Ground Swell, The Other Side of Fear

Experience the fear and inner turmoil behind surfing the world’s biggest waves. Monster Energy is proud to announce the upcoming theatrical release of the captivating Big Wave Surfing Documentary Ground Swell: The Other Side of Fear. 

Produced and directed by Paul Taublieb of Taublieb Films, a multi-Emmy Award-winning studio, the 75-minute feature film will hit cinemas across North America on January 14, 2023, in over 50 markets, and in international markets (Portugal, Germany, UK, South Africa and Australia) in February. 

Find a theater here: https://www.groundswellfilm.com/

Nazare: Love and pain on the world's biggest wave

 

Since it was first surfed, a little over a decade ago, the Portuguese town of Nazare has become the 

undisputed home of the world's biggest wave

As he looks out from his balcony, over slumped, drying wetsuits, Andrew Cotton can see it all.

The stretch of sand, the salt haze, a spike of cliff and a scarlet lighthouse.

Most of all, Cotton can see Nazare's waves. They are small today, relatively at least, but there is still a backdrop of bubbling white water and churning white noise.

When the swell is right and the surf is up, it is a different story on a different scale.

Nazare, a small town 60 miles north of Lisbon, is where towering waves - some the height of 10-storey buildings - crash to shore.

For generations of local fishermen, those conditions have meant danger and death. For Cotton they are a way of life and a living.

"Weirdly, somehow, I have turned it into a job, so when it is big, you go out there," he says.

"You go out there all day and do what you need to do."

When it is one of those days, Cotton doesn't need to even look. When the biggest, most lucrative wave in the world arrives, he knows as soon as he wakes, before his eyes open.

"Living here, I know how big the waves are by how much the windows are rattling," he adds.

"It can really be something else, you know? The ocean can be scary when there are no waves. When here is big… it can be petrifying."

Read more BBC Sports

Helicopter rescues Jet Ski destroyed by Giant Waves

 

As a big wave surfing legend, Kai Lenny sure must have seen some interesting things. Lenny has made big waves his passion, and this passion is not free of danger. If one wants to ride the big waves, one has to pay the price. This price might be broken bones, broken surfboards, or broken jet skis. The latter most happened with Kai Lenny, as he lost a beloved jet ski to the harsh tow at Jaws.  Fortunately, there are amazing Helicopter Pilots that can retrieve the carnage.

By Design: Examining the Jet Ski’s Giant Impact on Big Wave Surfing

 

“Oh, it’s had a humungous affect on the progression of big wave surfing over the past 30 years. No question. ”

This from Frank Quirarte, the renowned surf photographer and heavy water safety expert from Half Moon Bay, California who, having recently returned from an epic strike mission to Cortes Bank, definitely knows what he’s talking about. He isn’t referencing any particular surfboard design, breath-holding training method or inflatable vest. He’s not talking about different GoPro mounts, either. What Quirarte is pointing to as having arguably the single most significant influence on big wave surfing over the past few decades is the Jet Ski.

Peahi, Teahupo’o, Aussie bommies and slabs, Mullaghmore, Cortes Bank and, of course, Nazarè — all tackled at size with a hand on the throttle, and in each case completely redefining the parameters of what is considered to be rideable surf. Then there’s the paradigm shift when it comes to safety, with the introduction of precise teamwork and coordinated rescue protocol. Yet although having become ubiquitous in big wave lineups around the world, and the topic of much discussion and even controversy since gaining popularity in the early 1990s, the wider surfing world has been told virtually nothing about how and why these machines work, or, in fact, anything about their performance and design evolution. So let’s fix that right now. Read More

Eddie Aikau Surf Contest Won By Local Lifeguard

 

Luke Shepardson is more accustomed to saving lives than winning international surf competitions, but on Monday the on-duty lifeguard saw off some of the biggest names in the sport to claim victory at the prestigious Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational in Hawaii.

 Shepardson had to get permission from his boss to take time out from his day job to compete in the elusive event, which throws professional and local surfers together in huge swells and this week ran for the first time in seven years. The competition, known simply as The Eddie, is held only when waves at Waimea Bay consistently reach 30ft or bigger.

 John John Florence, the two-time WSL champion, won the last edition in 2016 and went close to becoming the first two-time champion, but ultimately lost out to Shepardson, who claimed the title in between dashes to and from his lifeguard tower on the beach.

 “I told myself, ‘I’m in it because I can win it,” Shepardson said. “It was super scary. The waves were huge, and it was a dream come true just to be part of The Eddie, just to be on the alternate list. I can’t believe it – it’s crazy. I’ve got to get back to the tower to make sure everyone’s OK until the end of the day.”

Shepardson, 27, scored 89.1 points out of a possible 90 to claim the title and $10,000 prize money. As he joined Florence and other previous winners including Kelly Slater, Bruce Irons and Ross Clarke Jones, he was hoisted up in celebration on the beach – still clad in distinctive yellow and red life-savers attire.

The winner evoked memories of the man the event is named after; The Eddie is held in honour of the late Eddie Aikau, like Shepardson a Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard – the first one on Oahu’s North Shore.

 Aikau saved more than 500 people during his career but during a journey in 1978 re-enacting an ancient route of Polynesian migration between Hawaii and Tahiti, the voyaging canoe he was aboard capsized. Aikau paddled away on his surfboard to raise the alarm and the rest of the crew were later rescued. But Aikau disappeared and his body was never found.

The event was first run in celebration of his life in 1985 at Sunset Beach and has been held just nine times since. Eddie’s younger brother Clyde Aikau won two years after the inaugural competition when it was held on Oahu’s North Shore for the first time. Clyde now supervises the event, which for the first time this year saw a woman, Brazil’s Andrea Moller, catch a wave, six years after female surfers were first named as alternate competitors.

 Anticipation that The Eddie would run this year had been building for over a week, with the contest briefly given the go-ahead before being put on hold. Big wave surfers from as far afield as Portugal have been consulting forecasters who closely track the huge storms travelling across the north Pacific for signs they will translate into the 30ft clean waves that the contest requires.

 As each day passed, and as more data came in from buoys hundreds of kilometres north of Waimea Bay on the island of Oahu, the 40 surfers invited for The Eddie scrambled to get their equipment, support team and mindset ready.

 “It felt incredible to surf in this event,” Kai Lenny, a top big-wave surfer, who finished in fifth place. “I know we’ve all had the Eddie Aikau posters in our rooms growing up, so to have the opportunity to actually go out there for Eddie and his ohana [family], the Aikaus, was a dream come true for me.”

Post from The Guardian by Mike Hytner

Who’s Driving the Ski? This Is Where Big-Wave Rescue Teams Come From

 

Drake Stanley jets Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker to safety. Photo: Abe Alarcon.

Big waves have a certain mystique to them, at least when viewed from the beach or via the internet. When you get into the thick of things, with tons of water moving around, the mystique can fade pretty quickly. Now add the typical lineup chaos you might experience at a crowded break like Malibu or Pleasure Point, and shit gets downright horrifying.

With more and more people getting into surfing in recent years, surprisingly – or not – there’s also more and more people taking on the waves of Maverick’s, Jaws, and Nazaré. And unlike your local beachbreak, the crowds at big-wave locations can produce some truly life-threatening scenarios. I caught up with several rescue teams to learn about what these storied locations look like from the perspective of the rescuer, and the efforts being made in recent years to manage the crowds of chargers who come to test themselves on some of the biggest and gnarliest waves in the world. I basically wanted to find out where these rescue teams come from and why they do what they do. Read More

Jeff Clark: The Pioneer Mavericks Surf Company

Jeff Clark is one of the most renowned and respected big wave surfers in the world, regarded by the surf community to be a member of a small group of pioneer watermen. Jeff is best known for successfully pioneering the massive waves of Mavericks alone for years before it was discovered by the big-wave surfing community. Mavericks, located south of San Francisco, is considered to be one of the most dangerous big waves on the planet.

In 1975, as a hard-charging 17 year-old, Clark first paddled out to this monstrous wave located more than ½ mile off the coast, in his own back yard near Half Moon Bay. For 15 years, he surfed this wave alone, with only his ability and determination to find his way. The spot was, until then, known as a navigational hazard. But Clark saw a perfect wave, and from there he set a course to pursue the ocean’s energy, a living laboratory for his many interests and innovations.

Labeled one of the “world’s best big-wave riders” by Surfer magazine in 1994 and among the 100 bravest people in the U.S. by PBS, Clark has been featured in the films Riding Giants, Step Into Liquid, Adventures in Wild California, Discovering Mavericks and many other films.

A third generation carpenter, Jeff shaped his first surfboard at the age of 12. He later shaped boards specifically designed for big wave surf, and specifically for the challenging technical wave at Mavericks. He changed big wave surfing by introducing the first four-fin big wave surfboards and riding them at Mavericks. The design worked so well that others immediately followed, and the four-fin setup is now the standard for big wave surfing worldwide. Jeff Clark Surfboards^® custom stand-up paddleboard and surfboard designs incorporate Jeff’s designs to improve speed, performance and pure joy for anything from flat-water racing, downwind paddling, and surf conditions from two feet to 60 feet and all the way to spinning barrels.

Clark is also the founder of the famed Mavericks surf competition, an event that has put big wave surfing in mainstream sports and has launched the careers of surfers, photographers, water rescue teams and many others. He owns and operates the iconic Mavericks Surf Company^® and Mavericks Paddle Sports in Princeton-by-the-Sea near Half Moon Bay, with his own line of Mavericks Surf^® brand clothing and surf wear.

Clark’s knowledge of the ocean and dangerous waters has set him apart as an expert in water rescue, safety and water dynamics, leading to many achievements:

- Development of the Mavericks Water Patrol, a group of expert boat and jet ski operators trained in water rescue

- Certification by K38 Water Rescue and by Hawaiian Water Patrol Personal Water Craft (PWC) rescue

- Certification in Swift Water Rescue and service as Incident Commander at Kings River water rescue training

- Stunt and camera boat driver on open ocean set of a 20^th Century Fox film Chasing Mavericks. His skill in navigating waves and dangerous waters has provided many filmmakers and photographers the opportunity to capture on film the power and beauty of the ocean.

- Research and development of the Clark inflatable life vest for big wave surfing and extreme watersports

- Development of performance surfboard technology for which he holds a US Patent

- Design and production of hydrofoils and boards for the next generation of wave riding

Jeff supports many other organizations that help our communities, particularly in the area of health and wellness, including St. Jude’s Children's Hospital, Sonoma Children’s Charities, Schultz Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Navy Seal Foundation, Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside, Coastside Hope, Half Moon Bay high school and middle school surf clubs.

While Jeff continues to surf and perform water rescue in big wave spots around the world, he is inspired by his three children and two grandchildren. He shares his motivational life lessons with fans and audiences across the country and through all industries.

Jeff remains as stoked as a grom to paddle out in any surf anywhere from two to twenty feet. He has found his wave.

Shared from Mavericks Surf Company

Pipe Masters could get green light Tuesday, WSL reminds people to watch from home

Pipe Masters could get green light Tuesday, WSL reminds people to watch from home: A high surf warning is in effect for most of the state’s north and west facing shores through Monday evening. Surf heights are expected to reach 30 feet on north-facing shores and 20-feet on west-f…

Meet the Waterman of Tahiti

Red Bull December 31,2019
Surfer Matt Poole takes part in The Waterman: an all-round ocean based competition in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
At Teahupo'o, one of the craziest waves in the surfing community, there is yet another competition that takes place: an all-round ocean based race, Waterman Tahiti.
The Waterman Tahiti Tour is THE standard against which all other “waterman” competitions are measured. Stand up paddle (SUP), open water swimming, prone paddleboard, body surf and lifesaving highlight the versatility and endurance of the athletes. Each year, they train to be able to meet the different challenges and exceed their personal limits. The Waterman Tahiti Tour is a championship measured in points amassed over 5 stages.

Epic Big Wave Surf Foiling in Nazare w/ Laird Hamiton, Terry Chung, Luca...

Moving at a speed where your mind slows things down to gain control... In early 2020 Laird Hamilton, Terry Chung, Luca Padua and Benny Ferris were out with top surfers across the globe in Nazare Portugal to surf waves that come about rarely, if ever. After extensive experimentation with setups and technique, this group was going to go after the breaks in Nazare in a different way, on surf foils that allow for an unreal speed on the water and an entirely new experience. Documented by Patrick Wieland, on custom classic foils engineered by the team at Lift Foils.

Read the Full Story

SAS Water Safety: Wipeout Wearable: Quiksilver’s Inflatable Vest May...

SAS Water Safety: Wipeout Wearable: Quiksilver’s Inflatable Vest May...:   Surf brand Quiksilver partnered with diving equipment manufacturer Aqua Lung to develop an inflatable flotation device. The Highline Airli...

Greg Long at Puerto Escondido • 2014 Ride of the Year Award Winner / Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards

Different day paralleled in  greatness, BWWT champ grabbing rail on his backside for a healthy dose of

Puerto Escondido,. Photo: Billabong XXL | Edwin Morales

 

Greg Long (San Clemente, California, USA) is a Ride of the Year Award Winner for this wave at Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico. Video by Mike Mortimer. A finalist in the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards on May 2. For more info see the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com

 

Second Place: Shawn Walsh (HAW)
Third Place: Grant Baker (ZAF)
Fourth Place: Shane Dorian (HAW)
Fifth Place: Billy Kemper (HAW)

 

More from the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards coming soon.

 



Surfing Elite in California for Friday's Bilabong XXL Big Wave Awards; Live Webcast Set

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - (May 1, 2014) - Anticipation is swelling as the best big wave surfers on the planet gather in Southern California ahead of the Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards this Friday, May 2. The gala ceremony will sweep into the Grove Theater in Anaheim where the greatest rides of the last year will be celebrated and over $120,000 in prize money will be awarded to event champions. Nominees run the gamut from established superstars like Hawaiian Shane Dorian and Californian Greg Long to emerging performers like Andrew Cotton of England and Gautier Garanx of the Basque Country of France.

Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards Nominees Announced for Wipeout andPerformance - 2014 Awards Show is Coming on May 2nd

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - (April 7, 2014) - The nominees in three of the most popular categories of the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards have just been revealed, adding to the momentum as the gala awards show approaches for big wave surfing's greatest annual eventon May 2. The top finalists for the Wipeout of the Year, the Surfline Best Overall Performance (male) and Billabong Women's Performance (female) awards can be viewed on the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com, and ballots are about to go out to the surfing world's top athletes, photographers and journalists this week to determine the winners. The nominees have already been unveiled for the Ride of the Year, XXL Biggest Wave, Biggest Paddle and Best Tube divisions, representing over $120,000 in prizes for the surfer and photographer winners.

In contention for the famed XXL Wipeout of the Year honors are five surfers at three notorious big wave breaks scattered around the world. Among this year's candidates are Shawn Dollar and Alex Martins who suffered spectacular malfunctions at their home break of Maverick's in Northern California, along with French Polynesian Alain Riou and Hawaiian Koa Rothman, who both went end-over-end at Teahupoo, Tahiti.  Rounding out the top five is Australian Jamie Mitchell - who parted ways with his surfboard during a try at what was probably the biggest paddle-in wave ever attempted in the history of the sport at Belharra Reef, France. 

Shawn Dollar drops a Best Wipeout vote into the ballot box at Maverick's. Photo by Paul Topp.

Once again, the surfing public will be able to have their opinion count in the selection of the winning wipeout by voting on Surfline.com. One third of the tally to determine the most spectacularly unsuccessful ride of the year will be derived from the Surfline poll over the next three weeks, with the balance of scoring coming from the elite academy of surfing experts ala the Oscar-style voting process. To review the nominees and cast your vote on Surfline, clickHERE. The nominees are also available by visiting the Wipeouts page of the XXL event website.

Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards - Europe and Hawaii Swells Top 2014Nominee List - Dorian, Baker, Rothman, Cotton & Burle Among Finalists

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - (April 1, 2014) - The nominees have been revealed for the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, and - as expected - the focus is on the huge swells that hammered the European and Hawaiian coastlines and splashed big wave surfing across mainstream headlines worldwide. Nominees run the gamut from past champions like Shane Dorian of Hawaii, Grant Baker of South Africa and Carlos Burle of Brazil, all the way to emerging stars like Andrew Cotton of England, Gautier Garanx of France and Francisco Porcella of Italy. Portugal, Australia, California, Mexico and Tahiti are also well represented by either surfer nationality or surf spot location - making this the most international field in the 14-year history of the XXL event.

The Billabong XXL Awards competition window closed on March 19 with the start of spring, with every wave ridden at every big wave break around the world in the past 12 months up for consideration. The five biggest or best in each of the key categories have now been identified based on the photographic evidence, and the winners will be crowned at a gala awards show at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California on May 2, with over $120,000 up for grabs across seven diverse event categories. (Four are announced today, leaving the wipeout and two performance categories to be announced next week.) Photographs and video of all the nominated rides can be viewed by visiting the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com.

  

The extraordinary weather conditions of the last year have helped to push the spotlight back toward the Billabong XXL Biggest Wave Award (where jet-ski assisted tow-ins are allowed). The main beneficiary of the massive storm action this winter was Europe, where three different swells in three different months produced three strong nominees for the biggest wave of the year - Brazilian Carlos Burle and Englishman Andrew Cotton at Nazaré, Portugal plus the unheralded Basque surfer Gautier Garanx at Belharra, France. Also in the top five are a pair of waves from the first major tow day in Hawaii in half a decade, featuring Italian transplant Francisco Porcella and local legend Ian Walsh at Jaws on the island of Maui. Numerous media outlets have speculated that the existing Guinness World Record mark for the Largest Wave Ridden (Unlimited) of 78 feet could be in peril of falling once the judging process is completed.

2014 Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards Season Ends; Nominees BeingDetermined, Awards Show is May 2

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - (March 20, 2014) - The end of winter has arrived today in the Northern Hemisphere, and thus concludes of the year-long event period of the 2014 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards. The annual competition celebrates the best and biggest moments in the sport at every surf break in the world over the last 12 months, all based on the action being caught on camera.

 

 

The nominees in seven award categories will be revealed before the end of March, and the gala awards presentation is set for Friday, May 2 at the Grove Theater in Anaheim, California in front of an invitation-only crowd of 2,000. Currently, surfing fans can decide their own favorites among hundreds of still photos and video clips now on display on the event website at www.BillabongXXL.com.

 

Epic Surf Continues Global Onslaught in the 2014 Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards -Updated

Andrew Cotton (North Devon, U.K.) drops into one of the biggest waves ever photographed

yesterday at Nazaré, Portugal. Photo by Bruno Aleixo. Click below to watch the video of the ride.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DZiLtmsYA0&list=UUqt4BRFOqI3z6Sjw6W6gtMQ&feature=c4-overview

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - (February 3, 2014) - The most extraordinary year ever in big wave surfing has gone
to yet another level as the latest swell (spawned by Winter Storm Brigid) has slammed Europe. United Kingdom surfer Andrew Cotton made the most of the opportunity, riding a wave at Nazaré, Portugal yesterday that has sent the internet ablaze with speculation that it might be the biggest of all time. Even Cotton himself believes it was larger than the one he rode at the same location in October during the "St. Jude's Storm" swell which already had placed him among the frontrunners for a Biggest Wave nomination in the 2014 Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards presented by Pacifico.

Grant 'Twiggy' Baker wins Mavericks Invitational big-wave surfing contest | GrindTV.com

Grant “Twiggy” Baker in action during Mavericks Invitational; photo by Grant Ellis/Surfer magazine

 

For 24 of the world’s premier big-wave surfers, Friday was tumultuous and at times harrowing, but a day they would not have traded for anything.

The waves were massive, the drops almost sheer, the wipeouts brutal, and in the end Grant “Twiggy” Baker stood alone as champion of the Body Glove Mavericks Invitational at notorious Mavericks outside of Half Moon Bay, California.

More; Grant 'Twiggy' Baker wins Mavericks Invitational big-wave surfing contest | GrindTV.com

It's On - Body Glove Mavericks Invitational

The Call is made for Friday, January 24!

Contest organizers for The Body Glove Mavericks Invitational Presented By GoPro®, have confirmed that the world’s premier big wave surf contest will take place this Friday, January 24, 2014 in Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay.

With a massive swell forecast for upwards of 40 feet, the world’s best big-wave surfers will be putting on a death-defying show for the live stream and those in attendance this Friday, January 24th at 8 am Pacific time.

“Changes in the offshore weather prompted a postponement until today for the official announcement,” said contest director Jeff Clark. “There was concern for a south wind and giant swell, which could have posed danger not only for competitors but for all boats out in the water.

Finding new ways to let fans experience the action, Mavericks Invitational organizers are also expanding the Mavericks Viewing Festival. The festival will be held on Friday, with gates opening at 7:30 a.m., on the grounds of the Oceano Hotel & Spa in Princeton Harbor, just down the road from Mavericks.

For public safety and environment protection, local authorities will close off all roads to Pillar Point, including access to the beach and bluffs. The festival gives fans a place to gather on the coast and watch the action on jumbo HD screens, enjoy music, food and entertainment, and get exclusive commentary and access to the Awards Ceremony.  Event parking is located at the Half Moon Bay Airport, within walking distance of the Festival.  Proceeds from the parking benefit the Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside.

For the first time ever, the event finals will air live on national television through Universal Sports Network. Television coverage begins at 1:30 pm PST. Universal Sports Network is available on the sports tiers of Time Warner Cable, Cox, Verizon FiOS, satellite providers DIRECTV and DISH and numerous regional cable and IPTV operators in markets across the country. Additionally, Mavericks Invitational will be available to all Venison Foist (Ch. 596) and DIRECTV (Ch. 625) customers during this month’s free preview windows.

In addition to broadcast coverage, the entire contest will stream live on universalsports.com and mavericksinvitational.com.

OFFICIAL “NO GO” ISSUED FOR QUIKSILVER IN MEMORY OF EDDIE AIKAU

Waimea Bay, Oahu, HAWAII - (Monday, January 20, 2014) -- Organizers of the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau big wave invitational at Waimea Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, have officially announced that the event is a “NO GO” for this Wednesday, January 22.

 

"We have taken all the time we can to assess the developments of the next big swell and it does not look favorable for us," said event organizer Glen Moncata. “The size is there, but the quality is not, due to strong, adverse winds. We will continue to wait for the right conditions,”

 

The event has until February 28, 2014 to run, requiring just one day of quality surf with waves face heights of around 40 feet (20-foot open ocean swell). With a very active winter of big waves in play, the waiting game continues.

 

The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau was last held on December 8, 2009 – won by California's Greg Long, and has only been held a total of eight times in its 29-year history, adding to the event's mystique and prestige.