“Half the people think I'm out of my mind … and half are just – I think they all think I'm crazy, actually.” -Garret McNamara after riding 90-foot beast off the coast of Nazare, Portugal
All the media outlets (alot of people in suits) are claiming Garret McNamara rode the biggest wave on record off the coast of Portugal. In the video below, Garret tows into a massive slab in Praia do Norte off the cost of Portugal. Garret and crew worked with the Portugese Hydrographic Institute studying this area before their latest sessions. Praia do Norte is a bit of a phenomenon because the waves get super-amped due to the underwater canyons. ”This one just jacked up, broke, actually kind of barreled, and went to run me over, and somehow by the grace of God, I made it”, Garret told ABC after riding it. “When I rode the wave I didn't know how big it was and then it landed on me at the very end,” Garret said. “It was like a ton of bricks on my shoulders and that's when I realized if I had fallen it could have been really bad.” Check out the video (it sounds better in Portugese, and this reporter is a looker):
We’ve heard this may end up in the Guiness Book of World Records (they still around?). What Garret, now 44-years young, did is no question one of the biggest rides of all time. But wave height is always in dispute. Mike Parsons rode an 80+ footer at Cortes bank back in 2008, and that ride stands as the biggest wave ever ridden – even though Ken Bradshaw rode an 85 footer in Hawaii in 1998. Parson's wave looks bigger than Garret’s wave to me on video, but who knows with all the camera angles – and maybe we’re spending too much time debating this? Garret’s ride will be entered into the Billabong XXL Global Big-Wave Awards, and then all this wave height stuff will be decided. Until its officially decided: Parsons — you rode the largest wave ever.
