Generational Talent Qualifies For CT

Ballito, Huntington, Brazil, Portugal, Newcastle. 

That is your 2026-2027 Challenger Series journey, and it’s now 80% complete. 

The EDP Ericeira Pro wrapped today, won by two people who narrowly missed the CT post-season cut a few weeks ago at Lowers: Crosby Colapinto and Brisa Hennessy.

Both of today’s finals consisted of a 50/50 split — two surfers who’d started 2026 on the CT, and two CS thoroughbreds. Crosby and Brisa were joined by fellow Tour alumni Joel Vaughan and Vahine Fierro, while Sierra Kerr, Lucy Darragh, Justin Becret, and Alonso Correa all scrapped for their chance at the big dance.

The seasoned CS fans among us are likely wondering: Why the fuck were there four-person finals? 

Answer: The waves. The ocean didn’t make things easy this year, and it felt like there was an endless stream of those ‘Next call in 30 minutes’ holds. One day early in the waiting period, they called it on and could only muster up two heats. By the end of the waiting period, the WSL was running out of time. And, rather than force heats in awful waves over the weekend, they waited for the swell to arrive, ditched the normal format and sped things up by running four-person heats all the way through. 

But it ended on a high-ish note, as Ribeira reminded the world that it would be a reasonably fun wave to surf if it wasn’t constantly speckled with 50 or so people who possess the surfing ability of a farm animal acquired on the black market. Eight-point rides weren’t entirely uncommon, and there’s zero doubt that it was the right play to prioritize conditions over format. So, well done, League. And well done, Brisa and Crosby.

So, what does it mean for the qualification race? 

Two surfers have officially earned their place on the 2027 CT: Sierra Kerr and Ryan Kainalo. One is the generational talent mentioned in the title who comes from a lineage of elite surfing ability. The other is a well-rounded though largely unknown surfer. We’ll let you guess who’s who.

At this point, they are the only two guarantees. This year’s CS is different, thanks to a new thing called CS International events. Winning one can earn you 6000 CS points, which is roughly equivalent to 3rd at a normal CS (a great result). We’ve already seen two of these completed in Europe, and this November there’s another in Taiwan. We’ll save the who-needs-what spreadsheet until the Newcastle lead-up.

For now, let’s take a look at the current CS standings. 

Right now, we’ve got Sierra, a few young former CTers, and a 17-year-old who cracked the Lowers CT quarters as a wildcard. Eden’s currently in a precarious spot in the rankings, but another result should lock her spot on tour. That’d be a win for surfing. 

But this screenshot could look a lot different by the time the season ends. Alyssa Spencer has only surfed three CS comps but is in sixth. Ariane Ochoa is currently holding a 700, which is an easy result to replace. So let’s see.

Also, what you can’t see here is that Lucy Darragh skyrocketed 25 places to 20th. She’s 16 years old, won the Rip Curl Padang Cup earlier this year, and recently won the ISA U16 World Title. Lucy would still need a massive result to qualify for 2027. But it’s almost certain she’ll qualify at some point. And when she does, she’s gonna fuck some people up — especially at the CT’s pair of barreling lefts. 

Now, the men. 

At this point, if you’re sitting more than halfway above the qualification line, it seems unlikely that you’ll be overtaken. 

Not so much new blood to get fired up about here. Weslley Dantas might honestly be the most exciting one. His surfing… yes, I know. But let’s keep in mind that he refers to himself as ‘King’ and rides a 6’4” shortboard. An insider recently told us he’s the type of guy who might refuse to wear a leash in a heat. So at least we have that to look forward to. 

Other than Weslley and Ryan, Alonso Correa would be a new face. He’s surfed in the Olympics and is quite handy in the tube, but it’s unlikely you’d be rushing to buy his WSL jersey.

Where do we go from here?

The QS6000 International event in Taiwan will run from November 14 – 22. Note: Surfers can only count one QS6000 result in their CS tally. So, for a surfer like Jackson Bunch, who’s already won one, it’s (literally) pointless to go to the next two. Unless he wants to take out any lingering Surf100 angst on some poor QS/CS souls.

After that, it’s a long wait until Newcastle from March 1 – 7 to see who’ll be sticking around for Bells a few weeks later.

Now to Supertubos CT — which if the current forecast holds, could look a lot like our Worst Heat Ever from Highway Europe (21:39 here).