Skimboard World Cup 2001 - Praia Grande, Portugal
Report by Bill Moore
The highlight of this season's contests, for European
skimmers was the world cup in Portugal. Praia Grande on the west coast
of Portugal was the setting, a mile long stretch of sand backed by the
Sintra national park, a sub tropical microclimate that has few human
inhabitants except skimboarders, surfers, and fishermen. All in all a
top location. There was a lot of sand build up at the high water mark,
which promised to deliver some excellent shorebreak if the swell was
there.
The competition was split into four categories- Juniors and Ladies, and
two men's categories the secondary and the main. The main was where all
the big talent was and with a $10 000 cheque for the 1st place and the
title holder of the world cup it attracted all the top seeded skimmers
from Europe and the US including their No.1 Bill Bryan.
The first day, Friday, saw everybody eager to get on
with the contest and no hint of a hangover from the first night of
partying at the Kon Tiki bar, temptingly close to the judging area! As
the tide came up and the waves started to break cleanly onto the beach
it was clear that everybody was giving it their all with some excellent
rides and tricks being pulled off. Fridays heats in the secondary
division and ladies and juniors were all great to watch with the crowd
really encouraging the riders and the riders responding with some neat
liners and wraps, and the occasional attempted pop shov-it. There
promised to be more of the same on Saturday and a bigger swell.
Saturday arrived and the swell, as predicted was
larger, up to about 3-4ft but by the time the secondary group had got
through to their quarter finals the sea breeze had picked up to enough
to blow out most of the larger breaks but the likes of Pascal Maire made
the most of small side wash to pull ollies and some great pop shov-its.
Meanwhile future up the beach Bill Bryan was
generating his own crowd as he gave an impromptu exhibition of what the
best in the world is capable of, awesome stuff!
The Main groups' heats and quarter finals were held just has the high
tide was peaking. Conditions were not the best with sloppy blown out
waves not really giving the competitors what they would have hoped for.
This did not stop them performing for the judges and with $10 000 at
stake and the world skimming title to your name there was more than
enough incentive. Another thing that impressed me was the number of
spectators not just locals but from all over Europe as well as the
American posse that had come over bringing their unique enthusiasm!
So Sunday finals day, after watching Bill Bryan and a couple of the
Portuguese riders on Saturday there promised to be some excellent
quality skimming. Firstly though the two Semi Finals for the secondary
group were held. Mostly dominated by the French with some very tight
scoring between them, a lot of the French riders were more skate
orientated in their tricks pulling ollies and shovits at will in the
sloppy conditions, whilst the Portuguese preferred some text book wraps
and well controlled floaters.
The secondary final was 20 minutes long and it was an all French affair.
The four of them were all good friends so there was lots of good natured
banter. Scores were close right to the final 5 minutes and then one of
the 'crazy french' sneaked off to the edge of the judging area waited
for his final wave, spotted it, ran for it, but wait! 'That bloke's got
no strides on!' His lack of shorts however didn't inhibit his style, and
the crowd certainly loved it, just a shame the judges didn't!
Pascal Maire took 1st place in secondary division and deservedly so with
some the best Ollies I'd seen throughout the whole competition.
By high tide however the waves were starting to get
blown out and becoming difficult to perform on. The four Main group
finalists were pumped and raring to go. Reaching the waves well and
hitting the critical part of the wave consistently, these guys really
meant business.
It was a straight battle between the U.S. and the host
country, Portugal. It was the two Portuguese that held the upper hand in
the first five minutes. Feeling at home in front of a local crowd and on
a familiar break with some excellent wraps and liners on some of the
largest waves that had hit the beach over the whole weekend.
During the last 10 minutes of the final, Bill Bryan really started to
show his class. Bill's ability to reach waves further out than anyone
else simply gave him more choice of waves, longer rides and extra time
to perform more tricks than anyone else.
One of the extraordinary waves that helped clinch the title for him was
an excellent wrap right on the peak, lining down the wave, a floater,
then a 360 pop shov-it, all perfectly executed. Pretty special at the
best of times, but in the sloppy conditions it was the stroke of a
master. Lino Curado who took second place was excellent in his style and
wave selection but was just out tricked by the world number one.
'I was really impressed with the quality of riding from the Europeans'
said Bryan after he had been presented with the
$US 10000 cheque and trophy. 'It has been my first European competition
and I've been really impressed with the support and organization of the
whole event'
Words and pictures: ©Copyright Bill Moore 2001.
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