Lacanau Pro Junior

Lacanau was the last leg of the Euro Pro Juniors.

With consistent waves throughout the event, both Luis and Keshia had a good run, making it all the way to the semi finals.

Its sad to say its the last Junior event but there are still many more QS's, nationals, regionals etc and many titles still to take :)

Keshia finished top 20 in the girls and Luis claimed top 9 place in the boys.

A great summer for both with some excellent results.

Photo credit : Asp Europe

Wahrld Pro Junior in Galicia

Last weekend saw a new event and site for the tour i the beautiful area of Galicia.

Most of us had been around the area of Ferrol and Pantin for various comps but never at Playa del Razo where the event was help.

Starting on Thursday with the first round, it was a great surprise to everyone that turned up to watch. Good solid waves and beautiful blue skies )

Round 1 of boys went in and Girls.

Keshia was in on the first day, doing great in her heat and setting some good scores, which meant she advanced through to the next rounds.

Luis was only in on Friday with his Rd of 64 heat.  A great start of the event with a comfortable win and moving on to the rd of 32 which was held at the end of the day.

By that time, the beach showed us another side to it, which was the one that everyone expected to see, windy, cold and grey skies with big sets that closed out the whole bay.

Despite the difficult conditions, Luis made it through and guaranteed his return on Saturday for 1/4 finals.

Keshia although advanced to the quarters, she did not manage to make it to the much desired semi final.

Saturday was still with some size but less consistent. Luis did not manage to get the best waves and just fell short of a place in the semi finals, finishing 9th overall.

After some good spanish food, great location and amazing waves, its time to head up to Lacanau in France for the final and deciding event of the year.

Luis will also be doing the QS event so, will update you with details :)

Thanks you Galicia for another fantastic weekend. Thank you ASP for all the shots :)

Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior

What a fantastic start for Keshia and Luis on the Pro Junior Tour :)

It all started with a very early morning wake up call ( 4am ) to go to the airport and fly to Bordeaux. Royan is a new event on this years ASP Pro Junior calendar and everyone was excited to see what this spot had to offer.

A direct flight always helps and makes the trip hassle free, oh so we think.  Arriving in Bordeaux and going to Lacanau was plain sailing, leaving Lacanau 2 days later to go to the event, was not so easy. Keshia left with Team Oakley without any problems but Luis was almost considering walking as, the car that was meant to take him to Royan, broke down just before picking him up, there were no taxis and everyone he knew had already left that morning. Anyway, like anything, things work out for the best and eventually he was safe and sound at the O'Neill base :)

Thursday was the first day with smallish waves but pretty good conditions, sunny and little wind. They put the girls in all the way to the 1/4 finals and Keshia was a true champion fighting through every heat. In the 1/4 final unfortunately, she did not find the back up wave she needed to move up to the semis but overall an excellent 9th place qualifying.

So it was time for Keshia to relax and give her support to Luis.

Luis was in heat 10 of round 3 and as they stopped the contest, on Friday by heat 8, it meant it was another day for Luis to free surf, get used to the new location and be ready for a marathon run on Saturday and Sunday.

Condition were not the same ones as the ones we were greeted on the first day ( I think the locals just planned a nice welcome weather and waves for us on Thursday )

Windy, big and messy was what stayed with us for the final two days which made surfing harder for everyone and set everyone a nice challenge.

Luis scored high and sailed through his heats on Saturday all the way to semi finals, 3 heats , amazing high scores and lots of fun.

His semi final was, in his words, one of the best heats in his life. With 25 minutes gone in the heat and no scores, no one knew what they needed to advance, then they announced that Luis needed an 8 for 2nd......! Panic on the beach by Keshia, Luis seemed to have it under control and saving the best till last scoring in the last 5 minutes, a 7.5 and a 6.80 guaranteeing him a place in the semi final.

A good rest on Saturday night, warm bath and a some healthy food seemed to do the trip for Sunday morning, which again awoke with grey skies, rain and howling winds.

Semi final was another exciting heat with very close scores between 1st and 3rd but Luis made sure he was the one advancing to the big final :)

An amazing result for Luis getting 3 of the top 10 heat wave scores and 4 out of 10 best wave scores.

With that, Luis has moved up to be ranked nr 9 in the Pro Junior season.

Next event brings us down to a well known site to everyone, Sopelana, which will take place during the last weekend in July.

A good 10 days break for both of them but, no time to rest ( although I think Luis will need some sleep tonight after the celebrations that went down last night )

Tomorrow is another day, the event is over and its back to work !

Thanks everyone so much for all the support and its great to see that hard work pays off !

Until next one, here are some amazing shots from the event. Thanks ASP Europe, Royan Glisse and Xavier Renaudin for the shots and coverage.

Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior

1st Euro PJ of the year with a good start :)

The first PJ of the year has finally started, and Las Palmas was the host.

It has been a long time coming due to the economic restrictions etc as some events got cancelled.

Gran Canarie has always been a great spot with good waves, weather and friends.

As it was a men only event, Luis traveled alone to Porto and from there to Las Palmas. Its the best way to go, although there is lots of traveling involved as, the other option is to go from Lisbon via Madrid but, that means that your boards will not arrive so...... not a good option when you go for a contest.

As this PJ is the only 3* event of the season, it means massive points and cash :) so lots of Juniors were prepared to make the trip.

The first round saw very little waves and almost not contestable but the organizers managed to get the contest on the way.

Luis was not in for a couple of days due to seeing and rankings from last year so he managed to get plenty of water time around the many spots available on the island. As well as sampling the great cuisine that the Canaries has to offer :) There was time as well for some sightseeing, going to the top of the mountains and enjoying breath taking views.

If you have instagram, you can follow Luis and Keshia around their daily activities :)

Swell picked up for the final two days, but due to the tricky conditions, we saw some top seeds being knocked out in the earlier rounds.

Luis battled all the way to 1/4 finals, earning him some nice Euros and points.

A great way to start the season . With the next European PJ not being until middle of July, in Royan, there are many training and traveling days with some other contests in between.

Will keep you posted as usual

Thanks everyone

Luis WQS opening campaign

Luis opening event in the WQS season started today at La vendee, France.

After many hours driving ( 16 hours from Portugal ) a quick stop in Zarautz and many degrees below the temperature he is used to, it did not seem to affect him much.

After just missing top seeding spot by one place, Luis went all out in the 2nd round of the event.

The main site was not working in the morning so the call was made at Les Dunes.

With waves around 5 foot, Luis was not prepared to stand still and scores the second highest score of the day with two 7.5 waves.

Also the photographers, videographers and ASP staff seemed to have liked his performance too as he is all over the site. Opening page shot, opening page interview, photos on the daily report, instagram, twiter.... you name it :)

Lets hope tomorrow the conditions stay similar and Luis gets to show what he has been training for during the winter.

Call is again at Les Dunes at 09:00 so, fingers crossed for Luis.

You can follow the event, see photos, interviews and videos, on the link below :

Vendee Pro 2012

Luis " talk time " on ASP EUROPE

Check out Luis' interview and video on the ASP Europe site

www.aspeurope.com

Or you can just watch his video on the following link

Luis Talk Time

Keshia at the Swatch Girls Pro / Hossegor

So, after a couple of hours at home, Keshia headed to Hossegor ready to compete in the Swatch Girls WQS 6 star as well as the Pro Junior event.

Today was an early call at 07:00 French time, with Keshia in the second heat. The conditions were tough and some of the heats had super low scores.

Keshia, one of the youngest in this prestigious event that has some of the World Champions competing for the title, came out fighting, and ready to show what she is capable of.

Check out below her quotes, results etc on the ASP site :)

Tomorrow, check-in is at 06:30 with round 2 of the QS. More updates and photos as we get them.

Swatch Girls Pro / Hossegor

Pro Juniors update

The second and third Pro Junior took place in Somo / Cantabria and Las Palmas.

Somo was a 1 star so not great for points but perfect for competition practice and heat training.
The waves were small and did not allow for great scores.

Las Palmas was slightly different, overcast and windy for the first couple of days and improving as the event went on.

Luis made it to round 4 which, in a 3 start event, was pretty important to accumulate points and improve on the ranking for the year.

Next events will be also in Spain. San Sebastian , a 2 star event and then Sopelana with 1 star rating.

Check out the video of Day 2 in Las Palmas. It was the Luis Eyre show at the end of the clip :) Nice interview and nice waves :)

Will keep you updated.

Check out Day 2 video

Pro Junior Season

The Pro Junior Season has started.

Luis was the first to compete in Reunion Island, the first leg of the Tour.
The location, although beautiful, was not the easiest to adapt to, specially with the small swell that was seen for the first few days.
Luis in his heat, caught one wave at the start and then, there were no waves for 20 minutes ( 25 minute heats ) so, tempers started flying between all surfers, pushing and fighting for position and to get that so important wave.
Luis, got involved in all the paddle battles, etc and did not get a good wave to increase his score.
Not the best way to start the season but hopefully a good lesson learnt for the next ones to come.

The next event was the Breti Girls Pro Junior in La Vendee for Keshia.
It was her first European contest and the waves were amazing. A place totally unknown for all of us, that proved to be much better than everyone said, great waves and weather made it an excellent week.
Keshia had just arrived in La Vendee after winning the Girls Nationals in Portugal.
It was a long trip as, we left Sesimbra at noon, drove to Biarritz, picked Luis up at the airport ( he was arriving from the Pro Junior in Reunion ) drove to Hossegor, picked up another friend and 6 hours later, we were in La Vendee.

Keshia had to good surfs before her contest started and that proved to be worth it as she made it through her heats until reaching the 1/4 finals. There she surfed great but did not manage to get the last score she needed. A 3rd place finish and 9th overall is a perfect way to start her European Pro Junior Tour.

Next stop will be the Boys Pro Junior in Somo ( Cantabria ) and Canaries for Luis and then San Sebastian and Sopelana for both Luis and Keshia.

Luis also entered the WQS 4* event in La Vendee, that took place just after the girls Pro Junior. As the contest site has dramatic tides and they can only run the contest during the mid tides, it was a couple of days before Luis managed to go in. He finished the event in Round of 64 in 3rd place. Tim Boal was the overall winner.
There was an expression session on the last day and Luis made it in 2nd place to the final :) Great performance and week in La Vendee. We will be back next year for sure :)

Will keep you all updated.