Maya Gabeira near drowning at Nazare
Caught a glimpse of it but that vid above is scary... Looked ok until the ski buried her under water. Driver had to jump off and rescue her... lifesaver
wondering if you see ther same thing...when the ski comes in first,it turns and hits her with the sled...in da head...no arm to arm pickup.......and then trys to tow her with the rope,which puts her under water...and sooo much pressure.
looks like to me the driver panicked........
fuck that was heavy, so glad that went down as close to shore as it did and not on the take off area with 80 footers looming.
brutus wrote:...when the ski comes in first,it turns and hits her with the sled...in da head...no arm to arm pickup..
It's not clear what happened there, except there must've been an impact or something. One moment she's waving her hands and grabbing the rope, clearly all faculties working, then not 15 seconds later she's face down and not moving.
surely a blacksuit not the colour to wear in that situation ,how about flouro green ,pink hi vis.
So she survived? I'm not sure I'd want that ski driver for me!!!
some other footage shows the ski driver just missing the arm grab.
Despite all that happened out there I'm still a bit underwhelmed by the waves at Nazare. Big, yeah, in literal height, trough to crest, they're extraordinarily large. But the actual breaking wave is a bit of a no show. As a fist-waving punter I think I'd pefer to see waves a quarter the size that slab and barrel.
But if they're gonna continue at Nazare - and I feel the circus is about to arrive in that wee Portuguese town - I think foil boards would be great to watch there. Let the skis whip them in 200 metres further out and hydrofoil the bastards toward shore.
Was surprisingly good viewing despite the lack of commentary and sometimes long waits between sets. Webcast resolution was better than most ASP World Tour comps!
The guy talking in Spanish on the beach was saying that the tractor driver was his cousin and would of done a way better job rescuing Maya, than the guy on the jet ski.
wow seems as if the ski driver panicked and blew it,very lucky girl.Wasnt she the one who nearly drowned at chopes.?and hows the kaos on the beach.
was carlos burle the ski driver ?
I agree Brutus, it looks like on that first attempt he definitely hits Maya in the head with the back of the ski/sled. She seems semi-conscious after this, but to then be towed under torrents of water, that seemed to really take its toll.
Glad it all ended well.
Brutus ,
How often have you or someone you know tried to pick someone up and not driven AROUND them .
ie : he turns before her . Is it just my naivety , or is this a recognised maneuvure .
From other sports experience , you always circle or go past the person . So if you miss them the rope will atleats be in reach and if necessary then there is always the drag option .
Speaking of which , i think these guys ( & Girls ) need to train and practice " the body drag " method . In circumstances where the arm grab misses , and a second pass is not an option .
Body drags ; Easiest of which is lay on your back with handle above your head , unless your a girl where stomach first is just as good as you don't have NUTS to get injured . Either way with practice you can plane on your elbows whilst face down / face first , and more importantly see where your going and BREATH . The added bonus of this is the dragee can actually steer with their elbows .
Hey Southey,you are right on the money..........he should have driven straight to her and tried to lock arms with her and pull her on the sled.
In fact by doing the turn ,it looks like the sled cracked her on the side of the head........
trying to hang onto the tow rope,and do a body drag is just sooooooo hard on ya arms,nearly impossible as your arms and body are already suffering a lack of oxygen....and it feels like ya will rip ya arms off!!
Body drags are not needed....interlocking the drivers left arm with the surfers right arm is the simplest,easiest....practice is a must...
having said all of this I am sorta astounded that Carlos did not seem on the money,as he is an incredible waterman,charger,and one of the mellowest nicest blokes ya would meet....
I am wondering if the Ski was not handling all the foam??
Doesn't sound like he hit Maya in the back of the head according to her side of the story.....she was just exhausted after a 3 wave hold down...
http://stabmag.com/an-interview-with-maya-gabeira-about-drowning-at-nazare/
How amazing was the footage from Nazare last night! To see live vision of one of the biggest and cleanest swells I've ever seen, streaming seemlessly from Portugal was truly ground breaking!
The video of Maya falling unconcious and having to be rescued up on the beach is pretty heavy, very lucky girl, and actually lucky that the wave does end on the beach and not on rocks/cliff face.