Insólitos!
Capitulo Perfeito has built a reputation in a little more than a decade as a premiere event for tubehounds. You don’t accomplish that without having waves that can fit the bill: some of the best barrels on the planet. But you also can’t overlook the level of froth its competitors bring to the table when it comes to being on call for the one-day event.
Many of Capitulo Perfeito’s competitors are international surfers who book last-second flights to Europe and make the early-morning trek to the contest site (currently at Carcavelos, a vibrant little beach town with an insane a-frame). I can vouch the red eye flights overseas followed by a pre-dawn alarm clock to get down to the beach is an exhausting mission. But the contest is also meant to celebrate Portuguese surf culture and elevate some of the country’s best barrel riders. There’s definitely a hometown advantage when you didn’t spend 13 hours on a flight the day leading up to the contest.
Ivo Cação is a former QS surfer you likely haven’t heard of before but his win in the first ever Capitulo Perfeito sums up much of what the competition stands for, especially the whole endless levels of froth part. He’s a tubehound through and through. And when that first contest got the call, Cação was far from in tip top shape. He’d broken his arm skateboarding during a flat spell just before the event. Naturally, he asked his doctor what any athlete asks their doctor after an injury: “Can I still surf?” The doctor told Ivo he could surf as long as he could keep the cast dry. His first attempt at surfing and trying to keep the plaster dry didn’t go well. The cast was ruined and he was forced to go back to the ER one more time where the doctor put on an even bigger, heavier cast, hoping that would keep him out of the water.
You can see where this is going. Ivo figured out a way to secure his cast and keep it dry the day of the first Capitulo Perfeito. He had a contingient of hometown fans who made the 90-minute drive down to Peniche to root for him. All the trouble paid off with a win at Supertubos for the Portuguese surfer.
