And against all odds, Portugal performed something of a miracle to snatch away the European title when Spain looked ready to raise the trophy.

With Guilherme Ribeiro winning the men’s surf title in a close heat with Irish phenom Geaorid McDaid, Luis Diaz and flamboyant Dutch surfer Beyrick de Vries and then Mafalda Lopes taking away an incredible win in a heat against the three Spanish women, Annette Gonzalez-Etxabarri, Lucia Machado and Leticia Bilbao, the Portuguese sealed the deed, adding to the silver medals of Raquel Bento and António Dantas in the Longboard divisions.

Longboard that was dominated by England, first with Emily Curry and then with the genius of Ben Skinner, who collected his 12th European title. Incredible performance from the English legend that finished his final heat with a total score of 16.23 (9.00 and 7.23).

Portugal’s team manager David Raimundo said after the official announcement:
“It was a very difficult championship and tastier for it. We knew Spain was a very strong candidate, but we were also aware of our potential. Things didn’t go our way in the beginning and yesterday, after Gabriela Dinis and Guilherme Fonseca were taken out, we thought everything was lost. Fortunately, we were able to regroup, and we came for this final’s day with the notion that we need a near perfect performance. It just happened to be that way. This is an incredible team, and this is one of the happiest days in my career as a coach.”

About the numbers, Portugal won the Eurosurf 2023, Spain took home the silver and England the bronze.

Photo Credit: Tiago Segurado / Ocean Spirit