Sopelana BBK Pro Day 1
posted by Terry McKenna on 20th August 2010
The 2010 Sopelana BBK Pro
Sopelana Beach
Bilbao. Spain.
August 19th - 22nd
The first event on the IBA's Euro leg dubbed as "e3x" got underway in Sopelana, Spain today in small but fun waves.
The first rounds saw some strong performances from Spainish rider Aitor Romo, Frenchman Charlie Chappelet and Venezuela's Alberto Collucci.
Collucci managed to extract the most power from the summer surf with smooth spins and strong rolls on the shore-break in front of a big crowd.
"Yes, I only arrived late yesterday and came to watch the contest. I did not think that I would be competing so I am really happy that everything is working out for me" said Alberto.
"Only a few days ago I was in Venezuela and I was being held up by a bandito whose stole my money and documents so I am glad to be in Europe"
The second round saw some real standout surfing with Australian's Mitch Woodlands, Dallas Singer and Tom Rigby all progressing.
Rigby looked solid in the punchy shore-breaks and was stoked to get the first heat over with.
"This is my first trip to Europe and I am just glad that I started the trip on a good note" said Rigby.
"There is a big crew from Australia here this year and we are all traveling together and pushing each other in the surf, its sick"
After lunchtime the tide came in and organizers decided to put the event on hold until after 4pm to finish off the last few heats of R2.
By the time that these guys hit the water the swell had backed off but enough punch was left for Hawaiian Jacob Romero and Luis Perez to progress into R3 along with Brazilian Heliton Louriero and Spain's Alvaro Jurado.
R3 was held in some fun waves and kicked off around 5pm local time.
Brazilian pocket rocket Marcus Lima burst out of the gates in the first heat with a win over Dallas Singer (Aust)
Liam looked unstoppable with a 8.60 on his top score and Singer moved from 3rd to second with a last wave in the dying seconds.
In the second heat Damian King found an old favourite board that was made for small conditions and surfed it perfectly into first position ahead of Rui Ferreira from Portugal.
Heat 3 R3 saw Brad Hughes from Australia show his small wave riding skills to finish in front of Benat Elosua (Spain) and in the last heat of the day Irishman Shane Macken blitzed the field to finish ahead of Jones Russell from Australia.
The forecast for tomorrow is looking good with more swell expected and the top seeds hitting the water the action is bound to be red hot.
Competitors are to check in at 8am for an 8.30am start.
Watch the web-cast live clicking here http://www.ebeskola.com/sopelanabbkpro/es/otros.php?s=sopelana-bbkpro-2010-live
More pics and info at www.ibaworldtour.com
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About Sopelana
Sopelana (Sopela in Basque) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The town is roughly 820 hectares in area, located in the general area of Uribe-Kosta on the north east side of Bilbao and due east of the Nervión river estuary. In the municipality, other former towns like Larrabasterra are now merged to make the larger Sopelana town. The population is 11,185 people, as recorded in the 2003 census. Thriving expansion of the town puts this number to well over 12,000 people. The area of Sopelana is situated among green hills and beaches. This makes for a very attractive suburb to Bilbao, with a short commute of 35 minutes on the metro.
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