Welcome Miguel Blanco
WELCOME MIGUEL BLANCO !
« I think we have such good waves in Europe that we’re becoming more of an integral part of the international surfing scene. Coming up as a European, there’s way less support. You’re going into the unknown, especially compared to California and Australia, where many of the pros are 3rd or 4th generation surfers. My parents don’t surf, and there’s nothing surf related in my family ».
Those are the words of free surfer Miguel Blanco in an interview with STAB. They convey the wish of the Portuguese surfer to represent the Old Continent in the world scene... and do it freely, carving his own path!
Originally from Cascais, close to Lisbon, Miguel has laid his board bags in Ericeira, where he resides in between trips. Apart from "watching the waves from my window", he loves the relatively young surf culture of the town and gets involved in the local community. He joined Save the Waves and, with the help of this association, achieved to include the marine zone of Ericeira in the list of World Surfing Reserves. His love of nature undoubtedly springs from his childhood and his surfing career.
Miguel grew up in Sao Pedro do Estoril beach. It was thanks to his mother that he discovered surfing at the age of seven. «My mum has always been an outdoor person, a really good skier that loved the beach! I was probably giving her too much trouble so she just put me at the local surf school to see if I would chill, ahah! ». His first sponsor was Lightning Bolt, who, at the age of eleven, gave him a 5'11" that was too big for him. But who cares, the Gerry Lopez style lightning was iconic. He decided to dedicate his life to surfing.
Miguel kept participating in QS stops and other competitions. When you ask him about his best results, it becomes immediately clear that he doesn’t care « Maybe a few European comps finals, perhaps making a few heats at the CT in Peniche, a couple finals on big wave events. Actually, won the Portuguese nationals a couple of times. I’m not sure what’s my best result to be honest”. The arrival of Covid 19 in 2020 invited the surfer to reconsider his life, deciding to dedicate it to two things: free surfing and environmental protection.
Nowadays, Miguel describes himself as an environmental activist. He faces the dilemma that every surfer faces when they must hop on a plane to surf the most beautiful waves in the planet, like Pipe, Jaws, Cloudbreak, G-Land or Shipstern Bluff. But every trip is compensated by the Sea Trees association, with whom Miguel collaborates rewilding local mangroves and coral reefs. Compensation is not the only solution. Apart from numerous initiatives such as beach clean-ups in Ericeira and other spots, he has joined his pal and mentor Joao de Macedo in the Hope Zone foundation. Their target is to speed up the necessary transformation to legally protect 30% of the world's oceans and land before 2030, aligning with the United Nations programme. Protecting biodiversity, reducing the extinction of species, and maintaining the planet's capacity to store CO2 are the challenges of this association. The surfer documents all these battles in his YouTube web series IMPACT.
OXBOW is proud to sponsor a European free surfer that uses his surf and his popularity to inspire people all over the world to enjoy the waves and do their part for the planet.
"I'm stoked to join OXBOW, a European brand that shares my values. In addition to my Polyola boards, I can surf with Yulex wetsuits and even boardshorts made in Portugal. The brand supports free surfing and gives me the freedom to create my own projects. And what a heritage! I have always looked up to that millennial Teahupo'o wave surfed by Laird Hamilton. So big, so blue, and such an iconic moment shot on film".
A moment that could have inspired Miguel to surf huge caves, but as he says: « I just want to enjoy surfing in any form of waves, from 1ft to 100ft”.
As an independent French brand, our goal is to support the European surf scene. We have the most beautiful waves, from the smallest to the biggest, a pool of talented young surfers, and a rich and varied culture fed by different countries. Miguel Blanco is the perfect ambassador to represent this spirit. ¡Bem-vido ao team OXBOW!