Riptide Magazine

Amaury Lavernhe Wins Sintra and the World Title!

Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 17:58

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Video courtesy of Mike Stewart.

Amaury Lavernhe has defeated Spainard Guillermo Cobo in the final of the Sintra Pro in Portugal to take the event and seal his first World Title.

Dave Winchester was victorious in the DK Division and Brazil's Isabella Sousa took out the Women's Division.

Riptide will be bringing you more info on Sintra and Amaury's maiden World Title. In the meantime check out the Sintra website or the IBA website.

*Press release from the IBA, received today (1/9):

The final day at the Sintra Portugal Pro shaped up as a good one when organizers were greeted with a solid 3 feet swell and light offshore winds. Little did anyone know what lay ahead was the crowning of a brand new champion in the Men’s division, but more on that later.

The day started with the remaining heats of the women the girls put on a great display to set standard. Eunate Aguirre (Spain) kept her 2010 title hopes alive with a convincing win over Karla Costa-Taylor. Miya Inoue (Japan) continued her amazing run from the pre-trials by defeating her more experienced opponent Mayla Venturin (Brazil). Its great to see that Japan has some new talent emerging in both the men and the women with Hatato Enokido also rattling some cages in the men. In the final heat of the round Catarina Sousa (Brazil) had a comfortable victory over Clare McGowan (UK) and seemed almost destined to defend her title from 2009.

The DKWT is also a tight race for the championship with just a few rounds remaining and the semi finalists all went at it, blowing the tail out and throwing sheets with every turn.
Semi 1 saw Damian King and ratings leader Dave Hubbard both blown away by Dave Winchester and Jeff Hubbard.

Semi two was also an upset with Ardiel Jimenez (Canary) and Luis Pereira (Portugal) disposing of Diogo Pimenta and Raul Reguera.

DK Final – Winchester, Jeff Hubbard, Adiel Jimenez & Luis Pereira.


The men’s quarterfinals were up next and the surf was looking excellent. The tide had drained off and the offshore winds created the perfect platform for some high performance bodyboarding. In the first one it was all eyes on Amaury Laverhne (Reunion Isle) who with a win against Winchester could move to an almost unassailable lead in the 2010 Championship. Winny started well with a two wave combo over Amaury as the Frenchman played the waiting game for the bigger sets. With 7 minutes remaining Amaury caught his first ride, a modest 6 pointer and now was chasing a 7.5 with 5 minutes on the clock. Whilst paddling out Laverhne steered to the north and found a perfect wedging peak that served up the ideal ramp for an ARS that netted a 9.0. Exit Winny and the crowd were starting to understand the importance of that win. Some people thought that this was enough for him to capture the title there and then, but some quick calculations proved that he needed to win the event to put it beyond doubt. In the next one the current World Champion Jeff Hubbard (Hawaii) snuck past an inform Roberto Bruno (Brazil) and kept his slim hopes alive of retaining the title in 2011.



Manuel Centeno (Portugal) looked confident when he took down Lucas Nogueira (Brazil) and in the last Dave Hubard (Hawaii) fell to the 2009 “Rookie of the Year” Gilermo Cobo (Canary) By this time the crowd was blooming, the sun was shinning and the stage was set for a big showdown at Sintra on what the commentators were calling Super-Sunday.



The women’s quarters rolled out like this.

Q1            1- Natasha Sargardia              2- Luz Maree Grand Perez

Q2            1- Isabella Sousa                        2- Joana Schenker

Q3            1- Miya Inoue                                    2- Eunate Aguirre

Q4            1- Catarina Sousa                        2- Lumar Guittard



The Men’s semi’s followed and the crowd by this time new that something special was about to go down when Amaury and Jeff paddled into the line up. Jeff was trying to keep his title hopes alive and Amaury was determined to end them. It was a classic game of cat and mouse as the two traded priority and big scores but in the end Amaury came out victorious. He was one step away from capturing the title so the celebrations were somewhat low-key as he focused on the most important heat of his career, after all he had been in this position before when Ben Player stopped him in 2007 in Confital. This time he did not want to play bridesmaid again.

Cobo confirmed that he is a star of the future when he smashed Centeno in the next semi and the stage was set for the men’s final.


In the women’s semi’s Isabella Sousa (Brazil) looked unstoppable when she put an end to Natasha Sargardia (PRC) and Miya Inoue beat the crowd favourite Catarina Sousa in convincing fashion.


Women’s final - Isabella vs Miya.
The women started the finals and from the get go Isabella Sousa meant business. Strong combo’s, shape spins and powerful rolls all combined to give her a Grand Slam victory at Sintra. Miya had run out of steam and finished a valiant second, beating some of the worlds best along the way.
“I am very happy” said Isabella. “I came here to win and I did, so lets see what happens now” said the Brazilian.

Next up was the showdown for the 2010 world title between Guilermo Cobo and Amaury Laverhne. Cobo started well but as was the case all contest Amaury’s destiny was laid in stone when he dialled up wave after wave and took the final in convincing style.


The world's best riders assembled on the shoreline to congratulate the new 2010 IBA World Men’s Champion. It was a shock to all that the Sintra Portugal Pro would crown the new champ. We knew that the cards had to fall in a certain fashion for it to happen but the odds were high, in fact very high, and it did not become evident until after lunchtime on the final day that this scenario would play out this way. Either way, Amaury Lavernhe has been by far the most consistent competitor in the history of the sport by securing the title so early in the year. It was destiny for him to be crowned, everything he touched turned to gold and he could do no wrong in every heat he entered. The real celebrations will be saved for the Black Tie IBA Awards night in Canary Islands in December when he will be officially crowned as we don’t want to rob Jeff Hubbard the chance to enjoy his full reign as champ in 2009.

For the record Winny won the DK and smashed the field with some solid single moves and fluid combo’s. Jeff Hubbard was second, third was Ardiel Jimenez and forth place went to Luis “Porkito” Periera.

Overall it was another great showcase of bodyboarding at one of the slickest events on tour. Hats off to Roman and his hard working team that delivers each and every year a contest that bodyboarders can be proud of. Sure, it’s a beach-break but the setup and the actual running of the event gives riders a taste of the future and a feel for what its like to be treated as a professional.

Day 5 Coverage

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Day 4 Coverage

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