The Portuguese surfing team got its chance to shine at the European Surfing Championships this past weekend in the town of Bundoran, Republic of Ireland.
Securing 1st place in 3 out of 7 categories, with two 2nd places, a 3rd and a 4th, Team Portugal edged out Spain and France (2nd and 3rd place respectively) to become Eurosurf 2011 champions.
Those who aren’t fans of surfing might not associate Ireland with the sport, but the Emerald Isle supplied great waves and crowds at this year’s Eurosurf Championships.
From surfertoday.com:
Portuguese Paulo Rodrigues was a worthy winner of the Surf Masters, beating neighbour Dani Garcia (Spn) by almost 3 points, followed by Salvaire Olivier (Fra) and Greg Owen (Wal). In the bodyboard open fellow Portuguese country men Manuel Centeno and Hugo Pinheiro fought for pole position with Manuel taking 1st place and Hugo having to settle for third place, with Guillermo Cobo (Spn) placing second.
For more on the European Surfing Championships in Ireland check out the Eurosurf Bundoran 2011 website.
Photo by John Menard (jmenard48 on Flickr CC)
In other Portuguese surfing news, American Clifton James Hobgood took first place at the ASP Prime Billabong Azores Islands Pro 2011 surfing competition, which also culminated this weekend. Hobgood pocketed a cool $40,000 USD (over €30,000).
You can read more on last week’s Billabong surfing competition, which took place at Praia de Santa Barbara, Ribeira Grande on São Miguel Island in the Azores, Portugual, in the Portuguese American Journal. The article also includes an official video of the competition final between Floridian Hobgood and fellow American surfer Nate Yeaomans of California.
