“If you had told me at the start of the year that I was going to have competed in two CT events, made it to the semi-finals in one of them and currently sit third on the Challenger Series, I would have called bullshit,” said a humble but assured George Pittar.

The 21-year-old is talking to me over the phone while he sits in the car park at Ribeira d’Ilhas waiting for the fog to clear. The Australian has been in Portugal for five days and only surfed once. He’s about to head out in one foot grovel for some practice rounds before the penultimate CS event of the season kicks off.

The conditions are not too dissimilar to the waves he grew up surfing along the Manly stretch. Despite calling Sydney’s Northern Beaches home from the age of 11, he believes the time he spent on the island of Vanuatu, which sits in the South Pacific to the northeast of New Caledonia, as a child is what’s shaped his surfing the most.

Pittar was barely a toddler when his parents moved to the island and set up a resort in front of a perfect right hand reef break. He spent much of his childhood surfing alone.

“Both Manly and Vanuatu have shaped my surfing, but I’d say Vanuatu has done the most for sure. Each wave I’d take off on out there had the most perfect snap and carve section. When you’re surfing it every single day of your life while growing up, that first turn almost becomes second nature.

“I definitely feel very fortunate to have lived there. It’s funny though because there was times when I wished I had someone to share those waves with growing up. But then moving to Manly, it wasn’t long until I was wishing and praying for those empty sessions again.”

Thanks, in part, to Vanuatu’s empty rights, George now has a slick and smooth rail game which matches his natural swagger both in and out of the water. Earlier this year Pittar was given the chance to test his island-honed repertoire against the world’s best, on the open face walls of Bells and Margaret River, when he earned wildcard spots for consecutive CT events.

George was narrowly eliminated in the round of 32 at Bells after losing to Ethan Ewing by 0.20. More than a few pundits argued that the Rip Curl team rider had done enough to beat Ethan.

At the following event held at Main Break in Margaret River, George went on to achieve a 3rd place finish. The highlight of his event came in the Quarters when he beat the world number one at the time, Griffin Colapinto, and put him in a combination situation for the majority of the heat. The North Steyne local looked at home on the big open faces in WA, displaying a razor sharp rail game that was often timed to perfection.

“I never in my wildest dreams thought that I’d get a chance to compete on the CT this year. I was so stoked just to compete at Bells and even though I lost to Ethan, I was really happy with my performance. Then getting to compete at Margaret’s and everything that came after was just a bonus. After each heat I was just losing it and was in disbelief at what was going on.”

Despite only being 21, George carries a responsible head on his shoulders and the gratitude he showed in every post heat interview during his opportunities on the CT this year is a sign of maturity beyond his years. This attitude will continue to hold him in good stead as he aims to make those appearances in the big league a permanent fixture next season.

“Getting to Margs, I had never been there before and I barely caught a wave on the contest bank before the event. I didn’t have any experience out there and so to achieve the result I did gave me so much confidence leading into the Challenger events. I didn’t once doubt myself at that level which is a huge thing because I think last year on the Challenger I did doubt myself a lot. It was my first year on the Challenger and I wasn’t sure if I belonged there.

“Having that CT experience now has given me a huge taste for it. It’s such a different environment to the Challenger, everything is heightened by 100, it’s so hectic. The setup and the environment they create on the CT really makes you feel like you’re at the top of the sport. Every single part of the experience was so intense.”

For now, George’s full focus is on the final CS events of the season in Portugal and Brazil. He currently sits third in the rankings with 16,050 points. For reference, Deivid Silva qualified last year in 10th with 17,120 points and so bar any extreme upsets, Pittar can be confident that two more average results will get him over the line and into the CT for next season.

However, at the start of the year he stated that his goal was to win a CS event. His best result so far this season is a third place finish at Snapper.

“After seeing Mikey (McDonagh) win Snapper and the feeling he got from it, I know that I want that feeling. Obviously the main goal is to qualify but I’d love to win an event.

“It’s funny, it’s hard to detach yourself from counting heats and doing the math to work out what you need. It can be a challenge to stay present and take it day by day. However, it’s only natural to have those thoughts and I think it’s important to not beat yourself up over the fact you’re counting heats.”

Mikey is not the only Australian to win a CS event this year. Jordy Lawler was victorious at North Narrabeen, meanwhile there are currently seven Aussies in the top 20, all of whom stand a chance at qualifying if they can post good results in the last two contests.

George explained that he’s grateful to have so many friends on this journey with him.

“We all roll around together, we are sharing a pretty similar experience and we all get each other. People must get so annoyed when we paddle out as a big group in the surf. When we were on the Challenger last year we were all looking at how well the American crew were doing and we envied them a bit. I think that has revved us all up to try and make it together this year. I think the last two events suit the Aussies a lot, so hopefully a few of us can make the tour.”

George and his Aussie posse also hang out together outside of events. A crew of them recently did a trip to Skeleton Bay in Namibia after the Ballito contest and Pittar was also seen laying down rail at Bells alongside Jacob Willcox when a recent swell hit Victoria.

“It was so cool to experience Skeleton Bay, it’s such a mental set up and it was so sick to get a few waves. It was pretty last minute though and I feel like you need to be a bit more prepared for that place, we were struggling to figure it out at first.

“I love doing these trips with the boys. It’s so easy to get caught up in comp mode sometimes but we need to remember that we’re travelling the world and getting the opportunity to see these amazing places with so much culture. It’s important to let your hair down and I think it helps make sure that you don’t burn out during comps by taking that time to reset.”

When asked what events he’d like to surf if he made the tour, George replied: “Before the cut, it would be an amazing experience to surf Pipe, that’s always been an event for me where I’m like ‘wow that would be unbelievable’ and then after the cut, definitely J-Bay.”

Despite the confidence in my tone when I question him about his CT chances, George is quick to make sure he does not pre-empt fate. It’s clear his feet are rooted firmly on the ground and his full focus is on cementing his CT qualification.

The waiting period for Portugal has begun and runs through until 6 October, before Brazil wraps up the season from 12-20 October. George Pittar will be chasing the podium, but right now it seems likely that the Sydney boy, who spent his teen years solo-surfing on a south-pacific island, will be pulling on a CT jersey in ‘The Islands’ come February next year.