Watch: Seb Steudtner's Guinness Wave
It broke on October 2020, and I'm not exactly sure why it was just announced, but announced it was: Seb Steudtner now has the Guinness World Record™ for the largest wave ever ridden.
Seb wrested the mantle from Rodrigo Koxa, both waves ridden at Nazare - as every world record from here forth will be - with Seb's wave measured at 86 feet, 6 feet taller than Koxa's.
The footage is worth watching. Steudtner is on the wave for a full 15 seconds before the wave breaks and cuts an almost ruler straight line from releasing the rope to the channel.
In some ways the act isn't unlike Waimea, which Greg Noll once called "a big lump of crap", as Nazare is too, and which required nothing more than straight-line piloting.
Of course, Naz is not just an enlarged version of Waimea, it's also a beachbreak and chaotic, not to mention the presence of jet skis, inflation vests, camera capturing every angle, even from above, and polite applause from the headland.
Comments
I'd always wondered this, but morning research confirmed it: Guiness World Records IS named after the beer.
Fella who started it all - Sir Hugh Beaver - was the Managing Director at Guinness Breweries when, after missing a shot at a Golden Plover, he had a quarrel over which is the fastest game bird in Europe. That led to a final-say reference book, a yearly publication to end all trivial quarrels once and for all.
Though now rather than the editors chasing up records, the tail firmly wags the dog and people legitimise their efforts by sending them to Guinness.
Shouldn't be surprised: It was used by Guinness to market the beer brand, and is now used by all manner of people, even surfers, to market their personal brand.
On a side note regarding Guiness, the original apprentice coopers (barrel maker) at the brewery were not allowed to bet against their employer if there was a possibility their employer could loose the said bet.
I was questioning his line until the slo-mo then realised it was damn perfect as the white water was a butt-hair away from a smack down. Love to see a channel shot
I'd second some channel vision.
I found most impressive the speed he is gaining as the 'thing' starts pitching. Wow... About time someone works out how to get a speedo onto these boards.
Looks like he's doing 100km/hr at one point I reckon.
Apparently Elon Musk and Richard Branson are working on an indestructible, oxygen filled suit so millionaire celebrities can be towed into Nazare.
Funny hearing David Speers' reaction to this news on RN Breakfast yesty morning, being a non-surfer: "How did a German become a big wave surfer"?
“Big wave record chasing isn’t measured in feet, it’s measured in increments of disinterest”
congrats to him but it's not much to watch - going straight at blistering speeds into the channel