WATCH: Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker wins Big Wave Tour Nazaré Challenge
Baker has time and time again proven to be a threat in all conditions when the waves hit maximum heights.
Salt Rock’s Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker, the two-time Big Wave Tour Champion, won the World Surf League (WSL) Big Wave Tour (BWT) Nazaré Challenge this weekend in incredible 25-to-40-foot surf at the infamous Portuguese big-wave venue of Praia do Norte, Nazaré.
The event launched early Friday morning in glassy conditions with 25-foot-plus wave-faces around the high tide mark and as the tide dropped conditions got heavier and heavier to culminate with large surf in the 35-to-40-foot range, with occasional larger sets.
Mike Parsons, Big Wave Tour commissioner has granted this event a Silver coefficient, meaning results in Nazaré will carry a 10% increase in points (e.g. 11,000 points for the winner).
A relatively discrete surfer in the opening round and the semifinal, advancing in third place in both heats, ‘Twiggy’ peaked at the exact right time to pull off some of the most incredible drops and rides seen all day in Nazaré during the final.
The tall and powerful regular foot went both to his forehand and backhand in the final to score an incredible 8.67 and 7.70 on his way to a first victory in Portugal.
“I don’t believe it, this is insane,” said Baker,
“These kids were going so hard today and I cannot believe I have still got that in me.
“That 8.67 was the wave I had been waiting for, it came right to me and I ended up being super late, it was a crazy big section.
“What a day, just perfect, perfect Nazaré, it’s a dream. Lucas (Chianca) was the man to beat and Natxo (Gonzalez) got that crazy barrel in the semis, somehow I got lucky and I got out on top!”
https://www.facebook.com/WSL/videos/192677778348849/
The 2013 and 2016 Big Wave Tour Champion, Baker has time and time again proven to be a threat in all conditions when the waves hit maximum heights.
Baker came out on top of one of the best days of big wave professional surfing ever seen.
The final got underway quickly with good rides from most surfers, but undoubtedly Lucas Chianca (BRA), the defending event champion in Nazaré, got the better of the early exchanges.
The young Brasilian posted a 7.17 and 6.23 to take a strong lead early on and continued to play with the massive lefts he’d been dominating since early this morning.
His ability to drop late into the steep walls impressed as he navigated some of the best waves of the day.
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