The Holy Grail of surfing is the barrel. Oh, the rest of it is all very fun, but that vision from inside a tube is somethin’ else, ain’t it? It may well be that it’s the Holy Grail because it’s so damn hard — for the average Joe, tubes are not an everyday occurrence. Not only does it take a certain wave, but it takes a whole lot of practice. Which is hard, of course, if that certain type of wave isn’t an everyday occurrence. But there are a select few surfers on this planet who spend more time under the hood than most, and some of the best of them were at the 2020 Perfect Chapter event at Carcavelos. Cascais is a wonderful place.
Since the event runs on “the best day of the Portuguese winter,” it’s a hard thing to call. Competitors are wrangled with just 72 hours to get to Portugal. The pressure on the organizers must be enormous. But this year, they did their job very, very well. It was a veritable barrel fest. Here are a few images from the day.
