Santiago Muniz returns to action at Martinique Surf Pro Day 2

The Martinique Surf Pro resumed on Day 2 with the remaining two heats of the women’s opening round before moving into men’s Round Two.

Whatever little confusion about conditions there was before the start, it went right out the window when Ella Williams (NZL) took off on her first wave. The kiwi surfer ripped it to pieces for a 6.83 and eventually took out the heat and a spot into the next round. Caribbean surfer Maud Le Car (FRA) took out the second heat before the men got back into the lineup for their second round.

Santiago Muniz (ARG) charged into the opening heat with a really dynamic approach in the long rights to post an impressive 15.94 out of 20. The Argentinian looked revitalized, following a year pretty much off tour rehabilitating an injury sustained at the beginning of 2017.

“The sets were maybe a little slow to come but waves were super fun and I’m happy to be here,” Muniz said. “I love a really good right so I was stoked out there. It’s amazing to be traveling with my brother Alejo, he’s inspiring me so much and we train a lot together. There’s always a little competition between us but it’s mostly support we have for each other and I hope we can both go far in this event.”

In the following heat, Tomas Tudela (PER) took a different approach to surfing the iconic righthand point break, and actually went left. While chasing a scoring opportunity in the shifty lineup, a left popped up and Tudela opted to build speed and launch an aerial rotation, into a very shallow zone, ultimately posting an excellent 8.50 for his effort and the win.

“I wasn’t catching any waves and I saw an opportunity on that left so I took it,” Tudela reflected. “The wind was perfect for an air so I went for a good one and it paid off big time. I’m having a hard year so far so I’m stoked to make a few heats. I’ve never gone past Round Three in this event, so I’ll try to improve on that in the next one.”

Imaikalani Devault (HAW) took a more traditional approach and posted the event’s highest single-wave score so far, an impressive 9 point ride, for a big carve on a set wave and two more turns on the inside. The Hawaiian brought his signature powerful brand of surfing and looked deadly in the lineup.

“There weren’t a whole lot of waves but they were fun!” Devault said. “I caught a bigger set that came a little wide on the reef and it had a great shape and was easy to surf. I struggled to find a decent backup but I’m stoked about the result. It looks like we’re going to have bigger waves later this week so I’m looking forward to it, I definitely feel more comfortable when it’s a bit bigger coming from Hawaii.”

Barbados surfer Joshua Burke took a good win for the Caribbean team this afternoon as well, posting an excellent 8.50 of his own for a couple of big turns, ditching the fins for a reverse on the second one. Fresh off a win at the Ron Jon Quiksilver Pro in Florida, Burke carried momentum into his early heats in Martinique.

“I’m psyched to get two contests near Barbados, I don’t really have to travel it’s like a 20 minute flight to here and definitely on the budget!” Burke said. “These events definitely help raise the profile of our sport in the region, all the kids in Barbados are watching their favorite surfers on their home spot and it’s great. This wave here with a bit more size is ideal and a great place to do five or six maneuvers so I hope we’ll get good conditions for the next rounds.”

Yesterday’s top scorers Tristan Guilbaud (FRA), Lucas Vicente (BRA), Matthew McGillivray (ZAF) and Luke Hynd (AUS) all continued with their winning form and advanced into the third round of the men’s competition.

Athletes and event official will come back at 7:30 a.m Monday to reassess conditions for a potential third consecutive day of action in Martinique.

MagicSeaWeed, official forecaster of the World Surf League (WSL) European Qualifying Series (QS) give us a first overview of the conditions on hand for the event:

A mix of northerly swells and trade windswell is on tap over the weekend and through early next week. Northerly swells will ease next week as trade windswell takes over. Trade windswell will be the dominant source of surf Wednesday into next weekend

The event will be webcast LIVE on worldsurfleague.com.

For all photos, videos, news releases about the Martinique Surf Pro, visit worldsurfleague.com and the WSL app.

The Martinique Surf Pro is supported by Collectivité territoriale de Martinique, Comité Martiniquais du tourisme, CAP Nord Martinique, CCI Martinique, ville de Basse-Pointe, ADEME, Fédération Française de Surf, Jeep, Jumbo Car, Air France, Brasserie Lorraine, Socacom, Orange, Frantzy Video, HSE, Pelage Brumisation, Odissey Sport Santé, Assistance 97, Aqua moov, Martinique Première, RCI -NRJ , Surf Session, France Antilles, Zay Radio and MagicSeaWeed.com as official forecaster.

UPCOMING MARTINIQUE SURF PRO MEN’S ROUND 3 MATCHUPS:

Heat 1: Jorgann Couzinet (FRA), Luel Felipe (BRA), Santiago Muniz (ARG), Matthew McGillivray (ZAF)
Heat 2: Davey Cathels (AUS), Victor Bernardo (BRA), Tomas Tudela (PER), Taichi Wakita (JPN)
Heat 3: Nat Young (USA), Charly Martin (FRA), Juninho Urcia (PER), Nomme Mignot (FRA)
Heat 4: Jadson Andre (BRA), Kei Kobayashi (USA), Nelson Cloarec (FRA), Kaito Ohashi (JPN)
Heat 5: Evan Geiselman (USA), Thiago Camarao (BRA), Daiki Tanaka (JPN), Tristan Guilbaud (FRA)
Heat 6: Ricardo Christie (NZL), Noe Mar McGonagle (CRI), Reef Heazlewood (AUS), Timothee Bisso (GLP)
Heat 7: Kiron Jabour (HAW), Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR), Imaikalani Devault (HAW), Mihimana Braye (PYF)
Heat 8: Miguel Pupo (BRA), Alexandre Viguier (MTQ), Luke Hynd (AUS), Dimitri Ouvre (FRA)
Heat 9: Alejo Muniz (BRA), Arthur Lassee (FRA), Andy Criere (ESP), Diego Mignot (FRA)
Heat 10: Miguel Tudela (PER), Aritz Aranburu (ESP), Miguel Blanco (PRT), Lucas Vicente (BRA)
Heat 11: Maxime Huscenot (FRA), Benji Brand (HAW), Jackson Baker (AUS), Ben Coffey (USA)
Heat 12: Hiroto Ohhara (JPN), Rafael Teixeira (BRA), Joshua Burke (BRB), Joaquin Del Castillo (PER)
Heat 13: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA), Hiroto Arai (JPN), Stevie Pittman (USA), Ruben Vitoria (EUK)
Heat 14: Bino Lopes (BRA), Marc Lacomare (FRA), Beyrick De Vries (ZAF), Samuel Pupo (BRA)
Heat 15: Marco Fernandez (BRA), Lucas Silveira (BRA), Lucca Mesinas (PER), Yuri Goncalves (BRA)
Heat 16: Deivid Silva (BRA), Adrien Toyon (FRA), Michael Dunphy (USA), Liam O’Brien (AUS)

UPCOMING MARTINIQUE SURF PRO WOMEN’S ROUND 2 MATCHUPS:

Heat 1: Pauline Ado (FRA), Emma Leconte (MTQ), Emily Nishimoto (JPN), Reika Noro (JPN)
Heat 2: Isabella Nichols (AUS), Teresa Bonvalot (PRT), Meah Collins (USA), Shelby Detmers (USA)
Heat 3: Claire Bevilacqua (AUS), Garazi Sanchez-Ortun (EUK), Camilla Kemp (PRT), Rachel Presti (USA)
Heat 4: Mikaela Greene (AUS), Frankie Harrer (DEU), Samantha Sibley (USA), Autumn Hays (USA)
Heat 5: Philippa Anderson (AUS), Leilani McGonagle (CRI), Sophie McCulloch (AUS), Daniela Rosas (PER)
Heat 6: Zoe McDougall (HAW), Alessa Quizon (HAW), Melanie Giunta (PER), Neis Lartigue (FRA)
Heat 7: Brisa Hennessy (HAW), Chelsea Tuach (BRB), Ella Williams (NZL), Julie Nishimoto (JPN)
Heat 8: Holly Wawn (AUS), Mahina Maeda (HAW), Maud Le Car (FRA), Brianna Cope (HAW)

MARTINIQUE SURF PRO MEN’S ROUND 2 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Santiago Muniz (ARG) 15.94, Taichi Wakita (JPN) 13.00, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.17, Ryland Rubens (USA) 9.50
Heat 2: Tomas Tudela (PER) 12.97, Matthew McGillivray (ZAF) 12.20, Tom Cloarec (FRA) 10.44, Robson Santos (BRA) 8.86
Heat 3: Juninho Urcia (PER) 9.70, Kaito Ohashi (JPN) 8.67, Takuto Ohta (JPN) 8.00, Shane Campbell (AUS) 6.97
Heat 4: Nelson Cloarec (FRA) 10.27, Nomme Mignot (FRA) 9.94, Cole Houshmand (USA) 9.26, Ugo Robin (FRA) 7.67
Heat 5: Daiki Tanaka (JPN) 11.77, Timothee Bisso (GLP) 11.37, Luis Diaz (CNY) 11.37, Reo Inaba (JPN) 8.07
Heat 6: Reef Heazlewood (AUS) 12.87, Tristan Guilbaud (FRA) 12.67, Vicente Romero (ESP) 11.37, Dane MacKie (BRB) 6.20
Heat 7: Imaikalani Devault (HAW) 13.90, Dimitri Ouvre (FRA) 10.44, Gearoid McDaid (IRL) 9.63, Gatien Delahaye (FRA) 4.37
Heat 8: Luke Hynd (AUS) 11.27, Mihimana Braye (PYF) 9.87, Paul Cesar Distinguin (FRA) 9.50, Alvaro Malpartida (PER) 7.63
Heat 9: Andy Criere (ESP) 13.30, Lucas Vicente (BRA) 12.50, Leo Paul Etienne (FRA) 9.00, Tanner Hendrickson (HAW) 8.47
Heat 10: Miguel Blanco (PRT) 12.77, Diego Mignot (FRA) 11.97, Yuji Mori (JPN) 9.44, Tomas Fernandes (PRT) 7.23
Heat 11: Jackson Baker (AUS) 12.06, Joaquin Del Castillo (PER) 11.23, Leandro Usuna (ARG) 9.00, Pedro Neves (BRA) 8.87
Heat 12: Joshua Burke (BRB) 13.73, Ben Coffey (USA) 10.40, Enzo Cavallini (FRA) 9.34, Marcos Correa (BRA) 4.60
Heat 13: Stevie Pittman (USA) 12.37, Samuel Pupo (BRA) 12.33, Tomas King (CRI) 11.84, Slade Prestwich (ZAF) 10.94
Heat 14: Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 14.06, Ruben Vitoria (EUK) 12.84, Che Allan (BRB) 8.87, Nicolas Chalonec (MTQ) 5.80
Heat 15: Lucca Mesinas (PER) 14.00, Liam O’Brien (AUS) 11.67, Charly Quivront (FRA) 10.74, Henrique Pyrrait (PRT) 8.27
Heat 16: Michael Dunphy (USA) 13.83, Yuri Goncalves (BRA) 12.16, Thiago Guimaraes (BRA) 10.80, Jacome Correia (PRT) 9.96

REMAINING MARTINIQUE SURF PRO WOMEN’S ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 7: Ella Williams (NZL) 11.33, Brianna Cope (HAW) 8.90, Marion Philippe (PYF) 7.87, Lucia Martino (ESP) 7.23
Heat 8: Maud Le Car (FRA) 10.47, Julie Nishimoto (JPN) 9.56, Leticia Canales Bilbao (EUK) 7.17, Eliza Greene (AUS) 7.16