After a night of rest following the final day of Sintra contest we began the ventured north to Costa Nova for the Miss Sumol Cup. The Miss Sumol cup had points towards the European and World Tour on offer. Along the way we tried to find a spot to shoot photos, the first spots we checked were not looking so good but we adventually found some fun waves at the infamous Super Tubes. After the surf we continued to competition site for the evening check in. I was really surprised with the amount of free stuff we got for our 40 euro entry fee, a whole heap of free gear including bags, magazines, sunscreen and a t-shirt. This seemed like a lot since the only thing we got at Sintra for our 150 euro entry fee was an oversized t-shirt, however to be fair the prize money at Sintra is a whole lot better.
We went and found some accom then fit in a quick surf in the contest site, which had some really fun left wedges, which i was pretty excited about because that is probably my strength at the moment. The next day the comp started and I found myself in a hard heat against multiple world champ Karla Costa-Taylor and Chaiki from Japan. By this time the tide had dropped and the wave had turned into a right hand beauty bank which suited Chaiki’s strengths, she blazed her way through the heat with an 8 and another good score. I had one good wave and a good/average one but i really needed a two good waves to get though, I definitely made some mistakes with my heat strategy and preparation for heat.

Both Karla and Chaiki made the final the next day with Karla taking it out meaning she’s won 3 events this year, but unfortunately they have all been regional events meaning not many points. Joanna S also continued her good form making the final. After the comp we made the decision not to stay for the after party but to speed off to make getting to the airport the next day not so stressful. Currently I am settling in for the long haul of transit, a 23 hour flight back to Australia.

Well it’s been a little while since i’ve found the time to blog…  My performace in round one made it’s way into the IBA wrap for the day…

“Joanna Schenker (Germany) Nicole Fleming (Australia) and Alexandra Rinder (Spain) light-up the line-up before organizers decided to call it a day.”

We where schedules to surf the next day but once again fog made the schedule change and delayed womens round 2 a day. When we did get in the water I managed to get a few good rolls in and win the heat. Stoked!  That meant I made it to the man-on-man round against the top 8 seeded riders. I was up against Natasha Sagardia, unfortunately the rising tide made the conditions very hard with not many hit able sections. Natasha found the waves and I didn’t and she won quite convincingly, I would have liked to have made more of a contest out of it but overall I’m happy to finish with the result of equal 9th.

On the final day it was amazing to watch Amaury Lavernhe win the contest and the world title, he’s had such a great year and it amazing to watch someone when their on such a roll. In the women’s Isabella Sousa took it out and looks like a sure thing for the womens world title. My result at Sintra lifts my ranking on the world tour to equal 15th. Traveling up the coast to the Miss Sumol Cup, a regional event with points towards the world tour on offer. Hoping to pick up a few more points there.

After me writing that I prob wouldn’t be surfing my heat until tomorrow, things changed, the fog parted and they threw the girls out for a few heats before dark. Pity that I had just eaten a cheese burger, yes after my body being a temple for trip I was craving a beef burger and got a cheese burger from a local cafe. It was pure joy feeling like I was going to throw it up as I got stuck inside paddling for a lllooonnnggg time. In fact I only got 2 waves in my heat (they count best 2), good form they were both good. JOANA SCHENKER narrowly beat me into second, she rips check her video below….

Transit-wise I decided to take the less expensive (but longer) way of booking flights to London and London to Lisbon separately. The whole transit took a bit over a day including busing between different London airports. On a side note London buses have free wifi… a little unexpected when a lot of airports don’t. I didn’t get as much sleep on the plane as I should of, a combination of the sleeping pills being herbal (read not strong enough) and the amazing movie collection that British Airways offers saw me maybe get only about 4 hours. BA has to be one of favourite airlines not only do you have on demand movies and tv embedded in the seat in front of you but they feed you ALOT. I actually couldn’t eat all the food they gave me, so hoarded it away for other stages of journey. It was my first time in Luton airport and they have the best healthy food shop, on the other side of the gate they also have the best muffin store… I marvel at it’s beauty but stayed strong.

Once in Lisbon I picked up my rental car and pointed it in the direction of Sintra. Seeing two car crashes on my way out of Lisbon had me a little on edge as I readjusted to driving on the wrong side of the road. I got lost on the way and decided to give up for the night and sleep off some of my jet lag in the car. When morning came I found myself positioned under a historic castle.

I found my way to the beach of the competition and washed off the jet lag with a surf. So far my days have mainly consisted of waking up before dawn and surfing the competition area before the comp starts, hanging out and watching some of the comp, going exploring and getting food (the tuna roll has become the main meal), then surfing late and hanging out/bed. It has been a couple of days waiting for the girls division to get underway, today it did after a fog delay. They ran the women’s trials heats, which I didn’t have to do as I have been placed in the main event off results in past events. The first round of the women’s division (and my first heat) was scheduled to take place late today… but that pesky fog came back at about 2pm, making it impossible for the judges to see. This caused the competition to be placed on hold to see if it clears half way through a round of the mens. This is a pain in the buttocks for the event organisers that were planing on a long day as today has the biggest swell forecast for the event. So I currently expect to be competing sometime tomorrow, they will probably have to run long days to catch up for todays fog interruption. Watch the event online at: http://www.sintrabodyboard.com

The Shark Island Challenge was just run and won by WA legend Ryan Hardy, we were up in the area so went and watched it from the headland. Here are some photos Karleah took of the action http://karleahlang.blogspot.com/

Photo Bill Morris

Loved the creativity. The photo shot for their new issue cover check out http://stabmag.com/jed/sometimes-you-gotta-settle-for-awesome/ for the goss on the shot.

From Express Advocate Gosford
http://express-advocate-gosford.whereilive.com.au/your-news/story/local-bodyboarder-set-for-a-comeback/
Local bodyboarder set for a comeback
Local female bodyboarder Lauren Fletcher came out of a ten year retirement to win the Rebel Sport Port Macquarie Pro on the weekend.

Lauren, a former Australian Professional Women’s Champion pulled out of competing a decade ago after peaking in the Australian bodyboarding scene. Now at 31, she entered the Soldier’s Point Pro Bodyboarding event and came equal 5th after only surfing once in that year.  She then entered the Professional Women’s division of the Rebel Sport Pro held on the 17th and 18th of July at Port Macquarie. Blitzing her semi final, holding first position throughout the 20 minute heat, Lauren knocked out former Australian Pro Champ Lilly Pollard on her way to the final.

The final day of the event was held at Town Beach in contestable 2 foot waves. The pro womens final was a close tustle between current Australian Tour champ Nicole Fleming, and Fletcher, with Lauren taking victory in the last minute of the final. Newcastle bodyboarder Lauren Knowles and Jane Keel from South Coast NSW also fought hard in the deteriorating conditions.

The next Womens Australian Tour event will be held at Duranbah beach on the Gold Coast on 13th and 14th of November.

So I went there… well not to much to write about comp wise cause I got knocked first heat round one, waves were tiny and didn’t get set waves, thanks for coming.

So was it a shit trip?

Well there were some testing moments in the first few days from my lack of Portuguese, food poisoning on the plane going there, and getting lost and stumbling around the streets for several hours in the dark, actually my trip was sucking right up until I got knocked and got over it. Then it was fun hanging at a comp in another country and just being mellow.

Party?

One night epic, a lot is made of the girls over there being hot and easy but the same defiantly applies to the guys too, they just seem to be more culturally sexual aggressive. The little news-stands had their side walls covered in Playboys, from current to ones from the 80’s, it seems that magazine has a real iconic presence there, I imagine it would be fairly iconic in the USA too but due to their censorship not as mainstream-ly obvious. Any way I had a good night, the bus ride back to Rio the next day I set a new record for motion-sick spews, well over 10, I lost count, maybe 20?     

Some video highlights from the first couple of rounds