Biggest Wave Ever Surfed

Garrett McNamara breaks the world record for the largest wave ever surfed. Garrett was towed into a rogue wave in Portugal, at the North Canyon — 90ft (30 yards of wave). Impressive. Check out the massive wave by clicking on the video below, presented by ESPN. Garrett McNamara makes history again by breaking the current

Garrett McNamara caught a monstrous wave this week off Nazaré in Portugal, but did the wave face measure anywhere close to 90 feet, as a witness in the surfer’s group implied and as news reports suggested? Is it the largest wave ever ridden, as stated in the headline of a news release issued after the epic tow-surfing session?

It was, without doubt, an amazing performance by the big-wave surfing icon from Hawaii. The wave face, however, might appear to some to fall significantly short of 90 feet. It’s worth noting, though, that footage captured from up high or far away, as was mostly the case here (there is some helmet-cam footage), can be misleading. A more accurate perspective can be obtained from up-close, at water level.

McNamara was tow-surfing with partner Andrew Cotton at the helm of the jet-ski when the huge set rolled in. Al Mennie was aboard a separate personal watercraft, and acting as lifeguard from the channel. His assessment was provided in the news release.

“Everything seemed to be perfect, the weather, the waves. Both Cotty and I rode two big ones in the 60-foot-plus range and then when Garrett got on the rope a wave, maybe 30 feet bigger, came out of the canyon,” Mennie said.

“I had the best seat in the house as he dropped down the face of the biggest wave I’ve ever seen. It was incredible. Most people would look scared but Garrett looked in control as he went down the most critical part of the wave.

“It was an inspirational ride by an inspirational surfer. After the ride it was as if the sea calmed down. We sat out there and just absorbed both what had just happened and the surroundings.”

According to Guinness World Records, a 77-foot wave ridden by Mike Parsons in 2008 at Cortes Bank, an offshore Southern California seamount, is the record. (It’s pictured immediately below, for the sake of comparison.)

Hawaii’s Ken Bradshaw rode what was described as an 85-foot wave at an outer Oahu reef in 1998. (These biggest-ever feats are almost always disputed.)

Footage of McNamara’s ride will be entered in the Billabong XXL Global Big-Wave Awards, a year-long competition that announces winners in several categories at the end of each April.

Bill Sharp, director of the competition, would not guess the size of the wave McNamara rode, explaining that estinations are not made until the fields are narrowed to finalists in the spring.

It’s likely that McNamara will be among the finalists for the XXL’s biggest-wave category. But the biggest wave ever ridden? You be the judge.

— Image of Mike Parsons at Cortes Bank in 2008 is courtesy of Robert Brown/BillabongXXL.com