Cover photo: Tapia by Salvatore Di Ciaccio.

Chilean Rafael Tapia was confirmed in the main draw of the Nazaré Big Wave Challenge which was confirmed to take place tomorrow Monday at 8:45 in the morning.

In the original list Tapia appeared as the first alternate and in the update sent by the WSL he is already a starter.

Tapia himself shared in a press release and on his social networks: “We are green flag Nazaré Challenge; everyone to support Chile and Latin America (…) Last event we achieved the podium in second place with Jamie Mitchell, this year Jamie could not come but the team is on fire.”

Tapia will compete alongside Frenchman Pierre Rollet. The rest of the teams are as follows:
Team 1: Lucas Chianca (BRA) and Pedro Scooby (BRA)
Team 2: Nic Von Rupp (POR) and Clement Roseyro (FRA)
Team 3: Andrew Cotton (GBR) and Will Skudin (USA)
Team 4: Rodrigo Koxa (POR) and Vitor Faria (BRA)
Team 5: Joao De Macedo (POR) and Antonio Silva (POR)
Team 6: Sebastian Steudtner (GER) and Eric Rebiere (FRA)
Team 7: Maya Gabeira (BRA) and Antonio Laureano (PRT)
Team 8: Michelle Des Bouillons (BRA) and Ian Cosenza (BRA)

Each person will go into the water twice in 40-minute series and whoever has the two highest waves will be the winner.

Below are the prizes to be awarded:

Best male performance: The man with the two highest waves
Best female performance: The female surfer with the two highest waves
Best performance by team: The team with the highest sum
Most Risky Surfer Award: To the surfer who shows the most commitment during the day

According to Surfline, waves will be between 35 and 45 feet with occasional sets of 50 with offshore wind.