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Surfing was first started in the Portuguese island ofMadeira in the 1970s off the villages ofPaul do Mar,Jardim do Mar and Ponta Pequena. Almost every surf spot has a rocky bottom with powerful waves;the winter months are particularly consistent. Madeira did not really come to the attention of foreign surfers until articles in surfing magazines in the mid-1990s. Since 1996, top Portuguese surfers from the mainland compete in the Madeira regional edition of the "Billabong Challenge".[1]
In 2001, the WorldBig Wave Championships were held in Madeira for the first time