Jules Wilson, Supertubos, Portugal

“That was an amazing heat,” said Jules Wilson of his round three battle against Kai Otton at the Rip Curl, Portugal this morning. “My hat goes off to Otto, he was getting some ridiculous barrels and really put the pressure on me early. I’ve been watching the conditions all day and’ve been trying not to froth out too hard, but they’re just so perfect. It’s truly Dream Tour stuff out there today.” Dream Tour stuff. What a concept. This morning at Supertubos, Jules, 22, and Kai, 31, both Australian, exchanged churning tunnels for the highest-scoring heat of the event so far. Kai opened with a 9.97, first wave, then re-affirmed with an 8.43 early on. Jules wasn’t rattled though, posting a 9.43 and a 9.70 to advance. That’s a combined heat-total of 19.13 out of a possible 20. “The Julian and Kai heat had everyone running inside to watch the replays and see the scores,” says photog Ryan Miller. “Everyone thought Kai’s wave was easily a 10, but somehow Julian managed to beat him. That was a wild exchange.” Jules and Kai’s heat wasn’t the only one like that, either. The conditions held up all day and, according to Ryan, “People in the competitors area were losing their minds. Everyone (all the competitors) hung out all day just to watch the heats. I heard so many shitty quotes, like “If I were out there with just a few friends, this wound be the session of my life” kinda shit. Though it’s a cliche we’d generally wanna avoid, after finishing Equal third at Lowers and runner-up at La Grav, Jules really is gaining momentum through the back end of the year. “I’ve been very confident in my surfing at the past few events and I really feel like I belong at this level of competition,” he said. “I felt like I was right there at the last event in France and I’m really keen to put up another result. The win is always the goal.”