Italo Ferreira Caught 63 Waves In An Hour - Stab Mag
879 Views
FAST. Photo: Marcelo Freire

Italo Ferreira Caught 63 Waves In An Hour

And other stats from our Stab in the Dark production.

news // Mar 15, 2023
Words by Michael Ciaramella
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Italo Ferreira has had a tough string of events in 2023 — but not for lack of trying.

In his last heat in the recent Portugal comp, Italo caught 10 waves in 40 minutes, logging 14 points that easily could have been 18, had the judges deemed his final tube complete.

For those of you who failed third grade arithmetic, that’s one wave every four minutes…in competition…at large and unruly Supertubos. The fitness required to achieve this is hard to fathom, but I suppose the same could be said about most Olympic gold medalists. And frankly, after working with Italo on this year’s Stab in the Dark (coming May 9th!), it didn’t surprise me at all.

Having logged the stats from each of his sessions, I can say that no one has ever come close to these numbers in my experience as a surfer or surf fan.

Italo’s stats

Average session length: 42 minutes
“Doing short sessions lets me stay focused and perform at his highest level,” Italo says. “If I go longer, I get tired and slow.” He generally likes to keep his sessions around the length of CT heat, so he can always stay in that performance mindset.

Average # of waves in a session: 12 (1 wave per every 3.5 mins)
“I hate sitting still, and I hates crowds,” Italo says. “I’d rather go surf a shitty wave by myself than wait for a set and get burned by someone. Plus, if you can surf a shitty wave well then you can surf anything.”

Max number of boards ridden in a day: 8
Italo doesn’t surf for long, but he surfs a lot. He does quick sessions with a ton of waves, which equates to him being able to test an incredible amount of boards in the space of a day.

Max waves in an hour: 63 (more than one a minute!)
“One day, my friends challenged me to see how many waves I could catch in an hour — we counted 63,” Italo says. “And I wasn’t just standing up — I was actually surfing the waves. I landed like 15 airs in that session.”

Total waves caught during SITD: 261 (in 7 days of surf filming).
Total keepers: 215.

Air completion rate: 66%
96 attempts, 63 makes. On one of the finalists, he went 13/13.

Broken boards: 3
“That’s why I stopped riding PU.”

Red Bulls per day: 3-5
“Don’t tell people that [laughs]”.

Catch episode one of Stab in the Dark on May 9th, only on Stab Premium.

Watch previous SITDs here:
Jack Robinson
Taj Burrow
All-Stars
Mick Fanning
Jordy Smith
Dane Reynolds
Julian Wilson

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Shane Borland Crowned World’s Best Surf/Skate Crossbreed At Keris Cup

+ Sky Brown dislocates her shoulder, still packs proper Padang tube.

Oct 16, 2025

America’s Greatest East Coast Surf Town Is Disappearing

A story of Atlantic storms, Cold War ghosts and institutional negligence.

Oct 15, 2025

“We Sat On These Concrete Expansion Joints Right Under The Air Section — But For Rasta Robb We Needed A New Marker”

Bill Morris + Ryan Heywood tell the story behind 19 unseen frames from the Stab…

Oct 15, 2025

Watch: Craig Anderson in ‘Samudra Spirit Glitters’ 

"I feel people can smell the process. Chasing waves and experiences and not having it…

Oct 15, 2025

Unlocked: Kael Walsh’s 2025 Stab Edit Of The Year Entry ‘Strung’

The 2022 champ might just win it again — but sorry, no Bitcoin this time…

Oct 14, 2025

Joyride: The Twin Fin That Changed Everything

The Christenson Lane Splitter lives up to the hype, and the OP3 creates its own.

Oct 13, 2025

Your Beach Now Belongs To Someone Richer

How colonial laws and resort walls are locking Jamaican surfers out of their own island.

Oct 12, 2025

Joel Vaughan & Sierra Kerr Just Beat The World Champs At Stab High Sydney

Loci Cullen and Skai Suitt win Bottle Rockets and Ladybirds, all presented by Monster Energy.

Oct 11, 2025

Watch: Best Stab High Ever?

We're not into hyperbole — just repeating what we heard on site.

Oct 11, 2025

Watch The Replay: Finals Day At Stab High Sydney Presented By Monster Energy 

Time to give away $60k. 

Oct 10, 2025

The World vs The World Champ At Stab High Sydney x Monster Energy Day 1

No, Yago Dora did not win today. But he did surf incredibly well.

Oct 10, 2025

Full Replay: Day 1 Of Stab High Sydney Presented By Monster Energy 

271 air sections vs 53 surfers, including the 2025 world champ, pro skaters, children, and…

Oct 9, 2025

We Built An Acid Drop For The Stab High Warm-Ups

Poolside from Sydney, presented by Monster Energy.

Oct 9, 2025

SEOTY: Portugal’s Shark-Eyed Prince João Mendonça In ‘Same Same’

You won’t hear much from the young Portuguese surfer's mouth, but his SEOTY entry says…

Oct 8, 2025

How To Win Stab High, According To The Defending Champ 

“I’d rather lose first heat and have heaps of fun than win a comp being…

Oct 8, 2025

Breaking: Yago Dora And Molly Picklum To Headline Stab High Sydney 2025 x Monster Energy

World champs vs. the world.

Oct 6, 2025

Does Kelly Slater Know Who Andrew Jacobson Is?

Does anybody? Let's find out in Chapter11's latest character profile, 'This is Where I Am'.

Oct 5, 2025

The Olympic Gold Medalist Is Now World #1

And a 14-year-old girl is right there beside him — our Portugal CS Report.

Oct 5, 2025
Advertisement