Day One of Portugal wrapped with Rounds One of both women and men concluded in surf that started off clean and rippable, transitioned to onshore and rippable, then ended up miserable onshore and caca. The net effect is a whole day of competition conducted on what may end up being one of the better days of the waiting period with not one surfer eliminated.

It's another one of those cursed WSL forecasts where they missed epic surf by a day and are now about to get lashed by series of Atlantic storms. It's possible they may get a window of favourable wind and swell which coincides with the hour or two every day when the tide is right but the odds are a million onshore closeouts will roll through the Supertubos lineup over the waiting period and we'll grind our way to a champion. C'est la vie. Europe has to be represented and Peniche with Lisbon an hour away on the A8 and a bureaucracy crazy about surfing's tourism potential fits the bill.

Jorgann Couzinet (WSL/Geada)

European surfing flummoxes me. Europeans are like the Aussies of the 80's and 90's: they are everywhere and in numbers. Every prime surf spot in the Indo-Pacific will feature European accents and increasingly competently-ridden set waves. Yet looking at the current elite for pro surfers and the cupboard seems bare. France has some representation, though lets be honest, these are colonial overhangs. Wildcard Gatien Delahaye is from Guadeloupe Island in the Caribbean. Fellow wildcard Jorgann Couzinet is from Reunion Island (as are Jeremy Flores and Johann Defay). Marco Mignot is a resident of Mexico. Where are the surfers born and raised in Europe?

Portuguese representation in the flagship CT event is likewise head scratching. We've got the return of journeypersons Fred Morais and Yolanda Hopkins. Fred has been on and off tour for years and Hopkins has received multiple wildcards. Is it unkind to suggest that we see some fresh talent get the opportunities these two have repeatedly been given? If so, where are they? There's no male Portuguese surfer in the Top 50 on the Challenger. The women are better represented with multiple surfers in the Top 40.

Yolanda Hopkins (WSL/Geada)

Something doesn't quite add up about European surfing and I have no theories as to why.

There's not much needed to catch up on from last night. Early heats had clean conditions and solid sets but low tide so majority closeouts. Clean corners were at a premium. Mamiya found the best tube of the early exchanges with a long, left drainer and clean exit which was lowballed for a 7.

Judges recalibrated for a later righthand tube of lesser length and depth for a 7.5.

The favourites all surfed up to their star billings. Two-time winner Griffin Colapinto laid down the full spectrum clinic with backside tubes, fin drift power turns, frontside airs (rotations and alley-oops) and evinced a spiritual connection with Supertubos when he admitted on the glass that while pre-heat meditating he had “connected with the dunes and the daffodils.”

Yago Dora (WSL/Geada)

Jack Robinson went into hunting mode and while he lacked the top end performance of Colapinto or even Ethan Ewing - mostly because the better waves did not present themselves to him - he still exhibited enough variety in attack to convince a judging panel to easily distance him from Liam O'Brien and Gatien Delahaye.

Delahaye's and Ian Gentil's blank boards continued to show a pro surfing ecosystem that, even two Olympic games later, has been cut adrift from the funding sources that used to sustain it. Sponsoring pro surfers seems to make less and less sense. When you can get as much capital and interest out of complete nobodies riding the waves of their life at Kirra (with even Rip Curl trying to get traction off it on their Insta account) why would you throw tens of thousands at surfers with no clear return?

In a real sense, we've lost the mystique of CT surfers being on some exalted plane that is miles above the rest. We can now see that the bloke on the tools who shreds, given some opportunity and with a decent amount of luck, can make the tour. Or the kid who couldn't make the A team at the local boardriders can be a Top 5 surfer. Callum Robson, Morgan Cibilic, Jacko Baker all proved that point. Sure, it's hard as hell to stay there but we know they can do it.

It's a pro surfing universe now where the local plumber who's put the time in at heavy tubes could embarrass a two-time World Champ in waves of consequence. All that carefully constructed mythology of pro surfers as ubermensch has simply collapsed in the last five years.

Italo Ferreira (WSL/Geada)

Of course, we still have a tiny, tiny elite right at the top who are miles above everyone else. In the case of Italo Ferreira, literally above. You might not like Italo's surfing. You might find the boxy style, crabby stance, furious pumping and forehand turns deeply unlovely. But you can't deny the pure radicalism and raw abandonment of his approach. In his heat with Morais and rookie Jackson Bunch, Italo simply took aggressive flight as if the punchy onshore peaks of Supertubos had personally insulted him. Bunch pulled a clean rotation first and Italo saw the finger click claim, which was also provocation to the 2019 Champ and Olympic Gold Medallist. Even with the live broadcast not switching to ads it was hard to keep up with his frenetic wave catching. It was relentless and reckless. He finally found the vertical section he wanted and boosted so high with a perfect rotation and landing, which caused his girlfriend on the beach to punch the sky in response. Lesser airs have been given perfect 10's.

After Italo's heat watching became a chore. The thought of a final held in stormy surf with a south quadrant air wind is only made anticipatory by Italo's air game.

Caitlin Simmers (WSL/Geada)

The women were sent out in degraded conditions and there isn't much to say about it. Not a single excellent score. Sally Fitz looked very comfortable going scrappy. Caity Simmers, Pickles, and Erin Brooks won their heats. Elimination Round ahead with Tatiana Weston-Webb looking in trouble right down the bottom end of the rankings. Too early for cut talk but losing streaks can be contagious.

I guess we return this evening to try and run some heats before the stormy Atlantic intervenes.

//STEVE SHEARER

MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Presented By Corona Cero Women’s Opening Round Results:
HEAT 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 10.73 DEF. Caroline Marks (USA) 8.04, Lakey Peterson (USA) 7.90
HEAT 2: Erin Brooks (CAN) 10.17 DEF. Molly Picklum (AUS) 8.33, Luana Silva (BRA) 6.94
HEAT 3: Caitlin Simmers (USA) 10.24 DEF. Johanne Defay (FRA) 7.97, Yolanda Hopkins (POR) 7.64
HEAT 4: Vahine Fierro (FRA) 9.67 DEF. Isabella Nichols (AUS) 9.50, Brisa Hennessy (CRC) 8.33
HEAT 5: Gabriela Bryan (HAW) 12.33 DEF. Tyler Wright (AUS) 8.80, Bella Kenworthy (USA) 7.83
HEAT 6: Sawyer Lindblad (USA) 7.50 DEF. Bettylou Sakura Johnson (HAW) 5.27, Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) 4.30

MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Presented By Corona Cero Men’s Opening Round Results:
HEAT 1: Barron Mamiya (HAW) 14.50 DEF. Cole Houshmand (USA) 7.57, Edgard Groggia (BRA) 6.47
HEAT 2: Crosby Colapinto (USA) 10.53 DEF. Rio Waida (INA) 8.60, Marco Mignot (FRA) 6.70
HEAT 3: Griffin Colapinto (USA) 14.00 DEF. Ian Gentil (HAW) 11.40, George Pittar (AUS) 9.27
HEAT 4: Jack Robinson (AUS) 10.83 DEF. Gatien Delahaye (FRA) 8.64, Liam O'Brien (AUS) 8.33
HEAT 5: Ethan Ewing (AUS) 13.83 DEF. Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 7.74, Seth Moniz (HAW) 4.23
HEAT 6: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 16.43 DEF. Jackson Bunch (HAW) 11.30, Frederico Morais (POR) 8.94
HEAT 7: Yago Dora (BRA) 11.50 DEF. Joel Vaughan (AUS) 9.90, Samuel Pupo (BRA) 7.57
HEAT 8: Alan Cleland (MEX) 8.40 DEF. Jordy Smith (RSA) 7.37, Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 4.30
HEAT 9: Imaikalani deVault (HAW) 10.00 DEF. Connor O'Leary (JPN) 7.87, Jake Marshall (USA) 7.63
HEAT 10: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 9.10 DEF. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 7.87, Ian Gouveia (BRA) 6.44
HEAT 11: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) 13.34 DEF. Matthew McGillivray (RSA) 10.20, Joao Chianca (BRA) 8.34
HEAT 12: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 10.17 DEF. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 9.60, Deivid Silva (BRA) 1.17

MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Presented By Corona Cero Women’s Elimination Round Matchups:
HEAT 1: Brisa Hennessy (CRC) vs. Bella Kenworthy (USA) vs. Yolanda Hopkins (POR)
HEAT 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (BRA) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA) vs. Luana Silva (BRA)

MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal Presented By Corona Cero Men’s Elimination Round Matchups:
HEAT 1: Jake Marshall (USA) vs. Deivid Silva (BRA) vs. Frederico Morais (POR)
HEAT 2: Joao Chianca (BRA) vs. Seth Moniz (HAW) vs. Marco Mignot (FRA)
HEAT 3: Ian Gouveia (BRA) vs. Liam O'Brien (AUS) vs. Edgard Groggia (BRA)
HEAT 4: Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) vs. George Pittar (AUS) vs. Samuel Pupo (BRA)