Photography: Pedro Mestre
Ribeira d’Ilhas beach will host the first stage of the Liga Meo – the National Surfing Circuit – between the 24th and 26th of this month.
Ericeira’s stage is already part of the history of the circuit and remains one of the favourites among athletes, having been consecutively awarded as the best event of the season for the last three years.
The main novelty of this year in the circuit is the introduction of a stage in Figueira da Foz, which returns to the main showcase of Portuguese surf from June 2-4, after a last edition in 2012. This event will have Allianz naming, just as the scheduled ones for Ericeira and Sintra – from July 14 to 16. The calendar gets complete with the stages of Porto / Matosinhos (with Renault naming), between May 12 and 14, and Cascais – the last and decisive stop (between September 14 and 16) patronises the debut of Bom Petisco in the sponsorship of surfing national championships.
Another important news is the ‘Road to Meo Rip Curl Pro’, to determine the wildcard that will be joining Frederico Morais in the Portuguese stage of the World Tour – Meo Rip Curl Pro. And also the bet on the younger ones comes reinforced with ‘Moche Groms Cup’, a challenge at every stage for twelve under-16 surfers, in mixed men’s and women’s.
This will be the season with the highest prize money ever, with a total increase to €90,000 in all five stages in which Pedro Henrique and Carol Henrique will defend the national titles in Open and Women categories, respectively.
When it comes to the parallel trophies, the Allianz Triple Crown (which is already in the 3rd edition, with an annual check of €6,000 shared among the winners in men’s and women’s) and the best maneuver in expression session, with annual €2,500 awarded by Renault, other prizes come along: the best wave per stage has reserved €2,500 per year with Somersby Onda Do Outro Mundo; And with the municipal program of valorization of the local surfers, the municipalities of Mafra, Figueira da Foz, Sintra and Cascais will be offering a global check of €1,500 to the best local surfer in each of its performances.
Gony Zubizarreta, champion of the 2016 Moche League (he could not be considered a National Champion for not having Portuguese nationality), and Carina Duarte (12th in last year’s ranking) are Ericeira’s best-known surfers at the beginning of this season, in which we can also get an eye on other Ericeira Surf Clube’s athletes like Tiago Pires (5th place), Tomás Fernandes (9th) or Henrique ‘Neko’ Pyrrait.
The entire calendar of the Liga Meo Surf 2017 is as follows:
1. Allianz Ericeira Pro (Ribeira d’Ilhas, Ericeira) March 24 to 26
2. Renault Porto Pro (Matosinhos / Porto) May 12 to 14
3. Allianz Figueira Pro (Cabedelo, Figueira da Foz) June 2 to 4
4. Allianz Sintra Pro (Praia Grande, Sintra) July 14 to 16
5. Cascais Pro (Carcavelos / Guincho, Cascais) September 14 to 16
All the stages of the Liga Meo Surf will be broadcasted live on www.ligameosurf.pt and Meo Kanal 202020.
Esta publicação também está disponível em | This article is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)
