Photography: Afonso Tornelli
While the world was watching the last stages of the Moche Rip Curl Pro in Peniche, history was being made simultaneously in Ericeira. The north-american and multiple-times world champion Kelly Slater, taking advantage of his early elimination from the WCT competition in Portugal, briefly visited our village and ended up on an epic surfing session on the most extreme waves of this region’s coast: Cave.
Accompanied by the spanish Aritz Aranburu and the portuguese João Macedo, Slater descended the Cavalinho cliff and jumped into the water at around 3 p.m.. The swell was strong, the tide was falling and the Cave was displaying solid sets above the rocky formation that sucks the water in and generates a wave that breaks below the sea level. Arriving to the peak, where two brave australian bodyboarders could also be found, Slater and Aranburu provided a spectacle never seen before on that slab. An hour later the hawaiian surfer Sebastian Zietz showed up, joining the large and venomous barrel-fest.
This session was watched by less than twenty people who, through quick word of mouth, got to acknowledge the presence of the 11-times world champion on Ericeira’s most feared wave.
These two moments captured and provided to AZUL – Ericeira Mag by Afonso Tornelli illustrate perfectly the power of all the scenario that took place on Cave, and open the appetite for the exclusive photo gallery that we are preparing for the weekend.
What happened there was truly unique and will remain on the memory of those who had the privelege of watching these two forces of nature together: the always impressive Kelly Slater and the astonishing beauty of this unmatched wave.
Esta publicação também está disponível em | This article is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)
