As you may have heard by now, the window for one of the world’s best surf contests is officially open. It’s the Perfect Chapter, or Capítulo Perfeito in Portuguese. In the lead up to the green light, which is only turned on when a certain threshold, conditions-wise, is reached, the organizers are releasing short profiles of the competitors.
The Perfect Chapter is an interesting event. The surfers are picked through a fan voting system, so you know the fan favorites are going to be there. When the Perfect Chapter first ran in 2012, it was a local contest. But in the years since, it’s been opened up to international surfers. And much like the Eddie, the contest runs if the waves are outstandingly good.
The event moves around, depending on the year. “They’ve had it at Supertubes, they’ve had it at Nazaré,” Nic von Rupp told me a few years ago. “Nazaré is actually a really good beachbreak when it’s smaller. We had it pretty good before at Carcavelos. Like, firing for the Perfect Chapter. I mean, you’ve seen the footage right? It’s fucking insane.”
This year, the event will be held at Carcavelos again. It’s a fickle beachbreak, but when it’s working, it’s one of the finest waves anywhere in the world. Called on with only 72 hours notice, Perfect Chapter competitors must get to the beautiful little town of Cascais for the one day event and get barreled off their heads as much as possible before the day is done.
Nic von Rupp is one of the most influential surfers in the world, and he calls Portugal home. He’s won the Perfect Chapter twice now, once in 2013 and again the very next year, and he’s hoping for a third title this year. Only he and Aritz Aranburu have won the event twice, so organizers have decided to up the stakes for them, creating a special three-time champ trophy.
Keep an eye on the Perfect Chapter here on The Inertia or on Capituloperfeito.com.
