38 year-old Rodrigo Koxa from Brazil recently won the WSL Biggest Wave Award at a ceremony in Los Angeles. The wave in question was ridden on November 8, 2017 in Praia do Norte, Nazaré Portugal, and is now officially measured at 80 feet, making it a new Guinness World Record for “Biggest Wave ever Surfed”, beating the previous record of 78 feet held by legendary big wave surfer Garrett McNamara on a wave also ridden in Nazaré back in 2011.
This wave was part of a 4 waves monster Set, nicknamed the “Super Set”, which came through the shores of Nazaré during the famous “Big Wednesday” back in November and was one of the biggest days in recent memory.
These huge waves in Nazaré resulted from a heavy Winter Storm in the North Atlantic during the previous week, due to specific characteristics of the ocean floor near Nazaré, which has a giant underwater canyon. The wave size gets amplified by a factor of 3 or 5 times when waves reach the shore, resulting in this phenomenon and creating the biggest waves of the planet, right in front of the famous lighthouse.
Koxa’s new world record didn’t come easy. Surfing the biggest waves in the world means enduring the worst wipeouts in the world, and he’s no stranger to the power of Nazaré. Four years ago, he almost lost his life there. “I try to surf big waves all my life and I had a huge experience in 2014 where I almost died at Nazaré,” Koxa said. “For months later, I had bad dreams, I didn’t travel, I got scared, and my wife helped me psychologically. Now, I’m just so happy and this is the best day of my life. Thank you to WSL, it’s a dream come true.”
Copyright © 2018, Pedro Miranda, all rights reserved
Surfer: Rodrigo Koxa (Brazil)
Location: Praia do Norte, Nazaré – Portugal
