Age: 13
Home: Praia da Poça, Portugal.
Sponsors: O’Neill, DVS, Oakley, TMN, 6 foot, O&E, Quinta da Marinha, Pukas.

Vasco started surfing at six with his father, and three years later he was donning the contest vest for the first time of many to come, without delay climbing to the highest spot on the podium. That was in 2004, and four years later he’s been doing quite well in contests, with the most significant results being two times Under 12 National Champ and a 1st place on a Portuguese Pro Junior (Under 20) event when he was only 12! In 2008 so far, he’s done five events, got 1st in two and 2nd in the other three (these being Under18/20).

Vasco is also quite a character, taking a good look at the hottest girls in the shopping centre and dreaming about a tuned up Porsche Cayenne with golden rims and a state of the art sound system – “I like tuned up cars, but that would be a car just to drive in Hawaii, not in Europe. For that I’d have the regular Cayenne, all black, please”, he explains. He’s the kind of teenager no one would mind to take on a surf trip: polite, easy going, and a pure surfer that takes pleasure from any kind of waves on any kind of board, or even without one. As long as you keep him close to the ocean and Ted’s Bakery burgers on the North Shore, or having a nice ‘bitoque’ (steak with a fried egg on top and French fries) surrounded by family at his grand parents’ restaurant in front of his home break, he’s stoked.

Sure, every contest season that goes by we see a new kid winning a contest and everybody froths on the newcomer that surfs better than everyone. “The next Slater, the next Jeremy, the next Tiago…etc, etc.” But in the case of Vasco, the proverbial ‘remember this kid’s name’ rings particularly true.

Photos & Text: Ricardo Bravo