During a week when invitational contests were at the centre of the surfing world, Cam Richards capped off the conversation by claiming the Capitulo Perfeito title in an all-out tube duel in front of a roaring Portuguese crowd at Carcavelos. The occasion acted as another reminder as to why these one off events are some of the most exciting spectacles in surfing.
The Capitulo Perfeito, which translates to the ‘Perfect Chapter’, has been running a one day specialty tube contest for more than a decade. Its 11th edition was won by the South Carolina goofy-footer who was originally an alternate for the event. He ousted Noah Beschen, Balaram Stack and Pedro Calado on his way to victory.
Yolanda Hopkins also claimed the first ever women’s Capitulo Perfeito title over Maria Salgado, Camila Cardoso and Gabriela Dinis.
The comp played host to the likes of Joel Parkinson, Craig Anderson, Nic Von Rupp and more to create an eclectic lineup of surfing personalities and styles who wrestled with the thick beach break tubes. The Perfect Chapter continues to be one of the leading invitational events that aim to put the best surfers in the best waves.
The day started with an air of anticipation as to the size of the swell. As we headed to the contest site in the dark we caught a glimpse of the ocean, lit by the morning sunrise, and the first thing Parko uttered was ‘fuck, there’s a lot of swell’.
Solid teepees were detonating across the beach at Carcavelos without any takers. It didn’t look too inviting with a combination of morning sickness and a rip running through the lineup. It made the early rounds tricky and any surfer who could find a clean exit was in with a chance at avoiding the repocharge round.
Noah Beschen, who filled our feeds earlier this week as part of the Natural Selection comp in Micronesia, was the standout of the first round. The young Hawaiian spent four days scoring pumping Pipe before he hopped on a last minute flight to Portugal.
“I’ve been getting backside tubes all week and Pipe was like triple the size of this, so it was as good as preparation gets for a contest.”
When quizzed on his recipe for success in the tricky conditions, he replied: “Pastal de Natas and lots of coffee.”
Another Portuguese delicacy, Tiago Stock, who won last year’s event, was also victorious in his first round heat, he beat a stacked field of Lucas Chumbo, Balaram Stack and Miguel Blanco. Every wave the 19-year-old took off on was met with loud cheers from his home crowd fans.
Competitors were given a chance at redemption through the repocharge rounds. Despite not regularly pulling on the contest rashie, the ever-stylish Craig Anderson showed some heat strategy and kept busy to bag a few mid-range scores and keep his chance alive.
Craig didn’t beat around the bush when I asked what it takes to get him to compete.
“Free trips are pretty hard to come by these days,” he joked.
He also praised the hospitality provided by the Capitulo Crew who went above and beyond to ensure the surfers, media and everyone involved were well looked after.
The standout heat of the second round came when Craig squared off against crowd favourites Miguel Blanco and Bruno Santos. Craig got things started with a pair of mid-range scores as he weaved his way through two tubes with his lanky laid back style that we’ve become so accustomed to seeing in our favourite surf movies, but not necessarily during competition.
Miguel, who was the busiest throughout the heat, constantly hunting for the tube, eventually replied as he knifed a late drop on his backhand and buried the rail for an 8.83, which went on to be the highest score of the event. Despite only holding a 2.77 as his backup, it was enough to earn him a spot in the next round.
Not to be counted out, Bruno, who struggled to find the exit for most of the heat, swung late with a few minutes to spare, held the rail with just his toes gripping onto the wax and doggy doored the tube for a 7.33. Add that to his 4.90 and he snuck in for a heat win.
As the second round drew to a close, the wind swung straight offshore and began to groom the lineup. Hundreds packed onto the beach to bathe in the Portuguese winter sun and the fresh North Easterly breeze wafted the smell of Marijuana through the air. If it wasn’t a joint in hand, spectators were mostly seen with a cold Super Bock to help soak up the action.
After a short half hour break, the semi-finals kicked off. Balaram and Cam bagged their places in the final with some deep left hand tubes and a go for broke attitude to the end section, which was met with loud cheers from the crowd.
Cam just so happened to be in Portugal when he got a last minute alternate slot earlier in the week.
“I’ve had my eye on this event for a while, so I’m stoked I got the call. I want to try and get more invites to these types of events. That would be the dream tour, just doing a bunch of invitational contests in the best waves and sickest locations,” he told me after his semi-final win.
In the women’s final, it came down to fine margins as the girls all threw themselves over the ledge and into the barrel. Yolanda Hopkins was given the nod for her display of commitment which earnt her the first women’s Capitulo Perfeito title.
By the time the men’s final entered the water, the crowd, which was now in the thousands, were definitely more than a handful of beers deep. You could tell by the increased excitement and the decibels of the cheers.
The first half of the final was a tame affair with the competitors struggling to find the tube exit. But the heat came to life when Richards did his best Houdini impression, disappearing behind the curtain, only to reappear seconds later to the inevitable roar from the crowd.
Not to be outdone by his East Coast buddy, Balaram slid under the hood and replied with a left hand tube of his own. It looked like it was going to be a battle of the mainland Americans, until Hawaii entered the chat with eight to go as Noah was spat out of a backside drainer, earning a 7.5. He backed that up straight away with a smaller but longer tube earning a 4.4 and pole position. However, his lead only lasted a matter of seconds as Cam knifed a late drop on a bomb and made the tube with ease, earning an 8.5 and the eventual win.
As he hit the sand, he was chaired up the beach by his fellow countrymen to the backdrop of a Portuguese winter sunset – a perfect ending to the eleventh edition of the perfect chapter.
