Portugal for men and women

The Rip Curl Pro is on in Portugal  with the women in the water. WA's Claire Bevilacqua is currently in heat four of round one.

The waves look ok, decent size and offshore but they don't seem to allow huge moves.

The swell forecasts show a massive blob in the swell window and they are starting to talk it up as storm of the century !

Rip Curl have a decent webcast and the men will be shown on FuelTV.

Round two and three

Brazil started late last night with the non-elimination round one. Not that it matters but other than Parko the top surfers lost. The Hopgoods both got through to round three in waves that suit their styles. Travis Logie lost again.

Round two is on now. The waves are ok, decent size but a bit all over the place. It looks like there will be some slow heats wave count wise. It is cold, grey and pouring with rain - no bikini babes at this time of the year.

Taj has just won his round two heat with a huge air and a combo score over a Brazilian wildcard. Even if Taj has lost both his top scores he still would have won easily with his two back ups. Mick is in the water now against a local and Slater is up next against another one.

The webcast is basic but Billabong seems to have sent their commentators. Luke Egan, Snips Parsons and GT are a huge step up over the people used at last year's event.

BILLABONG SANTA CATARINA PRO ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Tanio Barreto (BRA)
Heat 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ricardo dos Santos (BRA)
Heat 3: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Messias Felix (BRA)
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Blake Thornton (AUS)
Heat 5: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Marco Polo (BRA)
Heat 6: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Nate Yeomans (USA)
Heat 8: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 9: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Luke Stedman (AUS) vs. Luke Munro (AUS)
Heat 11: Andy Irons (HAW) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 12: Daniel Ross (AUS) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 13: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 14: Jadson Andre (BRA) vs. Drew Courtney (AUS)
Heat 15: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)
Heat 16: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)

The women have had three lay days in a row. They are into round three with all heats potentially exciting. Steph Gilmore is up against another wildcard. WA's Claire Bevo has a hard heat against Sophia Mulanovich.

COMMONWEALTH BANK BEACHLEY CLASSIC ROUND 3 MATCHUPS:
Heat 1: Silvana Lima (BRA) vs. Amee Donohoe (AUS)
Heat 2: Chelsea Hedges (AUS) vs. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
Heat 3: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Rebecca Woods (AUS)
Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Laura Enever (AUS)
Heat 5: Sofia Mulanovich (AUS) vs. Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)
Heat 6: Coco Ho (HAW) vs. Paige Hareb (NZL)
Heat 7: Melanie Bartels (HAW) vs. Rosanne Hodge (ZAF)
Heat 8: Sally Fitzgibbons (HAW) vs. Lee Ann Curren (FRA)

Don't Trust This

Doing this the slack way - from the webcam and the weather report. Its too cold to head outside.

Looks like there are a couple of little waves in front of the Surf Club. Winds are light and not really from any set direction. It will probably turn onshore soon and strengthen in the afternoon.

Swell in the channel is 0.9 which is more solid than is showing on the back beach. The tide is low and on its way up.

Rest of the week looks wet and onshore with a front probably in tomorrow.