Photo by Alex Laurel

The Billabong Pro, part of the ASP 2006 Foster’s Men’s World Tour will be taking place in Euskadi, Spain, from October 3-14th.

The famous left-hander of Mundaka has come back with vengeance two weeks before the start of the tenth event of the Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour. No later than last week, Mundaka produced some of the thickest and heaviest waves in the history of the break.

“This early season swell was fantastic, Mundaka really showed her teeth with some heavy waves that even had the locals pulling back!” commented Carl Wieser, Men’s Marketing Manager at Billabong Europe.

Last Thursday, in challenging conditions; west winds, pouring rain and the tide going out, 25 surfers entered the water. By full low tide at 5pm, they were riding 10 foot waves breaking on 1 foot of water.

Francois Liets, marketing co-ordinator of the Network Surf Division at Billabong Europe, went along for the ride. “It was almost impossible to take off. When someone got up, the ride lasted 10 seconds before they fell down the face of the wave!”

By Friday, the rain had not let up, but the news of Mundaka’s supremacy had travelled. 90 guys crowded the water all day, waiting for their turn to ride. The wind was still blowing west, but although the waves had gone down to 5-6 foot they retained their strength from the day before.

“The take-off was not as close to the rocks as it has been in previous years. It’s about 40m away now, so you don’t get the full wave. But the mid-section was definitely the best,” said Liets.

“On the bigger day Mundaka broke through both the high and low tides, which is rare as normally it only works at low tide. If we get another strong swell in our waiting period that can last for 4 days, we can get through the entire draw without stopping,” added Wieser.

Local surfers such as Ibon Amatrian, Natxo Fernandez, Iker Fuentes, Eneko and Kepa Acero, as well as Billabong riders Fabrice Gelez and Ben Sanchis, were impressed with the conditions of the sand bar.

The Billabong Pro Mundaka, with an impressive prize purse of $US 280,000, will start on October 3rd. Check out the live events on: www.billabongpro.com

The 2006 Billabong Pro Mundaka is supported by Von Zipper, Kustom, Yamaha/Cobra, Bose, Powerade, the Mundaka and Bakio Surf Clubs and the cities of Mundaka and Bakio.