Julian Wilson Wins Rip Curl Pro Portugal 2012
JULIAN WILSON WINS RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL
Portugal’s tourism board is so confident you will score if you decide to take a surf trip here, they’re offering one hell of a bargain: “Our deal: no waves, come back for free.”
I haven’t read the fine print, but I’m wondering how long you must wait for a surf window to validate this offer. Because when you consider the country’s hyper-celebrated ASP World Tour event, the Rip Curl Pro Portugal, there could be a lot of hurry-up-and-wait.
Last year, it took three days to run this show - a record. This year,
one day shy of the waiting period’s end. Wrapping up the last R5 heat and the quarters this morning — and knowing the N wind would likely stick around all day — comp director Damien Hardman opted to stall semifinal heats until 2:00pm local time.
The first event won by someone who is not one of the top five surfers in quite some time. Next stop for the ASP World Tour is Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, CA beginning on Nov. 1. There are still 4 legitimate title contenders with only 2 events left on the 2012 schedule. Kelly Slater bowed out of this event in the third round, earning an equal 13th finish, but still retains his #2 overall ranking. If Joel Parkinson does well at the next event, he will be very hard to beat this year.