While the Pacific Ocean has seen a decent amount of sizeable, if not stormy, swell over the past few weeks, the Atlantic has been on an absolute bender with no signs of slowing down. And to cap it all off, it looks like there’s a decent chance that the Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge will run either Sunday, December 12 or Monday, December 13. A fresh round of large, WNW swell is currently headed for the famous break, and the potential for favorable winds could produce some impressive surf.
“We are expecting waves in the 40-to-60-foot range on Sunday and Monday, and we are closely watching the forecast over the next few days,” says the World Surf League’s Jessi Miley-Dyer. “We are working with Garrett McNamara on the ground at Nazaré and utilizing all of his expertise and knowledge to help inform when we will run the competition. We will check back in over the weekend with more updates.”
The WSL has put the event on standby, with the final call to be made Saturday, December 11 at 12:00 a.m. GMT. That will give contestants 34 hours to get to Nazare from wherever they are in the world, and get ready to surf.
The Challenge will be a one-day event consisting of nine teams with two surfers per team. The teams will be broken into three groups, and each group will compete in two 60-minute heats, giving each competitor a chance to surf and a chance to tow their teammate. Individual surfers will accumulate scores based on their two best waves, each wave being scored on a 10-point scale. The surfers best wave will count double, producing a maximum individual score of up to 30 points. At the end of competition, surfers will be awarded across multiple categories. Check back for event updates, and be sure to catch all the action at WorldSurfLeague.com and YouTube.
Last year’s Nazare Tow Challenge saw an overwhelmingly dominant performance from Team Young Bulls, Kai Lenny and Lucas Chianca. Photo: YouTube Screenshot/RedBull
Competing Surfers:
Team 1: Kai Lenny (HAW), Lucas Chianca (BRA)
Team 2: Nic Von Rupp (PRT), Pedro Scooby (BRA)
Team 3: Rodrigo Koxa (BRA), Eric Rebiere (FRA)
Team 4: Andrew Cotton (GBR), Will Skudin (USA)
Team 5: Axier Muniain (EUK), Francisco Porcella (ITA)
Team 6: João de Macedo (PRT), Antonio Silva (PRT)
Team 7: Maya Gabeira (BRA), Sebastian Steudtner (DEU)
Team 8: Justine Dupont (FRA), Pierre Rollet (FRA)
Team 9: Michelle des Bouillons (BRA), Ian Cosenza (PRT)
