Vasco Ribeiro is no stranger to big, righthand reef breaks and his experience in heavy surf along the Iberian Peninsula paid off. The Portuguese surfer trailed heat-leader Tanner Gudauskas for the first 29 minutes of their Round Two heat, then picked up a clean set wave, smashed it three times and scored a 9.37 in the final 45 seconds.
At the mid-way point of the heat, Gudauskas (who came out with guns blazing) used two solid rides to combo the rest of the pack with a 15.66 wave score. But as the solid 6-8 foot swell continued to pump, Ribeiro, Costa Rican Carlos Munoz and Tahitian O'Neill Massin chipped away at Tanner's early lead. With the heat hanging in the balance, Gudauskas left the door cracked open just enough for Ribeiro, who put down the top wave score of the day. Gudauskas hung on for second place over Massin and Munoz.