can you score a hat trick in surfing ? Keshia did :)

What seemed to be an impossible task and a crazy 5 days, turned into the most amazing achievement.

There were 3 events taking place in 5 days and all over Portugal.

The first one was the second leg of the Rip Curl Grom Search which took place in Costa da Caparica.
It was an important one for Kesh as a final would mean she would qualify for the European Final which will take place in Peniche, the day before the CT.

Keshia won her heats consistently and with greta high scores giving the other competitors no change to catch up with her.

The final was great, with excellent waves and good strategies from keshia, and she made sure she took home first place.

Keshia will be in the European Final and a win there, means she will go to Australia for the World Final. Fingers crossed for that one.

So after a long day, it was time to pack the car and boards and drive to Aveiro, in the North of Portugal. This time for the Miss Sumol Cup. A special edition ALL GIRLS comp, in the Open category.

It was a long drive, not much sleep and up early for an 8am check-in.

The contest was meant to be over a 2 day period but, the waves were so good that, all the girls that were in the final agreed that it should be run.

Keshia was one of the finalists and she was ready for another good heat. 30 minutes heat seems to go on forever and sometimes you just want it to end of 20 mins but this time, it played totally in Keshia's hands as with 1 minute to go and Keshia in 3rd place needing a 6.5 for first, a perfect wave came, Keshia was in the right place at the right time, very cool and calmly rode all the wave to the inside, giving no doubt that she got the score. We had to wait after the buzzer for the score, and the judges loved it, giving her a 7.00. Once again, Keshia was the winner and took home Miss Sumol Cup crown :)

The organization was excellent and they had a boat just for the competitors so, it was a good night rest on the boat with some nice food and a well deserved rest in the centre of Aveiro.

Nazare was the next stop for the Under 18's nationals. It was a beach that we have never been to before  so, it was nice to get there the day before the event started to practice, the only problem was that, there were no waves...... Back to the house and time to unwind and rest in the swimming pool :)

Contest head back on for the morning. The waves were pretty small but still good enough for Keshia to show her power surf.

In the semi final, the girl that was 2nd in the ranking and the only one that could be a threat to her title, was knocked out. That released a lot of pressure from Keshia and it showed in her final.

She sailed through it, leaving the girls all in comp.

A hat trick for Kesh in all different categories. A win in the Under 16's, Under 18's and Open :)

We only have a video for the Open at the moment, link below, but will update when the others come. Also there are a couple of interviews coming out etc so, keep checking back for details, photos and videos.

Miss Sumol Cup 2012

SURFTOTAL Interview

Rip Curl Grom Search video

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

Ericeira Surf Club contest

Its always good to finish a week with a podium :)

A crazy weekend for everyone in Ericeira with a Summer Fest running for 3 days with skate demos, music, DJ's etc but of course, some work had to be done and we also had the Ericeira Surf Club Contest. A very well attended event as you get the chance to surf one of the best waves with one 3 other people.

As Keshia won the girls last year, she was allowed to enter another age group so, much to the boys annoyance, she did the boys Under 16's.

Luis only entered OPEN as next categorie is Masters and he is not quite there.........:)

Perfect waves for Saturday put both Luis and Keshia in all 3 finals.
Luis killed it in his heat with scores ranging from 7's to 9's in almost every heat.

Sunday was slightly smaller but still pretty nice conditions and plenty of waves for everyone.

Luis didnt give anyone a chance in the final and won with a significant difference from the rest of the competitios. He also won all the prices as, the other finalists decided not to turn up on the podium so, all glory went to Luis :)

Keshia did well in the boys, getting set waves and bringing them in all the way to the inside and having a very close match with the boys.

Same in the girls between 1st and 2nd place with the heat finishing with only a 0.10 difference in their scores.

A great weekend for everyone, thanks to Ericeira Surf Club and all the sponsors.

Surftotal press release