Who’s Gonna Beat Medina At Supertubos?

And before the champagne could dry on Julian Wilson’s lips, the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal is here.

According to Kanoa Igarashi, “The forecast is absolutely insane. Every single day looks good. It’s going to be crazy.”

So yeah, we’re pretty psyched. But not as psyched as Stab‘s cheery leader, Ashton Goggans, who is positively obsessed with the Rectangle nation. 

Ashton loves the Portuguese people, the food, the culture, the surf. He often recites Portuguese psalms to uninitiated Americans (his coworkers). In fact, would his work have allowed it, he probably would have moved there months ago. 

If we were to guess, Stab’s Editor in Scarf is currently sitting on Supertubos beach with coffee and surfboard in hand, a black beanie covering just the tips of his ears whilst he awaits the European sunrise. Upon its arrival, Ashton will take the time to ingratiate himself with the locals before paddling and out riding not every but every other wave, that grin of a Florida-grom-who-made-it never leaving his face.

And then shortly after Owen Wright, Zeke Lau, and Ryan Callinan will take the water and a horn will blow.

Below are our favorites for the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal. 

Owen Wright

See 0:41.

Big, windy waves with tubes all but guaranteed? There’s no one more solid than Owen Wright. The Aussie’s mantis-like frame can both extend for huge lip gouges or contract when negotiating the world’s trickiest tubes. Whether it’s eight-foot Cloudy or chest-high Chopes, Owen is the best frontside tuberider currently on Tour, and we’d be shocked if he lost early given the Portuguese forecast.

Jeremy Flores

Given his wins at Pipe and Teahupo’o, it would be silly to call Jeremy Flores a darkhorse at any tube-related event, though perhaps he gets so deep that he remains outside of mainstream vision. This is certainly not the case for any of Jezza’s competitors, who shudder when the Frenchman’s name lands next to theirs in the draw. The dude is a fucking jedi in the pit and will dominate out here.

Julian Wilson

A brief reminder.

While I was initially enamored by his stylo-progressive approach, Julian’s conservative and choke-heavy competitive performances led to my severe disenchantment with the Sunny Coast posterboy. Julian’s unhinged approach in both France and Lemoore, however, has swung me back in his corner – I’ll be rooting for Jules to further minimize his World Title deficit in Portugal, which as revealed a couple days ago, is not as daunting as it once seemed.

Kolohe Andino

Pinned as an unlikely favorite to win the Quikky Pro, Kolohe was shafted by the long dick of sound speed. Because our premonition was derailed by scientific oversight (thanks, WSL!), the laws of the universe dictate that he gets a do-over in Portugal. So Kolohe, this is your shot. Wear a watch and don’t fuck it up.

Adrian Buchan

I don’t generally pick Ace Buchan for these kinds of things, because it’s hard to get excited watching someone who does the same “money” turn on every wave, especially when that “money” turn is actually just a standard backside snap. But when it comes to heavier surf, Ace sheds his formulaic approach and starts flipping it under the ledge, making for a dramatic viewing experience. We’ll expect nothing less from him here. 

Sebastian Zietz

Supertubos is La Grav West

The guy got so barreled at La Grav last week, we just assume he’ll continue into Supertubos.

Italo Ferreira

The forecast is calling for big swell and hard side-offshore winds, which like in Hawaii, equates to sizable lefts colliding with a perfect punt breeze. As far as I’m concerned, Italo Ferreira is the best surfer ever at small-to-mid-sized Off the Wall lefts, where he’s just as likely to get regurgitated from a tumultuous pit as he is to land 10 massive airs in a half hour. Don’t be surprised if Italo does the same at Supers.

Gabriel Medina

Wearing the Yellow Jersey but not technically in the lead, and also having just lost to a World Title contender at his marquee event, Medina should be ravenous heading into Portugal. It’s time to let the big dogs eat.