Our nearby local surf break in Espinho received last weekend the first stop of the European Pro Junior tour, under the organization of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), the Portuguese Surfing Federation (FPS), the city of Espinho and Espinho Surf Destination. With consistent 2-4 ft waves on the first two days of competition, the best European female and male Junior Surfers battled their way through the first rounds in order to get their place in the quarter finals.
Italian super star Leonardo Fioravanti unfortunately lost in round 3, leaving the way open for his contestants Diego Mignot (France), Arne Bergwinkel (Germany), Natxo Gonzalez (Basque Country), Gaspard Larsonneur (France), João Kopke and Vasco Ribeiro (Portugal). It would come to finals day on Sunday, with clean waves and a huge crowd on the beach supporting the surfers. In the end Vasco Ribeiro from Portugal took the better waves in the finals and won the 1st edition of the European Pro Junior 2014 in Espinho.
Also the girls showed an amazing level of surfing and the final results came down to Tessa Thyssen from France winning the competition, with Teresa Bonvalot (Portugal) in second and Leticia Bilbao (Basque Country) in thrid place.
This contest was the first stop on the European Tour and it was and exciting event for us at Surfivor and our region. It has proven to be the perfect playground for international Surfing Events due to the quality and variety of waves in this region. We hope to continue hosting this great event in the future!