupo sent rookie Ryan Callinan (AUS) and World No. 3 Matt Wilkinson (AUS) to elimination Round 2 while he will skip it and advance directly to the third round.
“When I was walking in the competitors area I saw Wilko (Matt Wilkinson) look at the waves down there so I sort of knew he would sit down the beach but Ryan (Callinan) and I had waves after waves and luckily I got the one with the double-up,” Pupo stated. “I feel a lot of pressure, but I’ve been in this position before and I managed to requalify. This is a wave that I love very much but I’ve never done well so this could be the year maybe. I’m trying not to rush things I think that’s what I have to do and that’s how I surfed that last heat, I waited for the waves and tried to feel the ocean.”
A Quarterfinalist in this event last year, lethal wildcard Frederico Morais (PRT), 24, resumed his quest to get the biggest scalps in pro surfing as he took down World No. 2 and former WSL Champion Gabriel Medina (BRA) and rookie Conner Coffin (USA) in a slow opening round match-up. Morais, who seriously altered Mick Fanning’s (AUS) chances of claiming a World Title in 2015 by eliminating the Australian in the third round in Peniche, could replicate his rankings shake-up if he can keep his good form going into Round 3.
“I have nothing to lose so I just surf, conditions are really hard and there are a lot of closeouts so you just need to take a lot of waves to get some good ones,” Morais said. “I want to qualify so bad but everyone knows how hard the QS (Qualifying Series) is. I’m 38th and there are three events left. I love Hawaii, the big surf, so hopefully I can do good there and maybe even qualify next year.”
Jadson Andre (BRA) delivered a shock upset in Heat 6 of Round 1 by defeating No. 1 on Jeep Leaderboard John John Florence (HAW) and sending him to elimination Round 2. Andre is currently sitting in 25th place, just outside the requalification bubble, and needs a strong result in Portugal to move up the rankings. Florence will have a rematch against wildcard Miguel Blanco (PRT) in the opening heat of Round 2 and battle to keep his chances of claiming the WSL Title in Portugal alive.
“I definitely don’t want to be in that position every year but sometimes you don’t have a choice, I had a couple of injuries at the beginning of the year that really brought me down,” Andre said. “Miguel (Pupo) and myself are the only two guys I think who have been in that situation every year for a while so we may have a little bit of an advantage. I love Portugal, I always do good here and I really hope I can win a couple more heats.”
11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 44, was in sizzling form on the opening day of competition in Peniche and locked in the day’s maneuver, a massive forehand rotation for an excellent 9 points to take the lead. The Floridian later found some tube time on a lefthander to back up his main wave with a 6.83 and put Matt Banting (AUS) and Stuart Kennedy (AUS) in a combination situation and into Round 2.
“I was trying to find a peak down to the South I thought I saw a couple rights, I pulled in a couple of barrels on my first three waves but I realized this wasn’t going to work unless it was a straight peak and no wall,” Slater reflected. “Then I saw that right and knew there wasn’t much in it except for an air so I took as much speed as I could and hit it as late as I could and that one stuck. I took a few days for myself in France and feel relaxed now.”
Josh Kerr (AUS), 32, bested Slater to claim the day’s equal highest combined heat total of 15.90 out of a possible 20 for a Round 3 berth. Round 1 Heat 9 saw Kerr follow Slater’s scenario to the letter to belt his two best scores on a big frontside aerial and a backhand tube as well.
“The only game plan I have when there’s like little wedgy peaks like this is to just go out and have a free surf,” Kerr said. “There’s no limit to how many waves you can catch and a lot of opportunities in a lot of very different waves, barrels turns or airs so I just keep my options open.”
Top seeds Adriano De Souza (BRA), Joel Parkinson (AUS) and Italo Ferreira (BRA) all won their opening round encounters with solid scores to make their way into the third round. A runner-up last year, Ferreira took his time building house in Round 1 but managed to find two big scores in the dying minutes of the final heat to edge out Hawaiians Sebastian Zietz (HAW) and Dusty Payne (HAW).
Event organizers will reconvene at 8 a.m. (local time) tomorrow morning to assess conditions and make the next call.
Surfline, official forecast partner of the WSL, are calling for:
SW/WSW swell will fade on Tuesday as new, long period W swell from Hurricane Nicole begins to filter in. W swell offers fun surf for the middle and second half of the week with generally light winds and favorable conditions. An active North Atlantic provides the potential for stronger NW/WNW windswell/swell for the weekend and into the early/middle part of next week but local winds and conditions look unfavorable for Supertubos at this point.
Meo Rip Curl Pro Portugal Round 1 Results: Heat 1: Kai Otton (AUS) 12.43, Nat Young (USA) 11.77, Julian Wilson (AUS) 11.40 Heat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) 10.76, Keanu Asing (HAW) 9.94, Alex Ribeiro (BRA) 7.23 Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.30, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 11.94, Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 11.37 Heat 4: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 14.34, Ryan Callinan (AUS) 13.20, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 7.63 Heat 5: Frederico Morais (PRT) 11.37, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 9.76, Conner Coffin (USA) 8.03 Heat 6: Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.20, Miguel Blanco (PRT) 11.17, John John Florence (HAW) 9.94 Heat 7: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 10.94, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 9.53, Adam Melling (AUS) 8.00 Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.83, Matt Banting (AUS) 10.77, Stuart Kennedy (AUS) 9.63 Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.90, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 15.76, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 7.84 Heat 10: Adriano De Souza (BRA) 14.17, Jack Freestone (AUS) 13.50, Caio Ibelli (BRA) 11.24 Heat 11: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14.83, Davey Cathels (AUS) 12.66, Michel Bourez (PYF) 10.66 Heat 12: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 15.00, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 14.83, Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.27
Meo Rip Curl Pro Portugal Round 2 Match-Ups: Heat 1: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Miguel Blanco (PRT) Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Ryan Callinan (AUS) Heat 3: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA) Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Alex Ribeiro (BRA) Heat 5: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS) Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Matt Banting (AUS) Heat 7: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA) Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Jack Freestone (AUS) Heat 9: Caio Ibelli (BRA) vs. Davey Cathels (AUS) Heat 10: Stuart Kennedy (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW) Heat 11: Nat Young (USA) vs. Conner Coffin (USA) Heat 12: Keanu Asing (HAW) vs. Kanoa Igarashi (USA)
Top seeds had a tough go in Round One. Brazilian Miguel Pupo went to town in challenging Supertubos surf, taking out World No. 3 Matt Wilkinson. Then, in one of the biggest upsets of Day 1, local MEO Rip Curl Pro wildcard Frederico Morais initiated his giant-killing campaign with a win over World No. 2 Gabriel Medina. Even John John Florence, the Jeep rankings leader, was relegated to Round Two when Brazilian Tour veteran Jadson Andre upped the ante.
A Round Two loss for Medina could crush his World Title hopes, but Florence, the World No. 1, needs to watch his back. An early exit for him may enable Medina to go on a tear in Portugal, and close the gap heading into Hawaii.
Top: Kelly
Far left: Fred Morais
Left: Filipe Toledo
Below: John John Florence
John John Florence maintains the Jeep Leaderboard yellow jersey, with a narrowing 2,700 point lead over world #2 Gabriel Medina. World Title chase watch will be in full effect as the CT’s top two surfers put everything on the line at the tour’s second-to-last stop of the season.
Above: Kai 'Ottz' Otton
Far left: Fred Morais
Left: John John Florence
Below: Matt Wilkinson
Above: Matt Banting
Above: Kelly
Above: Medina
Right: John John Florence
Below: Miguel Blanco
