FM – Did you have any scary moments?
TT- I didn’t have one scary moment in particular, I was really focussed all the time and knew something was going to happen at one point. On my 5th attempt I dropped into a wave that was a close out and tried to kick out when I realised it was closing out mid-bottom turn, but it was almost too late and I just managed to eject over the face. The next wave was bigger and I had to look at the wall breaking some metres in front of me before I went under the water and waited for the whitewater to pass. More than scared, I was angry with myself for making the wrong decision. I thought the session was over as my sail was ripped off the mast. The jet ski picked me up and dropped me at the beach, where I decided to rig another sail and try to get out on the northern part of the beach. Somehow I made it, pumping like a maniac between the relatively small waves. I avoided any major set waves and got to the outside completely exhausted and running on a lot of adrenalin. After that I knew I had been through the hardest part of the day and I only had to go for it and enjoy.
FM – What kit and safety measures did you use?
TT- I used my medium board, 68 litres, it’s the same board I used in Tenerife for the PWA, and fins were the normal ones, 15 cm centre and 10 cm side fins from Tabou. I made a mistake to go on a 4.2 at the beginning, it was very light even though it looked windy, but after breaking that sail I used my 4.5 IQ and that was perfect. I was wearing an impact vest ( wakeboard) as I usually do if it’s very big and heavy, and the friend of a friend was there to help me with his jet ski – Pecas is a good surfer from Portugal and is just starting to go to Nazaré but he did a great job staying next to me in case something would happen, and picked me up pretty quickly after I took that wave on the head.