The four judges of the Volkswagen Autumn Wave, Leo Manganelli from Montevideo, Roberto Damiani from Canelones, Pancho Flesh from Maldonado and Canario Vázquez from Rocha, will decide for the first time in history who will be the surfers who, in addition to surfing a good wave, will take home at least $1.000 in cash.

When it came to putting together the list, tournament organizer Rodrigo Caballero said: “The judges were chosen for being surfing references, people who have influenced and inspired other surfers, who know our coast like few others, all of them live their lives based on the most precious values ​​of surfing; that is, the search, whether for the perfect wave or board.”

The four referees will assign a score to each of the waves they have to judge and will define the 15 finalists on a monthly basis, who will then score again in the final round. The fifth vote that will determine the winners of The Wave of Autumn will be the public vote.

Related: Read the rules of The Autumn Wave.

Pancho Flesh, 56 years old, from Maldonado 

A pioneer in the manufacture of surfing suits in Uruguay with the Flesh brand that he founded in the mid-eighties, he has traveled and snorkeled in different corners of the globe, including Australia, Indonesia and South Africa.

Years surfing: 42

An unforgettable storm surge in Uruguay: February 2, 1982, I remember it perfectly because I had only one exam left to enter college, and I was in Montevideo! I woke up that morning, I lived in front of Playa Honda, and it was marked like a notebook, there were breakers two kilometers away showing foam.

But lines! It seems that a bass must have been working. At Playa Honda the left side of the pier was breaking and I was desperate because at noon or I don't know what time I had to take my last exam and I was already free and I was going to college. Desperate we threw ourselves into La Pantalla. The right side was breaking and the left side was also rolling, the prefecture fell and came out to chase us away, it was a disaster!

As soon as I left, I changed and went to take the exam. I remember the date perfectly because it was the last one.

"And those who were here in Punta del Este could not surf that day, it was closed from Manantiales to Montoya, in Punta del Este it was not possible to surf"

And those who were here in Punta del Este couldn't surf that day, it was closed from Manantiales to Montoya, in Punta del Este it was impossible to surf. The next day when I went, because the swell lasted three or four days, we surfed in Manantiales, it was huge.

We arrived at La Barra and I met Donato Piscione; the force of the sea had torn off his windscreen. We continued looking for a place to surf and in Manantiales there was more or less a channel between the left and the right.

I remember that Donato was there, Garza, I don't know if Hormiga was there, there were about eight of us in there who had been able to get in, we were in there, very far away. At one point I see Donato 30 or 40 meters further inside waiting for a series, and the whole horizon became marked and we started to row in, Donato passed one, the other passed and I was coming behind, on the third wave Donato passed and I fell in front of him.

The board flew to shit, I didn't even feel when the leash was cut. And when I came out from under the water it was all white, a foam cushion about half a meter high that when it loosens lets me see two or three boards on end, bobbing.

Then another foam came, dragged me a little further and I found my board coming back through the channel, it was there! I was able to grab it and get out with another foam dragging me.

When I came out, La Garza, the one who does the Becker, was lying face up in the sand, breathing. And that was the second day. On the third day we were able to enter La Barra through La Posta.

I think it lasted three or four days, but that was the biggest swell.

I imagine the fall wave has to be like this:
The ideal wave would be a wave with two tubes, that's the one, with a small size.

Leo Manganelli, 53, from Montevideo

Legendary lifeguard from Montevideo, currently in the epicenter of Montevideo surfing, Playa Honda. He has surfed all along the coast during the golden age of Uruguayan surfing, when there was little but it was very enjoyable.

Years surfing: Since 82, I was 15 years old and I bought my first board, I have been surfing for 38 years.

An unforgettable storm surge in Uruguay: “Uh, I remember, it broke at four meters!” I’m not going to say that (laughs). There were many swells, but for me the unforgettable ones are the first ones, the ones where the sea is in front of you and you are discovering yourself, the first big seas, feeling the force of the sea, realizing those kinds of things. Those are the nice swells, the ones that make you grow, the ones that shape you as a surfer, beyond the fact that you get beaten up, they are the seas that teach you.

If I have to keep any memory, it is from the first times I went to Santa Teresa, in the eighties, when we were racing La Moza. I remember jumping off the rock inwards and taking a position in front of the rock, passing by and continuing down there. I remember what I felt that day and I always repeat it: to surf you need legs, that day I kept that in mind. They were big waves but it wasn't a mega swell either. I kept going and going and I got to the middle of the beach and my legs cramped up; you have to have strength in the shrimps.

Another one was in September 2001 in Zanja Honda, I had stayed alone at a friend's ranch in La Paloma. When I got to the beach I met an old acquaintance and I asked him: "What are you waiting for?" "For someone to arrive (laughs)", he replied. He was a tremendous surfer, a reference, and I remember that he already had his wetsuit on. "Well, let's go," I said, and I remember that that day was one of the best I've ridden in Zanja Honda and I got really drunk and started drinking and before I knew it I was in front of the rock, I pulled my head out and left the board split in half. It was a good day with big, beautiful waves.

I'm not a big rider but I've tried to do everything that's come my way.

I imagine the fall wave has to be like this: A nice tubular wave that then offers room for a couple of maneuvers.

Canario Vázquez, 64 years old, from Rocha

Legendary and charismatic local from La Paloma where he was a teacher, coach and mentor to hundreds of surfers, several of whom ended up becoming international talents. In the eighties he had a good competitive career, achieving podiums in Uruguay and also in Venezuela where he traveled and made a great impact for his surfing but also for his ability as a shaper.

Talented goofy footer, he has managed to get good tubes at home and also on his trips. When Zanja Honda is in the classic, the Canario commands.

An unforgettable storm surge in Uruguay: For me, an autumn swell that was unforgettable, although it wasn't the biggest but it was incredible, was in the year 2000, it was when we discovered La Gema, or, I don't know if we discovered it or surfed it for the first time.

With Fede Serveto, Mormaii, Cacho, Queso, a band. The thing was that I was about 400 meters from the shore, a classic autumn morning breaking perfectly for both sides with a meter and a half to two meters.

It was a week of waves that remained the same size and every day we left we pinched ourselves because we couldn't believe what we had surfed, a wave very different from what we surf here in Uruguay.

The swell was very good, typical of the south, with a northerly wind, it was really, really good; an incredible swell.

La Gema, known as Laguna de Rocha, was the name we gave it that first day in 2000. Matt Galean was there at the time, and I had the honor of naming it. It wasn’t that I said to myself, “I’m going to call it La Gema,” but rather, I said, “What a gem!” As everyone knows, the first person to surf it, or the one who discovers it, in our sport, names the wave.

For those of us who surfed it from that generation, "La Gema" was the one left.

I imagine the fall wave has to be like this: Early, with a land wind, a cool morning, with sun and warm water in a five to seven foot beach break, top to bottom… It has to be a great tube, with friends and taking about five swims throughout the day.

Roberto Damiani, 72 years old, from Canelones

A member of the first generation of Uruguayan surfers from outside of Montevideo, they surfed at the now-defunct Las Toscas pier between 1965 and 1970. He was national champion in 1979 and runner-up in one of the first international tournaments held in Uruguay, which was won by one of the best in the world at that time, Daniel Friedman.

Shaper with more than half a century of experience and several thousand boards manufactured. He has discovered more than one spot along the Uruguayan coast.

Years surfing: If surfing is playing in the waves then I've been at it since the 50's; bellyboarding, skimboarding, mat surfing or mat surfing.

If we have to give the diehards in this category a chance, then it's been 51 years.

An unforgettable storm surge in Uruguay: Perhaps the most bizarre, if not the greatest, is one from the early 70s that was a rite of passage for the entire batch of young pigeons who had recently joined the Uwaris.

Several of us were surfing at Las Toscas pier one morning, calm and glassy, ​​and we saw that the waves began to grow with each set and to close.

We decided to go to the Brava de Atlántida, which was bigger. We went in for a while, but seeing that they kept growing, it occurred to us that the stream in Parque del Plata must be quite a spectacle, and we all set off there in droves on our bicycles and mopeds.

When we appeared over the dune, there was a unanimous cry of euphoria. We saw one of the members of the barra who lived closer and had arrived earlier, but something was not right because he was on the shore, wet and obviously very nervous. He told us that he had tried to get in and had not been able to because they seemed bigger and bigger.

Finally we all entered, encouraged by the most experienced, who at that time were skinny Salvo, Alex and I, herding the newbies among whom I remember Firpo, Ike, Cirilo (with his 5 Shoe), Peludo Tony, Bochi...

It was the first time we saw the sea rise from half a metre to two and a half metres in a couple of hours, without wind, just due to the effect of a swell.

I imagine the fall wave has to be like this: Something similar to those. The stream generally came out at the height of 24th Street in Parque del Plata, but in those days the mouth had moved further east and the bank was further inland, which allowed it to hold more water.

That: The autumn wave would have to be glassy, ​​heavy, polenta, with the color of the sea in the background.

"The autumn wave should be glassy, ​​heavy, polenta, with the color of the sea in the background"