Final in Santinho: South American QS Crowns Champions and Qualifiers for the 2026 CS
- Ayelet Fuentes Guerra
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The 2025–2026 South American QS season came to an end with the LayBack Pro as its final stop, held at Praia do Santinho. The QS 4,000 event was crucial in determining the regional rankings of the World Surf League and the qualifiers for the 2026 Challenger Series.
For the first time, the LayBack Pro Qualifying Series finals took place on the northern side of Florianópolis, where South America’s top talents gathered to decide the circuit champions and those advancing to the next level of professional surfing, with Brazil emerging as the dominant force.
Regarding the event results, the titles at Praia do Santinho were claimed by Brazil’s Tainá Hinckel and Argentina’s Thiago Passeri. However, in the race for the South American rankings, it was Brazil’s Hinckel and Weslley Dantas who secured the continental titles after a season marked by consistency.
In the women’s division, Hinckel finished as the number one in South America with 23,360 points, confirming her dominance throughout the season. She was joined by Peru’s Daniella Rosas (23,000 points) and Brazil’s Laura Raupp (22,570), who also qualified for the 2026 Challenger Series.
In the men’s division, Dantas led the rankings with 21,110 points, capping off a strong campaign to claim the South American title. He will be joined in the Challenger Series by Brazil’s Douglas Silva and Rafael Barbosa, along with Peru’s Alonso Correa.
The list of qualifiers is completed by Gabriel Klaussner, Ryan Kainalo, and Vítor Ferreira, confirming Brazil’s strong dominance in the regional circuit. In total, seven male and three female surfers secured their spots in a season marked by high competitiveness and performance.
With these results, South America has now defined its representatives for the 2026 Challenger Series, a key step within the WSL pathway toward the Championship Tour, the top tier of professional surfing.
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