HISTORY

Portugal

During the sixties, there was already a handful of Portuguese surfers that managed to catch waves in a country where there were no surf shops or surfboard shapers.

In 1976 Surfer magazine published a news article that made Portugal well-known.

The first surf competition in Portugal took place in Ericeira, in 1977 and the second competition in Peniche. Little by little EPSA (European Professional Surfing Association), WQS (World Qualify Series), and even some years later WCT (World Champion Tour) competitions began.

The first surf boards made in Portugal came on the market in the late 70ies and early 80ies. However nowadays there is a great amount of shapers, suit factories, web sites and specialized surfing magazines, in Portugal. Surfers, such as Tiago Pires, has raised the competitive level in Portugal. There are more than 60 thousand registered surfers in a country of 10 million people. That makes Portugal one of the biggest surfing nations in Europe.