Jan. 9, 2008 -- On Jan. 5 surfers raced out to a remote storm-tossed reef 105 miles off the coast of Southern California and caught what may be the largest surf ever ridden.
Preliminary estimates put the biggest of Saturday's waves ridden at Cortes Bank at anywhere from 75 to 85 feet tall. The gargantuan surf was powered by the strong winter storm that passed through California the night before and a second storm approaching fast in its wake.
"This will probably set the new record," said Robert Brown, the surfing photographer who captured images of the historic rides. Easily said, perhaps, but it was no easy task to get to the waves or to ride them, Brown told Discovery News.
Because the storm swells which caused the giant surf on Saturday were only ride-able for a few hours between the storms, Brown -- also the captain of a customized catamaran powerboat -- had to jump into action fast when the big wave surfers Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Greg Long and Grant Baker came calling.
"It rained and blew like hell the night before," said Brown.
The team left Dana Point Harbor, south of Los Angeles, at 7:30 a.m. After hours of sickeningly rough seas, they reached Cortes Bank at about 12:30 p.m. What they saw there was a marvel of chaotic, watery savagery.
Still, the two pairs of big wave surfers hit the water and soon were tangling with the biggest waves of their lives. The two-man teams took turns towing each other into the steep, fast rolling hills of water with personal water crafts until darkness approached at about 5 p.m. They made it back to port by 10:30 p.m., just as the next winter storm came ashore.
"It was the ultimate threading of the needle," said Brown of the narrow window.
The team lucked out in more ways than the weather timing, however. There was never any guarantee that the waves would be ride-able at Cortes Bank on Saturday. Strong storm winds had created choppy, horrific conditions that had not yet abated when the team set out in the morning.
"We were all real worried about all the chop," Parsons told Surfline. "It was a full-on gamble whether it would be ride-able at any point during the day."
The winds dropped just as they arrived at Cortes Bank.
As in all big wave surfing, surfers worked in highly coordinated pairs. Towing is the only way surfers can reach the high speeds of such giant open ocean waves. Once up to speed and in the right location on the wave, the surfer-in-tow releases his towline and drops down the face of the wave atop his board -- and the ride begins.
"The speed of the waves out there was incredible," recalled Parsons.
Making matters even more harrowing was the fact that the surface of the waves and the water between the waves was riddled with humps up to five or six feet tall, he said. Once riding the waves, there was yet another test of sanity.
"The wave felt like you never got to the bottom," recalled Parsons.
"It felt like one endless drop."
The final word on the size of the waves ridden will be determined in late March by the judges of the annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards. The largest wave to win the XXL so far was a 70-footer ridden in January 2004 by Pete Cabrinha at the renowned Jaws big surf spot on the north shore of Maui.
Related Links:
Larry O'Hanlon's blog: Earth Impacts
Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards
How Stuff Works: Why are the waves on the U.S. West Coast larger than the waves on the East Coast?
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