The Pro Zarautz started on Wednesday and, as the forecasts had announced, the conditions did not disappoint. The waves broke with two metres of head but the weather was changeable; the wind blew hard, it rained and it was difficult to find your way in the water.

The performances of locals Hodei Collazo stood out with the best wave of the day (9.17) and the young Adur Amatriain who at 14 years old raised the applause of the Basque beach.

One of the surprises of the day was Igor Muniain and Ruben Vitoria, who despite his spectacular form and occupying third place in the European ranking, could not match the tenacity of his neighbour Igor.

The second day started early on Thursday, with sunshine and somewhat more orderly conditions, although still quite changeable. “There are some very good waves but the scenery changes from heat to heat. It is difficult to stay in place,” said Andy Criere, analysing the playing field before entering the water.

Imanol Yeregi entered the third heat of the day. The Zumaia native is on fire after his recent victory in the QS in Caparica, Portugal, and with a good choice of peak and fluid surfing, he advanced solidly in first.

Aritz Aranburu, Natxo González, Lander Dávila and the Portuguese Eduardo Fernandes closed round 3 with a super heat where the local hero gave a good power surfing lesson, thus achieving the best combination of the day (16,93). Natxo followed closely behind and also advanced to round 4 where he was eliminated by his partner in crime Imanol Yeregui and the Tahitian Mihimana Braye.

There were few surprises in round 4 with Hodei Collazo and Gony Zubizarreta advancing solidly, leaving one of the favourites, the Frenchman Marc Lacomare, out of the race. Hodei managed to get the score he needed in the final moments of the heat, leading the local public to celebrate, who responded with shouts and applause.

Among the Latin players, Nacho Gundesen (ARG) and Rafael Teixeira (BRA) are the only ones who advanced to Round 5 with a very strong level of competition.

And speaking of solidity, the Canary Islander Luis Diaz advanced unstoppably despite having one of the toughest matches of the event so far against Jorgann Couzinet (FRA), Andy Criere (ESP) and Ethan Eguiguren (ESP).

As the tide went out, the conditions became more complicated, making it difficult to find waves. In the end, the Canary and the Frenchman passed, leaving Ethan and Andy out.

The sun shone in the afternoon and the beach was packed to welcome the girls. The favourites did not disappoint either and Pauline Ado (FRA), Maud Le Car (FRA), Lucía Martiño (ESP), Nadia Erostarbe (ESP), Garazi Sanchez (ESP), Leticia Canales (ESP) and defending champion Carol Henrique (POR) made it to round 3.

The surfing of the French Maud and Pauline made it clear that they are hungry, although the one who started off stronger was the Bizkaia native Garazi Sanchez, who as soon as she entered the water scored the highest score of the event so far (9.23), leaving her three opponents in check for the rest of the heat. “I was motivated because I had seen that the rights were very good and Pauline and Maud had achieved good scores. After that wave I relaxed and dedicated myself to surfing and trying. The truth is that it was not easy to find the good one,” Garazi told DUKE with a broad smile after winning her heat.

The championship will continue tomorrow, Friday, with smaller but orderly conditions. The wind will be offshore all day with a fair amount of consistency and the first call will be at 10 am for the girls and 4 pm for the men.