Perfect Chapter: Nic Von Rupp Wins Europe’s Finest Tube Fair 

Aritz Aranburu describes his relationship with barrels as an addiction. 

Which, on the surface, sounds a bit strange if not indulgent. But, upon inspection, the claim takes shape as a verifiable truth. Today, I heard a story about him having a flight canceled during a Lisbon layover. The surf that day happened to be good 40 minutes away in Ericeira. With eight hours to kill — and a free pass to a nice airport lounge — Aritz decided to rent a car, drive to the beach, borrow a suit from someone, a board from someone else, surf for a bit, then head back. 

Can you imagine still loving surfing that much, even after doing it professionally for over two decades and having visited most of the world’s best waves? 

Portugal’s Capítulo Perfeito [Perfect Chapter] is designed for surfers with this level of cone addiction. It ran today — spectacularly so. 

Everything about the comp is centered around on the tube. It features a season-long waiting period to cherry-pick the best day of waves at the oft-violent beachbreak of Carcavelos. The judging criteria rewards barrels, and barrels, and nothing else. 

Though it sounds oxymoronic, the Capítulo is a local-global event. It’s local in that it’s organized and run by local core surfers, and features Portugal’s best baz hounds. It’s global in the sense that, each year, it draws a selection of international talent keen for a trip to Portugal — especially with a forecast they know will deliver. This year, the event drew crew like Clay Marzo, Adriano de Souza, Ace Buchan, and Mikey February. And, yes, I did happen to see them all in a room (made of scaffold) together. 

Surf-forecast.com — a peculiar site which some swear by ‘round here — said there were 8059 kilojoules of energy in the water today. Cute number, dunno what it means (though, via a series of Googles, I’ve come to establish that it could power a 2,000-watt oven for an hour). The metric system said it was roughly 2-3 meters. Hawaiians would have it at 4-6, and imperial face enthusiasts would say 6-10 with 12-foot sets. But, to say it was fucking cooking feels like an empirical truth.  

Highlights, in a semi-particular order, included: 

-Marzo surfing a short-arm full (4/3s were the standard today)
-João Mendonça being good at most things 
-Ítalo Ferreira showing up, fanning out 
-The first ADS sighting since the 2021 Corona Open Mexico 
-Aritz Aranburu feeding his addiction 
-William Ailotti twinning and almost winning 
-Pedro Boonman’s tube swinery 
-Matias Canhoto winning the New Generation division (keep him on the radar) 
-Nic Von Rupp’s 10, and winning of the entire event 

Turns out, when you get a crew of excellent surfers together to compete with a clear objective in compelling waves, it makes for superb viewing.

Who woulda guessed?