The last four-man heats get completed, paving the way for an exciting finals day on Sunday.
Pumping surf graced Day Five of competition at the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro with clean four-to-five foot rights and lefts breaking all-day. The perfectly shaped banks delivered super fun waves in the head high range for the last two rounds of four-man heats.
Nomme Mignot took on Timothee Bisso and Lucca Mesinas Novaro in a epic goofy foot battle in the opening heat of the men's Round Six. The three youngsters took turns to drop big scores, the biggest of which was Tim's near-perfect 9.70. But one score is never enough and Nomme found the better back up to take the win this time ahead of Tim.
Barrels, airs and massive turns. Day 5 had it all. Joaquin Del Castillo taking flight. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"I thought I was safe with a 7 and a 5 until Tim dropped that 9.70," Nomme explained. "I knew I had to get another big score to make it through. I'm super happy to be here and feeling great with all my family around, I'm having a great time competing this season. I've had a couple decent results, I'm still struggling on the big events but it's only my second year fully on tour so I'm just happy to be able to surf them and gain experience."
The very next heat was pretty much a plain copy with Marc Lacomare, Tom Cloarec and Mateia Hiquily all playing for the goofy foot team. Except this time the fourth man was style master Vincent Duvignac and he gave the goofies a good run for their money!
There were a few kegs to be had on the right tide. Leo Paul Etienne slows himself into a clean one. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
Duvi made the trip to Anglet last night for the Surf de Nuit, which he won, and did not look any less motivated, or in shape when he attacked the heat with all he had. All four surfers put a 7+ score on the board and the battle of the back ups began. Once again experience paid dividends and Duvi walked away with the win.
"I surfed the Anglet Surf de Nuit last night and only got back here around 3 a.m, woke up early for my first heat so I didn't really have much to think about and just went with the flow," he said. "I was pretty tired, maybe I lost my focus at the end of that last heat, and unfortunately I injured myself a little bit landing an air. It doesn't seem too bad though, I was well looked after by the lifeguards and the event physio and hopefully I'll be good to go tomorrow."
Dean Bowen kept the ball rolling and added another win for Team Goofy, courtesy of an 8.33 for his spotless efforts on a backhand ride.
French beachies at their finest. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"There were a lot of opportunities out there, I was lucky I pulled out an old faithful board that Parrish Byrne shaped me and it held nice and strong and felt good," he said. "I had a plan to surf strong and stuck to it, and I guess that's what the judges wanted to see."
Then it was time to move on to the women's event, and boy did it not disappoint! For the second time this week the women enjoyed some of the best waves all day and put on incredible performances, starting with the form surfer of the moment, Ella Williams.
Juliette Brice takes a page out of Jordy Smith's how to carve book. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
Ella is on an impressive winning streak and continued to prove she's a fair bet for the event title, again. She's the defending champ in Lacanau and fears no one since her opponents in the finals last year all got eliminated today.
"It was great, the waves were pumping and I found cool lefts and rights out there," she said. "I'm super stoked to make finals day again, definitely brings back good memories. I'm taking a lot of confidence and experience from all the heats that I'm in, learning and growing as an athlete so it's an exciting time for me."
Vahine Fierro took everyone by surprise in Heat 3 when she dominated last year's finalist Claire Bevilacqua and semifinalist Justine Dupont. Vahine took her Tahitian power to the test on the brilliant sets on offer and destroyed on her forehand to post an impressive 15.60 heat total for her spot in the quarters.
It's pretty clear Vahine Fierro is not afraid of a little commitment. - WSL / Laurent Masurel
"I knew this was en extremely tough heat and I knew it would take some pretty big scores to get through," she said. "The waves really improved a lot and it was so much fun out there. All the girls are super strong so may the best one win and I'm just excited to keep going tomorrow!"
Sunday will resume with a 9:20 a.m Call to start around 9:50 a.m and crown the champions mid-afternoon.
Check out all photos, videos, updates and tune in to the LIVE webcast when the event resumes right here.
Finals Set for Super Sunday at Caraïbos Lacanau Pro
Nicolas Leroy
Pumping surf graced Day Five of competition at the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro with clean four-to-five foot rights and lefts breaking all-day. The perfectly shaped banks delivered super fun waves in the head high range for the last two rounds of four-man heats.
Nomme Mignot took on Timothee Bisso and Lucca Mesinas Novaro in a epic goofy foot battle in the opening heat of the men's Round Six. The three youngsters took turns to drop big scores, the biggest of which was Tim's near-perfect 9.70. But one score is never enough and Nomme found the better back up to take the win this time ahead of Tim.
"I thought I was safe with a 7 and a 5 until Tim dropped that 9.70," Nomme explained. "I knew I had to get another big score to make it through. I'm super happy to be here and feeling great with all my family around, I'm having a great time competing this season. I've had a couple decent results, I'm still struggling on the big events but it's only my second year fully on tour so I'm just happy to be able to surf them and gain experience."
The very next heat was pretty much a plain copy with Marc Lacomare, Tom Cloarec and Mateia Hiquily all playing for the goofy foot team. Except this time the fourth man was style master Vincent Duvignac and he gave the goofies a good run for their money!
Duvi made the trip to Anglet last night for the Surf de Nuit, which he won, and did not look any less motivated, or in shape when he attacked the heat with all he had. All four surfers put a 7+ score on the board and the battle of the back ups began. Once again experience paid dividends and Duvi walked away with the win.
"I surfed the Anglet Surf de Nuit last night and only got back here around 3 a.m, woke up early for my first heat so I didn't really have much to think about and just went with the flow," he said. "I was pretty tired, maybe I lost my focus at the end of that last heat, and unfortunately I injured myself a little bit landing an air. It doesn't seem too bad though, I was well looked after by the lifeguards and the event physio and hopefully I'll be good to go tomorrow."
Dean Bowen kept the ball rolling and added another win for Team Goofy, courtesy of an 8.33 for his spotless efforts on a backhand ride.
"There were a lot of opportunities out there, I was lucky I pulled out an old faithful board that Parrish Byrne shaped me and it held nice and strong and felt good," he said. "I had a plan to surf strong and stuck to it, and I guess that's what the judges wanted to see."
Then it was time to move on to the women's event, and boy did it not disappoint! For the second time this week the women enjoyed some of the best waves all day and put on incredible performances, starting with the form surfer of the moment, Ella Williams.
Ella is on an impressive winning streak and continued to prove she's a fair bet for the event title, again. She's the defending champ in Lacanau and fears no one since her opponents in the finals last year all got eliminated today.
"It was great, the waves were pumping and I found cool lefts and rights out there," she said. "I'm super stoked to make finals day again, definitely brings back good memories. I'm taking a lot of confidence and experience from all the heats that I'm in, learning and growing as an athlete so it's an exciting time for me."
Vahine Fierro took everyone by surprise in Heat 3 when she dominated last year's finalist Claire Bevilacqua and semifinalist Justine Dupont. Vahine took her Tahitian power to the test on the brilliant sets on offer and destroyed on her forehand to post an impressive 15.60 heat total for her spot in the quarters.
"I knew this was en extremely tough heat and I knew it would take some pretty big scores to get through," she said. "The waves really improved a lot and it was so much fun out there. All the girls are super strong so may the best one win and I'm just excited to keep going tomorrow!"
Sunday will resume with a 9:20 a.m Call to start around 9:50 a.m and crown the champions mid-afternoon.
Check out all photos, videos, updates and tune in to the LIVE webcast when the event resumes right here.
Mateia Hiquily
2019 Ride of the Year Entry: Mateia Hiquily at Teahupoo on July 5, 2018. Video by Timothe Pruvost
2019 XXL Biggest Wave Entry: Mateia Hiquily at Teahupoo, Tahiti on July 5, 2018. 2 shot sequence by Romuald Pliquet.
Check out some epic shots from Ribeira d'Ilhas and get excited for this year's QS10,000 in September!
Top seeds enter the show as competition moves into the men's Round Four in Lacanau.
International mix still strong with 16 left in contention
Caraïbos Lacanau Pro
Check out a selection of images from last year's Caraïbos Lacanau Pro.
Marc Lacomare & Philippa Anderson top their respective fields to claim the Caraïbos Lacanau Pro titles.
Huge scores and high drama on finals day to crown the 2017 event champions in front of capacity crowds.
The last four-man heats get completed, paving the way for an exciting finals day on Sunday.