The waiting period for the Billabong Azores Island Pro, a women’s 6 star, and men’s Prime event, began two days ago, but small swell has prompted contest organizers to get the women’s competition underway.

Fierce wind and rain squalls have made running heats a bit difficult at times, but the ladies have managed to get through round 1 of action. Luckily for us, the climate surrounding the Azores, a small cluster of volcanic islands roughly 1000 miles off the coast of Portugal, is very tropical, so despite the inclement weather, the ladies shed the rubber in favor of the much more ergonomical skimpy bikini.

I know it’s still a bit early to crown a champion since the ladies are only in round two, but I think it’s safe to say that Alana Blanchard has won the contest as far as I’m concerned. I have yet to see photos of all the ladies competing, so I hate to make my decision this early on. Erica Hosseini or Sage Erickson are very capable of stealing my attention span at this point, but Alana has a huge lead right now. Click on Alana above to see the full gallery.

Look for the event to re-commence tomorrow at 7am local time. Round two is 4-man heats, so look for some intense 4-way action to go down between the ladies.

watch it live here.

Upcoming Billabong Girls Azores Islands Pro Round Two Matchups
Heat 1: Alana Blanchard (HAW), Sage Erickson (USA), Sarah Baum (ZAF), Georgia Fish (AUS)
Heat 2: Ornella Pellizzari (ARG), Phillipa Anderson (AUS), Justine Dupont (FRA), Sophia Mulanovich (PER)
Heat 3: Rebecca Woods (AUS), Felicity Palmateer (AUS), Nage Melamed (HAW), Freya Prumm (AUS)
Heat 4: Joana Rocha (PRT), Malia Manuel (HAW), Sarah Mason (NZL), Paige Hareb (NZL)
Heat 5: Pauline Ado (FRA), Cannelle Bulard (REU), Alizee Arnaud (FRA), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
Heat 6: Faye Zoetmulder (ZAF), Dimity Stoyle (AUS) Lakey Peterson (USA), Erica Hosseini (USA)

…and when they decide to green light the men….

ASP PRIME Billabong Azores Islands Pro Round One Matchups
Heat 1: Miguel Pupo (BRA), Nate Yeomans (USA), Davey Cathels (AUS), Filipe Jervis (PRT)
Heat 2: Gabe Kling (USA), Mason Ho (HAW), Flavio Nakagima (BRA), Kevin Sullivan (HAW)
Heat 3: Granger Larsen (HAW), Adam Robertson (AUS), Felipe Luel (BRA), Chris Friend (AUS)
Heat 4: Adam Melling (AUS), Wiggolly Dantas (BRA), Jeronimo Vargas (BRA), Brad Ettinger (USA)
Heat 5: Tiago Pires (PRT), Marc Lacomare (FRA), Alain Riou (PYF). Manuel Selman (CHL)
Heat 6: Richard Christie (NZL), Nic Muscroft (AUS), Adrien Toyon (REU), Nic von Rupp (DEU)
Heat 7: Junior Faria (BRA), Jay Quinn (NZL), Tim Reyes (USA), Dale Staples (ZAF)
Heat 8: Kai Otton (AUS), Stuart Kennedy (AUS), Mitch Crews (AUS), Justin Mujica (PRT)
Heat 9: Jesse Mendes (BRA), Leonardo Neves (BRA), Charlie Brown (BRA), Brendon Gibbens (ZAF)
Heat 10: Cory Lopez (USA), Hodei Collazo (EUK), Vincent Duvignac (FRA), Gabriel Villaran (PER)
Heat 11: Glen Hall (IRL), Heath Joske (AUS), Jayke Sharp (AUS), Diego Rosa (BRA)
Heat 12: Heitor Alves (BRA), Jano Belo (BRA), Nathaniel Curran (USA), Ruben Gonzalez (PRT)
Heat 13: Brett Simpson (USA), Romain Cloitre (REU), Brandon Jackson (ZAF), Alexander El Naib (DEU)
Heat 14: Aritz Aranburu (EUK), Royden Bryson (ZAF), Marlon Lipke (DEU), Marco Polo (BRA)
Heat 15: Tanner Gadauskas (USA), Dylan Graves (PRI), Brian Toth (PRI), Alex Ribeiro (BRA)
Heat 16: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), Lincoln Taylor (AUS), Sebastien Zietz (HAW), Matt Pagan (USA)
Heat 17: John John Florence (HAW), Tim Boal (FRA), Mitch Coleborn (AUS), Frederico Morais (PRT)
Heat 18: Kolohe Andino (USA), Kai Barger (HAW), Andre Silva (BRA), Eneko Acero (EUK)
Heat 19: Dion Atkinson (AUS), Nat Young (USA), Evan Geiselman (USA), Cory Arrambide (USA)
Heat 20: Travis Logie (ZAF), Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY), Tomas Hermes (BRA), Noboyuki Osawa (JPN)
Heat 21: William Cardoso (BRA), Tonino Benson (HAW), Pedro Henrique (BRA), Teppei Tajima (JPN)
Heat 22: C.J. Hobgood (USA), Shaun Joubert (ZAF), Brent Dorrington (AUS), Stephen Walsh (AUS)
Heat 23: Tiago Camarao (BRA), Masatoshi Ohno (JPN), Robertson Goncalves (PRT), Yujiro Tsuji (JPN)
Heat 24: Pat Gudauskas (USA), Austin Ware (USA), Joan Duru (FRA), Norman Landa (EUK)