Costa Rican surfer Brisa Hennessy won the EDP Ericeira Pro in Portugal on Monday, Oct. 12, climbing 20 places to fourth in the Challenger Series standings and moving inside the qualifying zone for the 2027 Championship Tour. The victory lifted her total to 18,340 points with one event left on the qualifying calendar. It strengthens her chances of returning to surfing’s top circuit, although her place is not yet secured.
A late wave decided the women’s final at Ribeira d’Ilhas. Hennessy was sitting in fourth place in the closing minutes before posting a 7.50, the highest single-wave score of the heat, to take the lead. She finished with a combined 13.17, ahead of Australians Lucy Darragh with 10.30 and Sierra Kerr with 9.07. France’s Vahine Fierro placed fourth with 8.83.
Hennessy entered finals day ranked 24th, and the 10,000 points for the win carried her into the top six. It was her first final of the year and her best result of the season on the Challenger Series. American Crosby Colapinto won the men’s event. The Challenger Series is the World Surf League’s qualifying circuit for the Championship Tour, where the sport’s leading surfers compete. The top six women at the end of the qualifying campaign earn places on the 2027 tour.
Hennessy has split her season between both circuits after a difficult Championship Tour campaign put her place for next year at risk. The result is a return to form for a surfer who finished fourth at the 2024 WSL Finals and narrowly missed the podium at the Paris Olympics. Kerr leads the standings with 26,830 points, followed by Portugal’s Francisca Veselko with 22,245 and Teresa Bonvalot with 19,955. Behind Hennessy, Americans Eden Walla with 17,695 and Alyssa Spencer with 17,190 hold the last two qualifying positions.
Outside the top six, Israel’s Anat Lelior is seventh with 14,625 points. Spain’s Ariane Ochoa, Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons and Peru’s Sol Aguirre are also among the surfers chasing a qualifying place. The final qualifying event is scheduled for March 2027 in Australia. Hennessy will arrive there with a top-six place to defend, 3,715 points clear of seventh place.
