BACKYARD BRAZIL
REDBULL SKATE GENERATION BRAZIL
PHOTOS AND WORDS BY CHICKEN
On a small island, off the south coast of Brazil, you’ll find a slice of skateboard history and a chunk of its future. In the small town of Rio Tavares, on the island of Florianopolis, the infamous RTMF Pool sits perched on a jungle hillside. The skate scene here is thriving with Pedro Barros leading the charge. The last weekend in March, Rio Tavares was invaded with skateboarding royalty from around the world. The RTMF crew, along with Red Bull, put on the Skate Generation contest in Pedro’s backyard pool. The weekend consisted of two contests; the first one for World Cup points, with separate events for Amateurs, Pros, Masters and Legends. The top five from each division would then advance to Sunday’s Skate Generation event, where they competed as teams. The teams were determined by how you placed the day before, first place Am, Pro, Master, and legend would be a team and so on for second, third, fourth and fifth place finishers.
“Pedro skated padless like he was possessed, sticking everything faster, higher, longer and gnarlier than what seems humanly possible.”
Leading up to the weekend event, the sessions at the pool were more like a skate party than practice for a contest as everyone was trying to work out the lines of Pedro’s pool. As the sun set, the beers, BBQ, Brazilian babes and shredding made for action-packed nights. There was a mini ramp jam on the new mini at Pedro’s one night, and a best trick contest in the Hi Adventure Pousada Pool the next. Milton Martinez shut down the best trick contest with a nollie big spin to nose pick in the oververt pocket that blew everyone’s mind. The vibe was always more ‘rage and skate with your friends’ than contest everywhere we went.
Friday came early and the Ams were up first, with RTMF local Foguinho Caltabiano setting the tempo for the rest of the weekend with huge airs, fast lines, transfers over the hip, and a big 540. Alex Sorgente, Raul Baracho, Murilo Peres, and Vi Kakinho rounded out the top five, all ripping just as hard as Foguinho. Next up were the masters with Léo Kakinho, Vi’s dad taking first with high airs, inverts, backside smiths, and sick lines. The top five masters were Léo Kakinho, Mauro Mureta, Franco, Eduardo Braz, and Cristiano Mateus. Following Fridays contest, Eduardo from Drop Dead threw down a killer BBQ at his pad for the RTMF crew and the skaters that came in from out of the country.
Saturday things got heated fast! Pedro skated padless like he was possessed, sticking everything faster, higher, longer and gnarlier than what seems humanly possible. Nathan Jimi Beck was on fire all day and took second, followed by Sandro Dias, Omar Hassan and Marcelo Kosake. Rune Glifberg was blasting some huge ollies, massive stale fishes and frontside airs, but couldn’t put his lines together and just missed the top five. Next up, the legends hit the pool. Christian Hosoi was smooth with unique lines, stylish laybacks and airs to take first. Duane Peters was going for broke on every run and destroying the pool with frontside rocks, Indy airs, 540 slides, inverts and more. Jeff Grosso used his stalled inverts, back smiths, 50-50s to fakie, and more to lock down the number 3 spot. Brazilians Marco Aurélio “Jeff” and Luis Roberto “Formiga” took fourth and fifth.
On Sunday, with close to 2,000 fans packing the hillside above the pool, the energy that had been building over the last two days was explosive, as the contest got under way. The passion, appreciation, and respect for the roots of skateboarding is intense in Brazil, and it could be felt everywhere around the pool. The skaters feeding off the energy from the crowd pushed every run into the red. This was raw skateboarding in its purist form. From screaming your lungs out to tears of joy, it was all happening uncontrollably as some of the world’s best pool skaters attacked the beast that is the RTMF pool. If you were there, you were a witness to something special that will never be repeated. There are only a couple of contests that can bring out this kind of energy and passion, and if you’re lucky enough to be at one, it’s something you’ll never forget. It wasn’t about results, points or trophies. What happened here was about skateboarding, not a competition, but a celebration of skateboarding with good friends and everyone getting amped to see everyone ripping.
Contest Results
Team Results.
1. Pedro Barros
1. Leo Kakinho
1. Christian Hosoi
1. Felipe Caltabiano
2.Sandro Dias
2. Franco
2. Jeff Gross
2. Raul Roger Barracho
3. Nathan Beck
3. Mauro Mureta
3. Duane Peters
3. Alex Sorgente
4. Omar Hassan
4. Eduardo Braz
4. Marco Aurelio
4. Murilo Peres
5. Marcelo Kosake
5. Critiano Mateus
5. Luis Roberto
5. Vinicius Barbosa
PROS
1. Pedro Barros
2. Nathan Beck
3. Sandro Diaz
4. Omar Hassan
5. Marcelo Kosake
6. Nilo Pecanha
7. Rune Glifberg
8. Otavio Neto
9. Ronaldo Gomes
10. Allan Mesquita
MASTERS
1. Leo Kakinho
2. Mauro Mureta
3. Franco
4. Eduardo Braz
5. Crisitano Mateus
LEGENDS
1. Christian Hosoi
2. Duane Peters
3. Jeff Grosso
4. Marco Aurelio “Jeff”
5. Luis Roberto “Formiga”
AMS
1. Foguinho Caltabiano
2. Alex Sorgente
3. Raul Roger Barracho
4. Murilo Peres
5. Vi Kakinho
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