Natxo González finished third in the Nazaré Challenge

The Basque surfed the best wave of the tournament and was awarded as the most daring. Twiggy Baker won, Chumbo Chianca was vice

November 16, 2018

Cover photo: Capture of Natxo's note 10 hit, by Jon Aspuru

Basque surfer Natxo González came third in a very special Nazaré Challenge, the best of the
three that have been carried out, which took place on a morning of perfect, consistent and giant waves.

He was also awarded the prize for being the most committed surfer in the tournament, especially thanks to the 10-point barrel he got in the semi-finals, for which he came out of a barrel on a giant wave.

The tournament was won by South African Grant “Twiggy” Baker, with defending champion Lucas Chianca finishing second, and the final draw was completed by locals Alex Botelho and Joao de Macedo and Australian Russell Bierke.

Gonzalez waited patiently for his first wave in the one-hour final, waiting 30 minutes to surf the first one, which was a bomb worth 8,67 x 2. He then quickly backed it up with two more that ended up giving him first place, which he held until there were 10 minutes left when Grant Baker surfed a bomb.

Second consecutive year on the podium for Natxo González, twice third and already with one foot in the 2019/2020 tour. All photos: WSL/Poullenot

Natxo in another bombshell, heading for the podium, the award for the most bossy, the top 5 of the ranking and to fulfill his dreams. All photos: @WSL - Poullenot - Masurel less mentioned

Then, Lucas Chianca surfed an intermediate left in which the judges were very generous and paid 8,07 which was enough to pass González.

In the end Baker won with 25,04, but the rest of the finalists were very close: Chianca with 23,31, González with 22,71, Botelho with 22,06, De Macedo with 20,87 and Bierke 18,89.

Third place in an event that was determined to be a “silver” scoring scale event (the second in line) puts Natxo in a very good position to fight for reclassification, but above all, for the 2018/2019 world title.

“I came with all my friends and family and the ones I really love. That helped me a lot here,” said the boy from Plencia who added: “I felt like I was at home because the local people are amazing.” “It was clean and perfect, we enjoyed the water, the vibes in the water were amazing, all the people cheering each other on and that’s what surfing is all about,” Natxo concluded.