Despite Peniche’s premier beach break being named ‘Supertubos’, it became a battle of the airs between Yago Dora and Italo Ferreira during a scrappy finals day at the Rip Curl Portugal Pro, in which Yago was victorious.
It was also a game of low scores in the women’s final but it was Caroline Marks who came out on top over Gabriela Bryan – who had arguably been the most consistent surfer across the event. Erin Brooks also one upped her previous results, she now boasts a 9th, 5th and a 3rd and you wonder if she’ll go one better in El Salvador and make the final.
The contest could be considered anti-climactic with only a few moments worth re-watching across the past week. You could count on one hand the number of excellent-scoring tubes, which were made throughout the event. The WSL were once again plagued by unfortunate scheduling with the best day of surf, which saw eight foot plus tubes detonate across the Portuguese sandbar, go down the day before the waiting period started. The coastline was then ripped apart by Storm Martinho, forcing the event to go on hold for four days as trees were toppled and homes were flooded.
When the weather finally cleared, competitors were left with chunky, messy, glorified cross-shore closeouts – a bad version of what we know Supertubos is capable of on its day. It raises the question, which has been posed on multiple occasions, as to why the WSL is not more mobile? Due to the shape of Peniche’s coastline, there is often somewhere which is always offshore and one has to wonder if there was a better option than what was served up on finals day.
But, C’est la vie, competitors had to make do with what was on offer. The standout moment on finals day came during Ethan Ewing’s quarter-final against Filipe Toledo. The cross-offshore wind had settled for a moment and the Australian found a throaty backside drainer which he navigated with trademark poise; exiting post-spit and earning himself a 9.17.
You could argue that was the wave of the event, alongside Jack Robinson’s 8.50 forehand cavern against Liam O’Brien in the round of 32 at the start of the week.
The other stand out moment on finals day came courtesy of Italo during his round of 16 heat against CT rookie Joel Vaughan. In usual Italo fashion he paddled around like a fully charged Duracell bunny taking off on anything that looked like it would provide a ramp. Despite his air to make percentage being lower than usual in the tricky conditions, his persistent determination to punt eventually paid off. In this case, he took off and lofted a huge, frontside full rotation into the cross-offshores and rode out of it through the whitewash. The wave earned him a 9.17, but I don’t think many would’ve argued if the judges laid down a 10.
Since the beginning of the season Italo has looked rejuvenated and revamped, bolstered by the Nike swoosh which now adorns on his board. The famous tick might create added expectation for the Brazilian flyer, but it also serves as a reminder that he’s capable of extraordinary things and that one of the biggest sporting companies in the world believes in his talent.
In a repeat match-up of the Abu Dhabi final, Italo came up against Rio Waida in the quarters, with the goofy-footer now making it 3-1 over the Indonesian. Both surfers are in the Rainos Hayes coaching camps. Their appearance in back-to-back finals days puts Rainos in early conversations for coach of the year.
After a second place finish at Pipe and a win in Abu Dhabi, it looked like Italo was going to go all the way in Peniche. However, he was stopped in his tracks at the very last hurdle as Yago went toe-to-toe with him in the air to provide some entertainment for the local fans on the beach.
Italo took the lead early on with another lofty full rotation and Yago replied with similar flair. The standout air came later on in their match up when Yago landed a frontside stalefish reverse. While Italo is known for the obscene height he can get in the air, I think it would be fair to say that Yago has the more technical grabs in his locker, which adds a point of difference when trying to separate the two Brazilian astronauts.
Despite a number of attempts to claw back the lead, Yago remained on top for the remainder of the heat and eventually took the win. He now moves into fourth on the rankings and will no doubt be a threat in El Salvador, which is due to kick off on 2 April.
