Hello Alexandre Grilo!
– Tell me a little about yourself, your surfing and what level you’re on?
I started surfing when I was 15 years old in Carcavelos , near Cascais to challange the fear I had of water. When I signed with my first sponsor I was supposed to go to France and compete on the juniors championship , but the day before I had a huge motorcycle accident that kept me in the hospital for 6 months. After that had a year of recovery and had to learn how to stand up again since my hands got totally smashed in the accident. One year after I moved to Ericeira and started competing in every contest I could. I’ve been up and down the rankings since that. In 2001 I moved to Morocco to start the first lapoint camp, and in 2005 I meet Sebastian and we decided to open a new camp together in Portugal.
– What has been your best ranking in Portugal? Europe? Best result?
My best ranking in Portugal was top 16. Been once 5 on the european champs , champ of Morocco in 2004 , champ of Ericeira for 3 years , and won a few contests in Norway and around Portugal ..
– What do you do for Lapoint?
My job for lapoint its to take care of the surf camps , to develop new camps related to surf and what I love the most its to create new areas for the guests. I also teach special weeks , love to teach kids that want to become professionals , I already helped to put 3 kids on the top 4 in europe ..
– How long have you been surfing? How long have you been coaching other surfers?
I’ve surfed since 1995 and started coaching in 2001, to get some money to start lapoint in Morocco.
– Who do you normaly surf with back home in Ericeira? And what`s your favourite wave there?
I normaly surf with my teachers/ friends , Tiago Pires , Marlon Lipke , Gony. My favourite waves in Portugal it foz do lizandro , ribeira de ilhas and matadouro.
– Tell us a bit about the Moroccan waves and what people can expect when they come for the pro coach week?
Morocco has lots of waves in a small area, thats what make Morocco so special in the winter. People should expect to surf great long waves and to develop their surfing. It feel its like driving a car, more km you drive the faster you learn. Moroccan waves are the same since you ride for so long that your surf develop faster, and since they’re always the same all the time its good to train some new turns and try it over and over again. Im sure will be a great week 🙂 lets hope for a nice swell that week 🙂
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM3T0IIk_JY[/youtube]
– What do you think about the scandinavian surf level? what do we have to do to reach a higher level?
I’ve seen a few surfers in Scandinavia with a potential future. You have Freddy Meadows that moved out and surf very well , you have Tim Latte that have been traveling a lot and surfs ok. He would go far if he didn’t think he was the world champ already in his head . You have the brothers Paulsen that surf a lot in Norway, you have some surfers like Keala (Hawaii) that surf very good and moved to Norway, you can surf with them and learn a lot and the surf movies and internet these days are such an inspiration. I’m sure there are kids out there that just need to spend some time abroad with good company and the surf scene will explode even more in Scandinavia.
– Tell us the story about the spot G- Spot?
Gpoint its a spot I found to get away from Taghazout when its small waves. I’ve been looking up and down the coast for many years and one time me and my friend Mica (the shaper) we where surfing just a spot close by and we saw great fast barrels. So we decided to go there and try. Over the years I can say its one of the best spots I’ve ever surfed, catching lefts , rights. Since its a small slab that change a bit with the sand and tides , every time I get here the waves are better and better 🙂 Now we decided to get the land in front of the spot and maybe one day we will build a lapoint camp with private waves for our guests 🙂 (!!!!)
– Tell us a bit about when you had Kelly Slater visit Lapoint in Morocco? where did you guys surf? how was this?
Hehe funny that question , because Kelly almost came down yesterday again. I went to Morocco for 5 days to start the year and once I was there I got a call from Kelly saying he was in Safi and the waves where not so nice at the time and that he would love to come down and find some new spots. The same day we had dinner and talked a bit about the waves around. Next morning we went to see the slabs and the long waves , but all the waves where a bit big and mushy. So we found a new wave that he called vagina because of the shape of the rock. I never tought it would be possible to surf that wave since it was a barrel 2 metters away from the rocks all the way. I was surfing back side and every time I fall I was counting to be a sticker on the rock sooner or later. Kelly got nice barrels and great shots, I think that made his trip. We also played some golf in Agadir and had great meals in the terrace of lapoint with the guests. It was a special trip to me since was one of my idols , and I could show him my knowledge about morocco and the waves around.
