The reef builds steeply from the ocean floor here at Bel Ombre and as such sometimes struggles to allow a big swell to steadily pitch. The abrupt nature of this reef’s shape can really jack up a smaller swell though, and today’s reduced ocean pulses made powerful contact with the shallow coral structure to produce superb, clean, mid-to-large waves over the reef.

Conditions continued to deliver all day, inspiring some outstanding performances – high skills were richly rewarded. 

We re-joined the men’s single elimination with two heats still to complete in round two, between Kiko Roig Torres and Jeremy Chan, and then Airton Cozzolino versus Graham Carney.

Airton started the day fully charged from the get-go at 09.30am. The head-high to double overhead cross-shore conditions looked to suit him down to the ground. Some people had been commenting that perhaps this wouldn’t be his event as there are better pure kite’surfers’ here than him, and that sometimes he’s a bit too aggressive with his kite when judges are looking for a pure surf style, but all that went out of the window when faced with a reef that demanded respect in order to avoid the eventual big close-outs.

Airton, however, showed no respect and went at his heats like an animal uncaged. Fearless and fast, his pin-point accuracy and incredible ability to read every section perfectly was foreboding for any competitor. In beating Graham Harney, the double World Champion from Cape Verde found himself lined up against local rider Jeremy Chan, who had famously knocked Cozzolino out at the same round three stage of this competition in 2016 (giving Matchu Lopes enough of an opportunity to take full advantage, winning that event, and eventually the 2016 Championship by the smallest of margins later in the year).

To say he had been looking forward to revenge was probably an understatement.

James Carew was continuing his own no-holds-barred approach on his backside, saying that he felt that the size and form of today’s wave suited his radical driving turns and know-no-limits barrel hunting.

Event MC this time (through shoulder injury) Matchu Lopes says, “He’s powerful, radical, always positive – he’s full-send all the time; success or failure. Whether he’s ill or injured, it doesn’t matter, he’s a powerhouse that takes a huge force to take down.” (James picked up an ankle strain when training earlier in the week, and looked to be limping a bit still on the beach – watching him on the water, you wouldn’t know, though).

The Australian came through a tight backside heat against his team mate Pedro Matos. Up next was Oswald Smith who had just ejected Mitu Monteiro, lying second in the Championship. A surprise? Depends on your perspective. South African Smith doesn’t do the whole tour and was riding fast and loose, having already reached the quarter finals of the twin-tip Freestyle earlier in the week and now in his preferred discipline was looking very dangerous, totally at home hacking waves on his front hand, nothing to lose, grabbing a nice cover up barrel on his way past Mitu.

SEMI-FINAL 01: Carew V Smith was one of the most thrilling heats of the day, packed with solid rides. 8.9 and 7.73 were James’ best two scores out of a haul of 13 wave attempts was the most we’d seen piled into a heat so far.

Ozzie wasn’t far behind on ten waves, with a 7.3 high score of his own, but the super powerful Australian backsider confirmed his almost sure destiny of making it to the final, such has been the consistent calibre of his heat performances here so far.

Back on Airton’s side of the draw, in his quarter final re-match with Jeremy Chan there were no close calls.

Having scored a 9.7 on his seventh wave, Airton hooked onto another big swell for wave eight. Dropping in he carved incisively back up, turned sharply at the top, stalled and then hit the gas full bore into a sick barrel, punched through the curtain, but no need to adjust – his weight was perfect – he went straight into another powerful bottom turn, detonated the lip, air dropped back into the wave, made another two turns and kicked out, shaking his hand by his side and looking up to the sky with thanks. He knew how rad that was… did the judges? Yes they did – 10 POINTS.

Airton went on to overcome Jan Marcos Riveras in the semi-final, who had performed with his usual composed and clinical wave attack, but just couldn’t hang on to Airton’s coat tails this time.