Dupont and Delpero big winners in The Longboard Pro Espinho

The Longboard Pro Espinho has finished in size-able surf at Praia de Baia just a stone’s throw from the northern city of Porto.

Justine Dupont and Edouard Delpero of France took to the winners podium after a hard fought battle through two-days of sizeable surf.

On the men’s side of the draw Edouard Delpero (FRA) consistently charged through his heats netting several of the event’s highest heat totals by snagging set waves and mixing critical turns with traditional noseriding, a difficult feat today in the challenging surf.

“I just wanted to surf well,” said Delpero of the final. “Ben (Skinner) surfed really good through the event. We both had a lot of trouble paddling out and we both got really smashed. In the two last heats I broke two of my boards, just snapped them.”

After surprise exits by in-form surfers Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA) and last year’s champ Emilien Fleury (FRA) the field was open for Delpero and Ben Skinner to advance throughout the day with Skinner taking out Edouard’s brother Antoine in Men’s Round of 16.

“To win would have been great,” said Skinner. “But to be in the final with Edouard is great too. He’s such an amazing surfer and to me, he and his brother Antoine are the two best longboarders in the world. And it was nice to at least take one of them down, but nice to surf against Edouard in the final.”

Event oddities included more several broken boards, a 15-minute paddle out attempt by last year’s champ Emilien Fleury (FRA) as well as an interference by Rémi Arauzo (FRA) in his heat Quarterfinal against Edouard Delpero.

“I was not sure I had priority,” said Delpero. “Like, he put the dog on me and I was going too fast to pull back so I just told myself that if I don’t have priority I’ll just go for it because I was going too fast and there was no way to stop. He didn’t hassle me for the waves so I don’t know why he did that.”

On the women’s side of the draw standouts Chloe Calmon (BRA), Lindsay Steinriede (USA) and Dupont all surfed well, with the conditions ultimately favoring the surfing of big-wave maven Dupont.

Having logged multiple winter sessions at Nazaré and Belharra, Dupont had one game plan in mind throughout the entire event – make it to the outside and get the bigger set waves. And remain calm while doing it.

“My strategy was to go outside and to take the best two waves and to make it through each heat,” said Dupont. “Not to stress and just to go heat-by-heat and to take it easy.”

The Longboard Pro Espinho ran from March 16-18, 2018 and the Junior Pro Espinho will run from March 21-25, 2018 in Espinho, Portugal. For all results, photos, video highlights and press releases, log on to worldsurfleague.com.

The Junior and Longboard Pro Espinho are organized by GPDESIGN Brand Communication and Câmara Municipal de Espinho, sponsored by Camara Municipal de Espinho and Suported by Castros Iluminações, Hotels GroupM Espinho, PraiaGolfe Hotel, Padaria Pepim, Comercial Tec, CP-Comboios de Portugal, Greencoast Surfschool, with media partners: RTP, FuelTV, Porto Canal, MegaHits, Surftotal, BeachCam, and SurfPortugal among others, official forecaster Magicseaweed.

MEN’S FINAL RESULTS

1. Edouard Delpero (FRA) 13.50
2. Ben Skinner (GBR) 6.26

MEN’S SEMIFINAL RESULTS

Heat 1: Ben Skinner (GBR) 16.26 def. Benoit Carpentier (FRA) 8.84
Heat 2: Edouardo Delpero (FRA) 17.83 def. Jack Unsworth (GBR)2.97

MEN’S QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:

Heat 1: Ben Skinner (GBR) 6.73 def. Ben Howey (GBR) 2.57
Heat 2: Benoit Carpentier (FRA) 13.10 def. Alvaro Fernandez (ESP) 7.50
Heat 3: Edouardo Delpero (FRA) 14.90 def. Rémi Arauzo (FRA) 6.17
Heat 4: Jack Unsworth (GBR)12.06 def. Augusto Olinto (BRA) 9.94

MEN’S ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Ben Howey (GBR) 9.84 def. Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA) 5.17
Heat 2: Ben Skinner (GBR) 14.73 def. Antoine Delpero (FRA) 12.00
Heat 3: Alvaro Fernandez (ESP) 7.40 def. Federico Nesti (ITA) 5.93
Heat 4: Benoit Carpentier (FRA) 9.23 def. Julian Schweizer (URY) 9.17
Heat 5: Edouard Delpero (FRA) 12.83 def. Evan Rogers (GBR) 2.67
Heat 6: Rémi Arauzo (FRA) 10.44 def. Emilien Fleury (FRA) 5.00
Heat 7: Augusto Olinto (BRA) 6.73 def. Moana Domenech (PYF) 5.74
Heat 8: Jack Unsworth (GBR) 5.84 def. Diogo Goncalves (PRT) 3.44

MEN’S ROUND OF 24 RESULTS

Heat 1: Rodrigo Sphaier (BRA) 17.17, Antoine Delpero (FRA) 12.83, Joao Dantas (PRT) 10.33
Heat 2: Ben Skinner (GBR) 9.43, Ben Howey (GBR) 6.33, Thierry Andre (FRA) 3.83
Heat 3: Federico Nesti (ITA) 8.83, Julian Schweizer (URY) 7.83, Fabrizio, Gabrielli (ITA) 4.10
Heat 4: Benoit Carpentier (FRA) 10.97, Alvaro Fernandez (ESP) 6.00, Pier Loustau-Lasplaces (FRA) 0.00
Heat 5: Edouard Delpero (FRA) 17.47, Emilien Fleury (FRA) 4.23, Luis Cruz (PRT) 2.63
Heat 6: Rémi Arauzo (FRA) 11.44, Evan Rogers (GBR) 7.86, Aurelien Meynieux (REU) 6.50
Heat 7: Augusto Olinto (BRA) 9.76, Diogo Goncalves (PRT) 6.37, Juan Villasante (ESP) 3.76
Heat 8: Jack Unsworth (GBR) 8.07, Moana Domenech (PYF) 7.50, Robin Henry (FRA) 5.27

MEN’S ROUND 0F 28 RESULTS

Heat 1: Joao Dantas (PRT) 7.33, Ben Howey (GBR) 5.56, Wenderson Bludo (BRA) 5.53
Heat 2: Julian Schweizer (URY) 7.57, Pier Loustau-Lasplaces 2.07, Sebastiao Maia (PRT) 2.04
Heat 3: Emilien Fleury (FRA) 7.57, Aurelien Meynieux (REU) 6.84, Eduardo Bage (BRA) 6.00
Heat 4: Augusto Olinto (BRA) 10.00, Robin Henry (FRA) 4.36, Joao Gama (PRT) 2.44

WOMEN’S FINAL RESULTS

1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 10.40
2: Chloe Salmon (BRA) 0.90

WOMEN’S SEMIFINAL RESULTS:

Heat 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 8.66 def. Lindsay Steinriede (USA) 4.57
Heat 2: Chloe Calmon (BRA) 5.77 def. Emily Currie (GBR) 4.27

Women’s Quarterfinal Results

Heat 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 13.35 def. Kathleen Barrigao (PRT) 6.94
Heat 2: Lindsay Steinriede (USA) 7.16 def. Nienke, Dulnemeijer (NLD) 2.03
Heat 3: Emily Currie (GBR) 5.23 def. Jennifer Pendlebury (GBR)2.30
Heat 4: Chloe Calmon (BRA) 9.10 def. Valentini Macroni (ITA) 2.97

Women’s Round of 12

HEAT 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 8.60, Emily Currie (GBR) 6.40, Francesca Rubegni (ITA) 4.20