Raves & Rants . . from Penzance

Garret Mcnamara   Photo by Wilson Ribeiro, courtesy of North Canyon Project This giant beast was ridden a few days ago by Garret Mcnamara and is being called the biggest wave ever ridden at 90 feet (30metres).  An 8m swell had been creating 60ft waves all day, the size boosted by an unusually deep undersea trench running in close to shore on the west coast of Portugal, according to big wave rider and Irish giant Al Mennie , who was out on the safety ski on this day.  But this one swung through out of nowhere, and Garret was towed into history by Andrew Cotton . The trio were in Nazaré as part of the North Canyon Project , perhaps this will now be the spot where the landmark 100 foot wave will be ridden, the Holy Grail of big wave surfing. For the moment. To read Al Mennie's first hand account, Click Here    Surflne article with a bit more video: click here Below, a some great footage, and a few words from Garrett about the ride..... ...

Caught up with big wave supremos Al Mennie and Duncan Scott in Newquay recently. Towing in to this 'small' wave at the Cribbar must almost be boring after their 55ft exploits in Ireland. Does that mean we have already seen the biggest wave towed in Ireland/ the UK / Europe of all time ? It's hard to imagine it getting any larger than the record breaking 14m swell of that day. But as Al said ' The break was working really well that day, it'll hold larger '. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Mike Return to Ocean-Image.com