07 First bottle of champagne: European surfer of the year on the WQS, Tiago Pires was the earlier qualifier with a brillant first half of the season. Tiago stepped up his game again in Hawai with some strong surfing at Sunset. On the final QS ranking, the Portugeuse powerhouse has secured the 4th position with 12100 points.

07 The second bottle of Veuve Cliquot will be opened in his home town in Zarautz by all the surfing community there, Aritz Aranburu claimed 5th position thanks to a good Hawaiian leg, with a semi-final finish in solid Haleiwa. The Basque surfer managed to stay in the top 20 all year thanks to his victory in Brazil and secured his berth in the 2008 Foster ASP World Tour on the rock where guts and balls matter.

Last but not least, I can nearly hear that third bottle going off from where I live. It’s got to be a Don Perignon. Cap B Miky Picon returns to the WCT that he left couple of years ago full of regrets. It was a stressful wait for the Frenchman who wasn’t able to control his destiny because of his early loss both at Haleiwa and Sunset. But Miky looked good on the ratings before Hawaii and the numbers played in his favour. No doubt that sipping on the fuzzy champagne, there will be a sigh of relief…

Those three buddies will join Jeremy Flores next year, producing the strongest European contingent ever on the elite surfing tour. And hopefully that will create an in-draught for all Europeans out there. Congratulations guys!