BIG, UNRULY SURF CHALLENGES EUROPE’S BEST LONGBOARDERS

- COMPETITORS SNAP BOARDS AT HEAVY BEACHBREAK
- EDOUARD DELPERO TAKES HIGHEST SCORE OF THE DAY
- MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM

Caption: Edouard Delpero (FRA) on the wave that earned him the highest heat total.
Credit: © WSL / Masurel

PRAIA DE BAIA, Espinho - Portugal (Saturday, March 17, 2018) — The Longboard Pro Espinho launched today in stormy windswell at the urban beach setting of Espinho, just a stone’s throw from Porto.

With surf ranging in the overhead to double overhead range, longboarders were faced with extremely challenging conditions. All the surfers rose to the challenge today with France’s Edouard Delpero and Justine Dupont putting on amazing displays of commitment. 

Edouard wowed the crowd with the day’s highest wave score, a 9.70 (out of 10). The Frenchman took off on a bomb out the back that was easily double overhead and proceeded to swoop and carve all the way to the shore break where he ended the ride with a dump floater.

“I started the heat slow and didn’t know where to sit, got the 7.7 and then had trouble getting back out,” said Edouard. “I almost got a barrel on my first wave but I didn’t want to break my board. It had an open shoulder and I managed to get a few turns and some nose rides and it was definitely a fun wave.”

Another stand out in the men’s was Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA) who scored the day’s second highest heat total with a 17.17 combined wave score (out of 20).

“It’s pretty hard to pick the right one and you have to be sure it’s the right one because there’s a lot at stake,” said Sphaier. “I’ve been working hard all year to be in shape and be in the right place when the right wave comes. And that’s it - wait for the right one and be patient. That’s my strategy.”

Ben Skinner (GBR) claimed his Round 2 heat win over compatriot Ben Howey and Thierry Andre (FRA) with a couple of mid-range scores that reflected the difficulty of the conditions. 

“Well it was tricky out there for sure,” said Skinner. “It’s really quite solid. It’s not big in size it’s just thick and powerful. And I was pretty much the only one sitting out the back and it was pretty scary but I got a couple of really good waves. In between the mayhem there’s some gold.”

The women’s side of the event went all the way through the quarterfinals with Justine Dupont, Emily Currie (GBR), Chloe Calmon (BRA) and Lindsay Steinriede (USA) advancing in the frustrating conditions.

With big sets bombing out the back early round surfers found an inside left during low tide that offered scoring opportunities away from the chaos.

In Women’s Heat 1 of Round 1 Dupont was tempted to charge the outside, but had difficulty.

“I wanted to get to the outside break but I didn’t make it, so I was really mad at myself,” said Dupont. “I saw the other girls get the little waves inside and I tried to get some little waves on the inside to get some points. You have to surf to the conditions. You have to adapt, so I adapted and made the heat.”

Perennial favorite Lindsay Steinriede took advantage of the inside lefts to win her quarterfinal, but she had to play cat and mouse with clean up sets.

“My strategy was to be patient and wait on the side and get over as fast as I could and pick those off and then get back over to the safe zone by the jetty, said Steinriede. “I only have one board, so my goal was definitely to get into the semifinals and just keep my board safe.”

Forecasters are calling for the surf to come down a notch, however the interval will jump up which means solid surf for tomorrow as well. Winds are expected to be relatively calm in the morning with moderate westerly winds clocking in midday.

The Longboard Pro Espinho is scheduled from March 16-18, 2018 and the Junior Pro Espinho from March 21-25, 2018 in Espinho, Portugal. For all results, photos, video highlights and press releases, log on to worldsurfleague.com the WSL app

The Junior and Longboard Pro Espinho are organized by GPDESIGN Brand Communication and Câmara Municipal de Espinho, sponsored by Camara Municipal de Espinho and Suported by Castros Iluminações, Hotels GroupM Espinho, PraiaGolfe Hotel, Padaria Pepim, Comercial Tec, CP-Comboios de Portugal, Greencoast Surfschool,  with media partners: RTP, FuelTV, Porto Canal, MegaHits, Surftotal, BeachCam, and SurfPortugal among others, official forecaster Magicseaweed.

UPCOMING LONGBOARD PRO ESPINHO MEN’S ROUND 3 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Rodrigo Sphaier, (BRA), Ben Howey (GBR)
Heat 2: Antione Delpero (FRA), Ben Skinner (GBR)
Heat 3: Federico Nesti (ITA), Alberto Fernandez (ESP)            
Heat 4: Julian Schweizer (URY), Benoit Carpentier (FRA)
Heat 5: Edouard Delpero (FRA), Evan Rogers (GBR)
Heat 6: Rémi Arauzo (FRA), Emilien Fleury (FRA)
Heat 7: Augusto Olinto (BRA), Moana Domenech (PYF)
Heat 8: Diogo Goncalves (PRT), Jack Unsworth (GBR)

UPCOMING LONGBOARD PRO ESPINHO WOMEN’S SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Justine Dupont (FRA), Lindsay Steinriede (USA)
Heat 2: Emily Currie (GBR), Chloe Calmon (BRA)

LONGBOARD PRO ESPINHO MEN'S ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA) 17.17, Antoine Delpero (FRA) 12.83, Joao Dantas (PRT) 10.33
Heat 2: Ben Skinner (GBR) 9.43, Ben Howey (GBR) 6.33, Thierry Andre (FRA) 3.83
Heat 3: Federico Nesti (ITA) 8.83, Julian Schweizer (URY) 7.83, Fabrizio, Gabrielli (ITA) 4.10
Heat 4: Benoit Carpentier (FRA) 10.97, Alvaro Fernandez (ESP) 6.00, Pier Loustau-Lasplaces (FRA) 
Heat 5: Edouard Delpero (FRA) 17.47, Emilien Fleury (FRA) 4.23, Luis Cruz (PRT) 2.63
Heat 6: Rémi Arauzo (FRA) 11.44, Evan Rogers (GBR) 7.86, Aurelien Meynieux (REU) 6.50
Heat 7: Augusto Olinto (BRA) 9.76, Diogo Goncalves (PRT) 6.37, Juan Villasante (ESP) 3.76
Heat 8: Jack Unsworth (GBR) 8.07, Moana Domenech (PYF) 7.50, Robin Henry (FRA) 5.27

LONGBOARD PRO ESPINHO MEN’S ROUND 1 RESULTS
Heat 1: Joao Dantas (PRT) 7.33, Ben Howey (GBR) 5.56, Wenderson Bludo (BRA) 5.53
Heat 2: Julian Schweizer (URY) 7.57, Pier Loustau-Lasplaces 2.07, Sebastiao Maia (PRT) 2.04
Heat 3: Emilien Fleury (FRA) 7.57, Aurelien Meynieux (REU) 6.84, Eduardo Bage (BRA) 6.00
Heat 4: Augusto Olinto (BRA) 10.00, Robin Henry (FRA) 4.36, Joao Gama (PRT) 2.44

LONGBOARD PRO ESPINHO WOMEN'S ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 13.35 def. Kathleen Barrigao (PRT) 6.94 
Heat 2: Lindsay Steinriede (USA) 7.16 def. Nienke, Dulnemeijer (NLD) 2.03
Heat 3: Emily Currie (GBR) 5.23 def. Jennifer Pendlebury (GBR)2.30
Heat 4: Chloe Calmon (BRA) 9.10 def. Valentini Macroni (ITA) 2.97

LONGBOARD PRO ESPINHO WOMEN'S ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 8.60, Emily Currie (GBR) 6.40, Francesca Rubegni (ITA) 4.20