100 Foot Wave (2021) s01e06 Episode Script
More Than Just a Wipeout
Good morning and
welcome to Nazaré in Portugal.
The World's Surf League's Big Wave Tour now brings its focus to the shores of Western Europe.
Where's the limit? We're gonna find out.
The World's Surf League runs surfing competitions all around the world.
And most of those events are held in waves that will be from 2 to 6 feet.
The offshoot of it is the Big Wave Tour, where the waves need to be at least 35 feet on the face and preferably bigger.
A humongous wave.
Pulling into a big barrel.
Nazaré has been an incredible resource for running Big Waves.
That's because there are so many big waves.
We've put on three editions of the Nazaré challenge as a paddle event and it was radical.
I remember going there for the Nazaré challenge, paddle and surfing competition.
And I remember seeing these giant waves and going, how did I get myself into this mess? The night before the competition I was laying in my bed going, I really hope I don't die tomorrow.
The reality of it is we had too many days where the waves were just too big to paddle.
Oh no! Over the handlebars so to speak.
And take a wipeout.
Oh my gosh! Getting bsolutely steam rolled.
World champions were just terrified of it and were just getting destroyed.
After that we decided maybe tow surfing is the right format for this spot because it's never too big.
I ended up surviving the event but I was like, I'm okay without ever coming here.
Pretty much all my friends from Hawaii were like, we're not coming back here ever again.
And it's odd because over the years it's completely changed and now I long to go to a place like Nazaré.
I love Nazaré.
It's one of my favorite Big Waves in the world because it's such a challenge and I've just decided to accept that challenge.
Check out these monster 100-foot waves off Portugal.
The biggest wave ever surfed.
As high as 100 feet.
To put it in perspective, that is taller than an 8-story building.
Surfers are always looking for the next great thing.
It often breaks those brave or crazy board riders.
Severe white routes and waves of mind-boggling heights.
What happens here, happens nowhere else in the world.
The biggest wave ever surfed.
The biggest wave ever.
100-foot wave.
100 FOOT WAVE.
CHAPTER VI ICARUS Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge February 11, 2020 The Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge really was the first event of its kind ever.
A performance oriented, purely tow surfing competitive event.
At this arena where thousands of people were watching.
Welcome back to live action from the Nazaré Tow Surf Challenge.
The prize out here today is the best ride.
We are on the way to heat, one hour long.
Our goal with the format for the Nazaré Tow Surfing challenge was to have as much action going on as possible without jet skis crashing into each other and too much going on where you lose track of the surfers.
So we had a priority system that had never been used before where we had a big screen on the side of the lighthouse and a judge that would say hey, once you caught a wave basically you go to the end of the line.
Back is clear.
Here we go.
Andrew Cotton, from Great Britain, a big fade.
He did ride that wave really well, he put himself in a great position.
And that is Lucas Chianca, massive wedge of a peak.
Look at this scene, this is one of the biggest waves we've seen.
Tom Butler that was.
That was a very, very tall one.
Kai Lenny got involved.
What you can expect from him, he's gonna do stuff like that.
Complete spin, 360 degrees.
Lands with control and then drops back in and loses control.
Oh and what a tumble.
Wow, that was crazy stuff.
There were thousands and thousands of people.
That was pretty astonishing just to see that amount of people.
I felt like a gladiator in Thunderdome.
We're over here to see Andrew surf for the first time.
Andrew Cotton that is.
I've seen him scores of times on video and TV but never actually being here.
So it's amazing to see it.
We've got to manifest one really good wave for Cotty and one really good wave for Tom in this next scene.
I'm gonna go up there to study so that I can call the wave.
First speed, first speed.
Here we go, doubles.
Yes, here we go, we've got Cotty on the inside.
That is a massive wave.
She has her wings out, stabilizing herself.
She is next level.
I could see her winning actually.
Beating all the guys.
I would love that.
Justine Dupont, you just surfed your half hour heat, how was it out there? I was so lucky, I got a really nice wave at the beginning of the heat, so then we were pretty confident and just having fun.
We surf those big waves every day.
The difference is that it was broadcast live.
I loved being able to share that with everyone.
Tell us about the conditions today.
Is this everything you'd hoped for for the event to run? Yeah it's really good.
There's not that much wind, so we are not used to having this condition, that perfect.
Right now I'd like to be in the water, yeah.
Because it's so smooth.
This is the kind of day that I live for.
- It looks like Maya Gabeira.
- This wave's got a wall on it.
This is the kind of wave you want if you can get around that.
Now she's gonna deal with some white water here.
The noise and the power that exploded all around me.
I don't know how I would have reacted on a free surf but because I was competing I saw that bomb and didn't even think about it.
I went all the way to the bottom and then I saw that there was no way that I was going to be able to turn at that point.
I just held on.
The explosion of white water gets the better of Maya.
I got really lucky because I just had enough that I was thrown forward and not down.
And now we get to see Sebastian and his ability to get in.
And there's the pickup for Maya, all good.
I just got so close to something so scary that I must say that it took a lot of my confidence away.
I was one athlete up until that point, and then I became another athlete for the other part of the competition.
Where I was like, I don't want to play that close to fire, you know? I want to surf well but this is not worth my life.
Where are you guys? We're still riding.
Spotting is really tough.
Really tough.
I'm just trying to study the waves so I could choose better.
It's so challenging to pick the right wave.
I've got a lot of sympathy for the spotters.
We're running on a big one.
Can you tell me where red is? Where's red? I know he found it more difficult than what he envisioned and I think that's probably because he's used to being out in the sea.
When you're in the water you're more focused on just what's around you, not every aspect of that.
Red's first priority now? Yeah? You guys have priority.
Wait for the bottom.
There's a second bottom coming.
A second set is coming.
Tell Cotty I'll let you guys know if it's a good right.
The rights are hollow and amazing.
If it's a good right, tell him to go right.
You guys are a priority.
This next wave is really good.
I was surfing and Garrett's called theway on the radio and it was a left hander and a right hander.
It was a perfect pick, you could have gone any way.
We were down at like 5th priority at this point.
We saw the other team going and we had to wait to see what they did first.
I was just looking left, I didn't see what was going on behind me, over my shoulder on the right.
When we figured out that they were going left, oh scoot me on the right.
Left, left, left, left.
That was fine? I just had this wave that just was that wave that everyone draws during their algebra class.
This perfect 70-foot barrel.
I'd have to say from the last wave it looks like you had fun out there.
Yeah it's super fun and it's super sick to just be here right now.
Both Lucas and I want to ride like an 80-footer if one eventually comes in.
Well are you ready to go? You seem to be in the nominations so far, to keep going with the rest of the event.
FINAL HEA There's tons of waves.
Don't worry.
There's tons of waves.
Can you hear Cotty on the radio or can you hear me? We can hear you when you talk but all we hear is when you're not talking.
He knew that he was losing it towards the end.
Left inside, go, go, go.
Way over, way over.
This next wave is the wave.
That's where you don't want to be.
Here and there, right and left.
It's like classic Garrett.
How much time? Two minutes guys, let's get you on the nugget.
There is a big set coming, there is a big set coming.
Get on the rope, get on the rope.
This is the wave, this is the magic wave.
Go for this wave.
What? Towards the end of that final heat I was towing fronting into a wave and then it kind of came across the radio, skis down, skis down.
We lost the ski, we lost the ski.
Alex and Hugo were on the inside, they didn't have backup safety.
They were going back out and there was this whitewater and then a sideways wave.
And they flew over the sideways and landed sideways.
Hit the ski really hard, and I think Alex knocked out on impact.
And then both of them were in the water and Hugo's there trying to get back on the ski.
And they're still under water.
Not popping up.
Then everybody realized this piece of foam that they saw floating wasn't just a piece of foam or a life jacket, it was Alex.
There he is, there he is.
During the event I was the safety driver for any necessary situation.
Alemao Edilson Luis Da Assunçao, WSL Nazaré Challenge Safety Driver When I saw a person, I identified Alex and he was partially unconscious.
He was trying to fight for his life.
He was in shock.
I tried to grab him.
I couldn't at first.
Then a wave came and I escaped.
I came back, tried to talk to him.
"Alex come with me, come with me.
" He wouldn't respond.
Then another wave came.
It's the second time that we ever see a body floating out there.
The first time it was mine and now was the second.
I swam to him.
I tried to grab him as tightly as possible.
So I wouldn't lose him during the next wave.
Then we got hit with a big wave right on the sand.
He rolled away and I did too.
I completely lost him.
He showed up a bit further away.
I remember I saw many lifeguards, many friends and many jetski drivers, everyone trying to look for him.
When Hugo Vau and Alex had their accident, I was with Scooby and no one told us on the radio.
We just kept surfing.
We didn't hear it.
There's no real info.
It's just nobody knew what happened.
It was until social media or something with the video and then it was just, oh shit.
Extraordinary pictures that have come in from Nazaré, Portugal, Alex Botelho got wiped out while on a jetski.
Botelho was unconscious when lifeguards pulled him from the water.
He was unconscious for two minutes.
It was a moment of panic.
It looked like he broke his back there and then boom, wave washes in like the heaviest thing and then he's just out.
He's just out and there's no skis and it's like So you saw the whole thing? And then I just ran down and he started breathing again.
But yeah, heavy.
When Alex and Hugo get flipped upside down with the jet ski, you realize you are nothing compared to this giant ocean.
Wow.
It really took us back to reality.
We must do even better.
Be more strict with safety.
To me that is really the most important thing.
It's hard.
I surfed the contest really expecting my body if it eventually floated unconscious to be grabbed and taken to the beach very quickly.
And to see that that didn't go that way with a friend of ours it just I don't know, it's scary.
A lot of preparation went into having a safety plan.
But in the end, Alex Botelho was not riding a wave, he was getting a lift back out with his partner and the jet ski crashed.
If you attended all of the safety meetings, that wasn't something that everyone was looking for.
Luckily Alemao followed Hugo or Alex wouldn't be here.
He was watching four other teams at the same time.
But he made sure that he went in and got out.
Alemao was the real hero.
I would never be the best in Nazaré.
No one will ever be.
No one's ready for Nazaré.
Not even the best ones and the best prepared, like Hugo and Alex.
Everyone is subject to being knocked out.
It's a ring without a gladiator.
Over there the winner is always "Big Mama" Nature.
It definitely makes me think he was lucky.
when you're out in the water everything changes, you're like a kid in the candy store.
Usually.
How was today, Cotty? It was alright.
A couple of big waves.
But it was a bit of a weird one ending like it did.
Hopefully I'm You know, I Got an interview for BBC news with Tom.
I'm quite tired, I definitely don't want to be doing interviews.
Public speaking's one of my biggest fears.
And uh, now I do it for a job.
That's way worse than surfing 80-foot waves.
Andrew, Tom, thank you very much for doing this.
Andrew, first of all tells us what conditions have been like for big wave surfing there for the last couple of days.
Today the swells will peak probably at like 60 feet maybe? And it was a Nazaré tow challenge, yeah it's been a great day.
And how are you getting on in the competition? We don't know.
We surfed all day today.
We found out tonight at 7:00 there's an awards ceremony at the Lighthouse.
I hate to remind you, Andrew, of what happened there a few years ago.
You had a spectacular wipeout that nearly ended your career.
How are things progressing from then on? The wipeout a couple of years ago, it was traumatic but it was just an injury.
And, and Whatever I do it's always about the broken back, it's all about the injury.
It's like shit I've surfed so many good waves and they're like All they want to talk about is the injury.
Which is kind of sad isn't it? No one really cares about the ones you make, they want to see about the ones you don't.
You know? How many interviews have you been asked about your wipeout? It's just like oh my god.
See you later.
I'm so glad you guys are alright, thank you for looking after Tom for me.
We did some good waves man.
You're looking for a shirt, right? - You've got one in the camper there.
- I am there.
See you in a little bit.
Hi, mate.
Sorry I wasn't that good up there.
It's so hard.
Yeah, I know.
You're fine.
It was good, it was good.
- It's hard though, isn't it? - It's so gnarly.
It's hard, eh? Did anyone get any what was the Your last wave was probably a contender and nobody shot it.
They were all shooting Alex.
- No one shot the last one? - No.
From what they were doing your wave should be in the top five.
- The last wave.
- The last wave? Yeah, but they couldn't find it.
Oh I don't know that's too bad isn't it? Alright.
And then uh Okay.
Good surfing.
Basically the rules of the biggest wave within an event really depend on the video and photographic evidence.
Andrew Cotton caught an amazing wave at the last minute of the challenge and tragically it was not captured.
I remember them saying the cameraman caught the wave in the score and he caught it before the horn blast.
But everything was happening on the inside with Alex and Hugo and the attention obviously went to that.
How this can happen? When you have like 8-10 cameras? They were pointing all the cameras to the accident.
To the point they lost Cotty's wave.
Which was one of the biggest on that day.
I looked up and I saw it and it was a stunner but unfortunately, not only everyone working on the event but everyone who had a camera who was attending the event looked the other way.
So it was not up for consideration in the event.
Nor was it up for a consideration of the biggest wave of the year.
Until we can have a camera over every square centimeter of the earth a few things are gonna go missing.
Hello, how are you my darling? Well done.
You did so well, brilliant.
You didn't even know which one I was though.
But I think I knew sometimes.
No, it was great.
So glad that I was able to see you.
It was brilliant.
I saw you on that big wave coming down, I saw that.
Yes, we were fortunate to be still out there watching the final wave and it really, really was a big wave but um, I don't think an awful lot of people did see it though.
Cotty loves surfing big waves.
It's all he wants to do.
He is hungry, super hungry.
Obsessed with big waves but never really Never really Never really want anything or really had that moment.
WSL AWARDS CEREMONY My first words go to Alex and Hugo.
Let's give them a big round of applause.
I think they deserve it.
Second of all, my family, the surfers.
Man, you're here all these years.
I'll always be here to support you.
As long as the people of Nazaré vote for me of course.
But if they don't, I'll still be here.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Have a nice evening.
There's Seb.
Thank you.
You wanna say something? I just came from the hospital.
Alex has a problem with his lung, a lot of water in there, but he will push through and he will also be kept there overnight.
But probably also be fine.
And he asked me to pass the message that he really enjoyed the day.
He's stoked that everyone charged and he's happy to come back and see all of us.
That's the message he had.
Beautiful stuff.
So to be unique to this event we have the surfers voting on all the awards tonight.
It is something where you can't blame the judging, because you are all the judges as athletes.
I'm now going to introduce the highlights of today.
So please pay attention to this very closely so you can get your votes in.
The idea was we would watch everyone's run and we'd all judge it.
Surfing is more of an art than a sport and hard to judge in a lot of ways.
It was just about his gut feeling as a surfer participating in an event.
What spoke to you? Well there you go, round of applause for an incredible day of surfing.
When you hear your name please come up here and cast your vote.
I like the way the contest was organized but I didn't compete.
For me big waves are about you and God.
But of course it's amazing for the great community and I respect it a lot.
Our tabulator here works quickly and first awards women's wave of the day.
Over here, and it will go to Justine Dupont.
The real trophy is getting that wave.
We could question the need for a trophy in surfing? I mean don't get me wrong, it's nice to win some trophies of course.
- Do you recall the wave of the day? - One was kind of special.
But it's not about winning, it's about sharing.
Maya, her wave was huge today as well.
And tomorrow she will catch a bigger one than me.
So I like this game.
And we're helping push the limits together with the boys.
So thanks for this, but yeah.
Tomorrow I'll give it back to Maya.
Thank you very much, merci.
That brings us to the men's wave of the day.
I think that this one, the wave did a lot of the work but the teamwork got the wave.
So congratulations to Kai Lenny for the wave of the day.
Kai, I want to ask you first.
That wave was pretty special, you ended up splitting the peak with someone.
I think it was Team Britain that was going on the left.
And I yelled at Lucas, I'm like, let's go right and he's like, right, really? Because he was going to go straight to the cliff.
And he just whipped me up and the wave was so smooth I didn't know how big it was behind me.
If you were to ask any surfer to draw the perfect wave it would probably be something like that.
- Wouldn't you agree? - Yeah.
To be honest I remember seeing Kai on the right and I don't even remember seeing what happened on the left.
That's how good the right was.
Hindsight is 20/20 and I've been on the other side of the stick as well where you could have gone on the wave of the day.
I think it happens to every big wave surfer where he shoulda, coulda.
But you just have to go back out there and hope you get another opportunity at it.
Well you might stay up on the stage because the next one, you guys are the best team.
You won the best team as well.
One more round of applause for all the competitors.
Did you guys ever figure out if your last wave was found or ever seen? Don't think there's any video.
But there's a still.
Which is nice.
But there will be big waves tomorrow.
Bigger waves Monday.
It's just another wave.
I've got to go.
Alright.
I'll see you in the morning.
- Where is MacNamara? - No, he's gone.
He's in there.
Oh now that's right.
I was thinking MacNamara wasn't there.
I'm gonna give him a kiss.
Hey you! He was there the whole time.
I should have done the contest.
There's a small percentage of me that wanted to.
The teams are gonna get more organized, they're gonna figure out how to do better.
And it's gonna get harder.
It's just like the paddle contest.
I should have done that the first year but I had a broken arm.
Now this one I've got a broken foot.
There's some weird little juju going on and I don't know what's wrong.
Figure out what I'm doing wrong, or maybe I'm not doing anything wrong.
I don't know.
What would you have done though that no one else I would have got barrel.
Plain and simple, I would have got barrel.
I would have found a right barrel and I would have gotten blown out of a monster barrel.
And that's what would have won the whole thing.
At 52 that would have been pretty inspiring.
If it would have been perfect conditions Garrett would have surfed the contest.
I think he was just feeling fear, fear of loss.
Or fear of another injury.
Garrett, ten years ago was like, he wanted every wave under the sun.
He was hungry.
But now the growing fear of wipeouts, the impacts, the dangers.
Garrett's had a lot.
He's had more than most.
He's had a lot of beatings.
Oh my god.
The last four years he had an injury and he hasn't surfed as much.
Before I got hurt I really enjoyed being underwater, enjoyed getting pounded, and enjoyed every moment.
And Maverick's smacked me down.
The pain was so severe for so long that it changed my outlook a bit.
And then in G-Land during that wipeout it was spooky getting pounded and thinking about my family while I'm under water.
Not being there for them definitely weighs on you a bit.
Big wave surfing is one of the most challenging sports one can undertake because no matter how good you really are you're going to reach a situation that'll nearly send you into oblivion.
The fear that comes into big wave surfing.
There's fear for your life.
You can't go out into the sea and not be scared.
Fear is an ever present emotion.
Yet you have to go out into certain conditions.
You have obligations to yourself to your own drive.
Whenever you let go of the tow rope to catch a wave you don't know what's coming next.
You have no control over these elements.
The only control you've got is of yourself.
There's nervous energy there, but then there's a moment in time where it just disappears.
A deathly calm comes over you and the fear completely drains.
We know it's a sense of flying, it's like being a bird.
We know it's all consuming like you're not thinking about anything else.
You're completely absorbed in the moment, time goes slow you know? A second probably equates to more like ten seconds.
You are present.
Intensely present.
You are a human being against the wave and against the challenge.
You become part of something that is greater than you.
Part of nature, part of the universe.
And you're just riding, surfing, flying.
Voila.
It's the closest I've ever felt to euphoria.
I feel like I'm Icarus and I'm getting so close to the sun but my wax wings haven't melted just yet.
They're putting their life on the line every day when they go there.
Every wave can be their last wave.
It's what makes them feel alive.
It is magical and I think once you get a connection with the ocean I think it can be with you forever.
That feeling is the feeling I think you end up chasing for your whole life.
I've been surfing now for 33 years and I'm still chasing that same wave.
And that's why we pursue it.
That's why we do it our whole life.
That's why we fly around the world.
Because there's no one alive that when riding a wave wouldn't experience that feeling and not want to go back out and spend their whole life doing it.
Two days after WSL Challenge We were trying to do these remote control jet skis that we set up and we were attempting to capture the wave from a bunch of different angles.
And then in the midst of all of that, Garrett I think decided to catch a wave all of a sudden.
I'm looking up and there's perfect smooth rights on the 3rd and 4th peak.
And that's like a dream, it's just so fun.
I'm thinking okay I'm gonna go take Cotty on a couple of waves and then he's like man, do you want one? I almost want one.
My foot was kind of swollen.
I'll get you one if you want.
I'm like Okay.
It's been four years since he had a really big wave.
Let's all follow our hearts.
Everything will go great.
I get on the rope and there's the set.
There's Garrett.
Fear is something we choose.
Fear is when we're not in the moment.
When we choose to think about the past or think about the future.
Two things that don't exist.
For the big waves the only thing that exists is right now.
He got a bomb wave but then it was disaster.
We got pounded.
He went over the fall.
And then he got washed up on the beach.
I saw him on the beach on his knees there and I thought he was hurt.
He just got a horrific wipeout.
He got two big waves on the head, held under for 35-40 seconds.
And he came back smiling.
Five years I don't get pounded so It feel so good.
I've been letting fear consume me.
I wasn't sure if I enjoyed being under water anymore.
I really enjoyed it.
Yeah when I saw that big white water coming at me I wasn't afraid and I went over the falls and I wasn't afraid.
It was like back to normal.
Pretty cool.
It was so good that that happened.
It was a sense of relief.
And where does the fear sit now? The fear? Well as of now I feel the fear has disappeared.
Yeah.
Gman is back.
Look at how good it is up there.
Oh I might have to go back out.
I think the spark is back, Garrett's back and he's gonna ride a 100-foot wave here.
If the 100-foot day comes and the conditions are right, I'll definitely go out there and ride it.
There's no doubt about that.
Thank you all! Welcome to Nazaré.
Never a dull moment.
Thank you very very much.
ONE MONTH LATER Breaking news, stay at home, that is the order tonight from four state governors.
Governor David Ige announcing a mandatory 2-week quarantine for all travelers arriving in Hawaii beginning Thursday, March 26th.
Now this will not apply to My foot's all better.
No pain at all.
This is probably the longest we've ever been home.
That's cilantro.
What's this one? Sage.
Wow.
Sometimes it's great and other times it's not great.
Being trapped with my family has been interesting.
It's been beautiful just surfing regular waves and fun waves and just slowing down enough and remembering to enjoy it.
Garrett's also connecting with what's important to himself and his life.
I've actually been relaxing with the family.
Definitely starting appreciating everything out of the water more.
Not having to base everything on the next ride and needing that fix, that rush.
The best time of my life right now.
The best time.
Me come.
You're gonna get on the jetski.
- Do you wanna go with Sparrow? - Yeah, Daddy.
Can't remember when I was home for this long.
The work thing is eliminated and I get to enjoy time with the kids.
But at the same time, as soon as Portugal is open for surfing again, I want to get back down there.
It's what I've got to be doing.
I actually miss Nazaré very much right now.
The only thing I'm missing from this quarantine, we're supposed to be there.
As soon as we can go back, we're going back.
I'll probably be more prepared than I've ever been.
Definitely the best shape that I've been in since I got injured.
My body's strong enough, my ligaments, my tendons, the muscles are all solid.
Shoulders and foot are ready.
He's looking good and feeling good and he was out there surfing today and he got some waves.
I couldn't get off the bottom and the board was going like this.
I hit the bottom really hard and then I kicked off the bottom like superman.
Training for the next season is continuous and I want to be ready physically, mentally.
I think Garett's been a really positive role model in that you can surf big waves into your fifties.
It's inspiring to me to keep fit and keep injury free.
Keep focused.
Cotty's ready.
Cotty wants it, 100%.
If it comes and Cotty's there, he wants it.
And I really feel it going to Cotty because he's given me all of my best waves.
How many 100-foot waves have ever broken on the planet Earth? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? Thousands? There's a lot of luck involved with big wave surfing but you make your own luck, don't you? CJ, if he wants it then it could easily come to him.
I definitely could.
I know that I can.
Sometimes I don't want to.
Just 'cause maybe there's some fear and I think, okay, one little bump the wrong way and I'm paying the price.
But most of the time, seeing those big, massive waves when it's good Most of the time I want to.
And I'm feeling energized to go back to Nazaré for sure.
When Garrett started surfing big waves I'm sure he was only one of a handful of people on the planet that wanted to surf 100-foot waves.
Now I think he's inspired a whole new generation and a whole new group of people to want to go ride these giant waves.
Especially the 100-footer.
Hats down honestly and thank you to him.
Because he opened up a path for all of us.
Thanks to him we can all have these experiences and share these emotions.
That's awesome.
So thank you, Garrett.
There's no doubt with Nazaré coming onto the scene that 100-foot waves are definitely achievable.
And I think we all know that there's bigger waves out there and at some point in time somebody will ride one.
The 100-foot wave is going to be a 120-foot wave when somebody rides it.
And if it's not Garrett, I hope it's me.
I don't like to get too attached to numbers, goals and things.
I want to perform really well, but I don't want to be greedy.
In September, the WSL recognized Maya's Tow Challengd wave as the bigfest surfed by a man or a woman in 2020.
The wave measured 73.
5 feet, breaking her own world record.
Surfers always have travelled in search of waves.
In hopes of finding something incredible that might be greater than any of the waves that we've ever ridden.
That's what we do, that's what we've done, and that's what we'll always do.
When we met you, Garrett was talking about the 100-foot wave.
Do you think after this last year and a half, do you think that's still the goal? Or do you think it's changed? You know what? I don't know.
I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet.
- Let me get - No, I need help because it's small.
- To catch the wave? - Yeah.
But I can imagine if that swell that we've always known could come, comes I don't think that there's any way that he'd be able to stay out of the water.
If it's perfect conditions, he's gonna go.
This is the 100-foot wave.
Life is the 100-foot wave.
This right here is the 100-foot wave.
He was saying the 100-foot wave is right now.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's definitely changing for him.
I don't know if it's old age or what but he seems a lot more content.
Go, go, go.
Yes, yes, yes.
If you can live life like you're riding 100-foot waves all day every day you're gonna have really amazing days.
The World's Surf League's Big Wave Tour now brings its focus to the shores of Western Europe.
Where's the limit? We're gonna find out.
The World's Surf League runs surfing competitions all around the world.
And most of those events are held in waves that will be from 2 to 6 feet.
The offshoot of it is the Big Wave Tour, where the waves need to be at least 35 feet on the face and preferably bigger.
A humongous wave.
Pulling into a big barrel.
Nazaré has been an incredible resource for running Big Waves.
That's because there are so many big waves.
We've put on three editions of the Nazaré challenge as a paddle event and it was radical.
I remember going there for the Nazaré challenge, paddle and surfing competition.
And I remember seeing these giant waves and going, how did I get myself into this mess? The night before the competition I was laying in my bed going, I really hope I don't die tomorrow.
The reality of it is we had too many days where the waves were just too big to paddle.
Oh no! Over the handlebars so to speak.
And take a wipeout.
Oh my gosh! Getting bsolutely steam rolled.
World champions were just terrified of it and were just getting destroyed.
After that we decided maybe tow surfing is the right format for this spot because it's never too big.
I ended up surviving the event but I was like, I'm okay without ever coming here.
Pretty much all my friends from Hawaii were like, we're not coming back here ever again.
And it's odd because over the years it's completely changed and now I long to go to a place like Nazaré.
I love Nazaré.
It's one of my favorite Big Waves in the world because it's such a challenge and I've just decided to accept that challenge.
Check out these monster 100-foot waves off Portugal.
The biggest wave ever surfed.
As high as 100 feet.
To put it in perspective, that is taller than an 8-story building.
Surfers are always looking for the next great thing.
It often breaks those brave or crazy board riders.
Severe white routes and waves of mind-boggling heights.
What happens here, happens nowhere else in the world.
The biggest wave ever surfed.
The biggest wave ever.
100-foot wave.
100 FOOT WAVE.
CHAPTER VI ICARUS Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge February 11, 2020 The Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge really was the first event of its kind ever.
A performance oriented, purely tow surfing competitive event.
At this arena where thousands of people were watching.
Welcome back to live action from the Nazaré Tow Surf Challenge.
The prize out here today is the best ride.
We are on the way to heat, one hour long.
Our goal with the format for the Nazaré Tow Surfing challenge was to have as much action going on as possible without jet skis crashing into each other and too much going on where you lose track of the surfers.
So we had a priority system that had never been used before where we had a big screen on the side of the lighthouse and a judge that would say hey, once you caught a wave basically you go to the end of the line.
Back is clear.
Here we go.
Andrew Cotton, from Great Britain, a big fade.
He did ride that wave really well, he put himself in a great position.
And that is Lucas Chianca, massive wedge of a peak.
Look at this scene, this is one of the biggest waves we've seen.
Tom Butler that was.
That was a very, very tall one.
Kai Lenny got involved.
What you can expect from him, he's gonna do stuff like that.
Complete spin, 360 degrees.
Lands with control and then drops back in and loses control.
Oh and what a tumble.
Wow, that was crazy stuff.
There were thousands and thousands of people.
That was pretty astonishing just to see that amount of people.
I felt like a gladiator in Thunderdome.
We're over here to see Andrew surf for the first time.
Andrew Cotton that is.
I've seen him scores of times on video and TV but never actually being here.
So it's amazing to see it.
We've got to manifest one really good wave for Cotty and one really good wave for Tom in this next scene.
I'm gonna go up there to study so that I can call the wave.
First speed, first speed.
Here we go, doubles.
Yes, here we go, we've got Cotty on the inside.
That is a massive wave.
She has her wings out, stabilizing herself.
She is next level.
I could see her winning actually.
Beating all the guys.
I would love that.
Justine Dupont, you just surfed your half hour heat, how was it out there? I was so lucky, I got a really nice wave at the beginning of the heat, so then we were pretty confident and just having fun.
We surf those big waves every day.
The difference is that it was broadcast live.
I loved being able to share that with everyone.
Tell us about the conditions today.
Is this everything you'd hoped for for the event to run? Yeah it's really good.
There's not that much wind, so we are not used to having this condition, that perfect.
Right now I'd like to be in the water, yeah.
Because it's so smooth.
This is the kind of day that I live for.
- It looks like Maya Gabeira.
- This wave's got a wall on it.
This is the kind of wave you want if you can get around that.
Now she's gonna deal with some white water here.
The noise and the power that exploded all around me.
I don't know how I would have reacted on a free surf but because I was competing I saw that bomb and didn't even think about it.
I went all the way to the bottom and then I saw that there was no way that I was going to be able to turn at that point.
I just held on.
The explosion of white water gets the better of Maya.
I got really lucky because I just had enough that I was thrown forward and not down.
And now we get to see Sebastian and his ability to get in.
And there's the pickup for Maya, all good.
I just got so close to something so scary that I must say that it took a lot of my confidence away.
I was one athlete up until that point, and then I became another athlete for the other part of the competition.
Where I was like, I don't want to play that close to fire, you know? I want to surf well but this is not worth my life.
Where are you guys? We're still riding.
Spotting is really tough.
Really tough.
I'm just trying to study the waves so I could choose better.
It's so challenging to pick the right wave.
I've got a lot of sympathy for the spotters.
We're running on a big one.
Can you tell me where red is? Where's red? I know he found it more difficult than what he envisioned and I think that's probably because he's used to being out in the sea.
When you're in the water you're more focused on just what's around you, not every aspect of that.
Red's first priority now? Yeah? You guys have priority.
Wait for the bottom.
There's a second bottom coming.
A second set is coming.
Tell Cotty I'll let you guys know if it's a good right.
The rights are hollow and amazing.
If it's a good right, tell him to go right.
You guys are a priority.
This next wave is really good.
I was surfing and Garrett's called theway on the radio and it was a left hander and a right hander.
It was a perfect pick, you could have gone any way.
We were down at like 5th priority at this point.
We saw the other team going and we had to wait to see what they did first.
I was just looking left, I didn't see what was going on behind me, over my shoulder on the right.
When we figured out that they were going left, oh scoot me on the right.
Left, left, left, left.
That was fine? I just had this wave that just was that wave that everyone draws during their algebra class.
This perfect 70-foot barrel.
I'd have to say from the last wave it looks like you had fun out there.
Yeah it's super fun and it's super sick to just be here right now.
Both Lucas and I want to ride like an 80-footer if one eventually comes in.
Well are you ready to go? You seem to be in the nominations so far, to keep going with the rest of the event.
FINAL HEA There's tons of waves.
Don't worry.
There's tons of waves.
Can you hear Cotty on the radio or can you hear me? We can hear you when you talk but all we hear is when you're not talking.
He knew that he was losing it towards the end.
Left inside, go, go, go.
Way over, way over.
This next wave is the wave.
That's where you don't want to be.
Here and there, right and left.
It's like classic Garrett.
How much time? Two minutes guys, let's get you on the nugget.
There is a big set coming, there is a big set coming.
Get on the rope, get on the rope.
This is the wave, this is the magic wave.
Go for this wave.
What? Towards the end of that final heat I was towing fronting into a wave and then it kind of came across the radio, skis down, skis down.
We lost the ski, we lost the ski.
Alex and Hugo were on the inside, they didn't have backup safety.
They were going back out and there was this whitewater and then a sideways wave.
And they flew over the sideways and landed sideways.
Hit the ski really hard, and I think Alex knocked out on impact.
And then both of them were in the water and Hugo's there trying to get back on the ski.
And they're still under water.
Not popping up.
Then everybody realized this piece of foam that they saw floating wasn't just a piece of foam or a life jacket, it was Alex.
There he is, there he is.
During the event I was the safety driver for any necessary situation.
Alemao Edilson Luis Da Assunçao, WSL Nazaré Challenge Safety Driver When I saw a person, I identified Alex and he was partially unconscious.
He was trying to fight for his life.
He was in shock.
I tried to grab him.
I couldn't at first.
Then a wave came and I escaped.
I came back, tried to talk to him.
"Alex come with me, come with me.
" He wouldn't respond.
Then another wave came.
It's the second time that we ever see a body floating out there.
The first time it was mine and now was the second.
I swam to him.
I tried to grab him as tightly as possible.
So I wouldn't lose him during the next wave.
Then we got hit with a big wave right on the sand.
He rolled away and I did too.
I completely lost him.
He showed up a bit further away.
I remember I saw many lifeguards, many friends and many jetski drivers, everyone trying to look for him.
When Hugo Vau and Alex had their accident, I was with Scooby and no one told us on the radio.
We just kept surfing.
We didn't hear it.
There's no real info.
It's just nobody knew what happened.
It was until social media or something with the video and then it was just, oh shit.
Extraordinary pictures that have come in from Nazaré, Portugal, Alex Botelho got wiped out while on a jetski.
Botelho was unconscious when lifeguards pulled him from the water.
He was unconscious for two minutes.
It was a moment of panic.
It looked like he broke his back there and then boom, wave washes in like the heaviest thing and then he's just out.
He's just out and there's no skis and it's like So you saw the whole thing? And then I just ran down and he started breathing again.
But yeah, heavy.
When Alex and Hugo get flipped upside down with the jet ski, you realize you are nothing compared to this giant ocean.
Wow.
It really took us back to reality.
We must do even better.
Be more strict with safety.
To me that is really the most important thing.
It's hard.
I surfed the contest really expecting my body if it eventually floated unconscious to be grabbed and taken to the beach very quickly.
And to see that that didn't go that way with a friend of ours it just I don't know, it's scary.
A lot of preparation went into having a safety plan.
But in the end, Alex Botelho was not riding a wave, he was getting a lift back out with his partner and the jet ski crashed.
If you attended all of the safety meetings, that wasn't something that everyone was looking for.
Luckily Alemao followed Hugo or Alex wouldn't be here.
He was watching four other teams at the same time.
But he made sure that he went in and got out.
Alemao was the real hero.
I would never be the best in Nazaré.
No one will ever be.
No one's ready for Nazaré.
Not even the best ones and the best prepared, like Hugo and Alex.
Everyone is subject to being knocked out.
It's a ring without a gladiator.
Over there the winner is always "Big Mama" Nature.
It definitely makes me think he was lucky.
when you're out in the water everything changes, you're like a kid in the candy store.
Usually.
How was today, Cotty? It was alright.
A couple of big waves.
But it was a bit of a weird one ending like it did.
Hopefully I'm You know, I Got an interview for BBC news with Tom.
I'm quite tired, I definitely don't want to be doing interviews.
Public speaking's one of my biggest fears.
And uh, now I do it for a job.
That's way worse than surfing 80-foot waves.
Andrew, Tom, thank you very much for doing this.
Andrew, first of all tells us what conditions have been like for big wave surfing there for the last couple of days.
Today the swells will peak probably at like 60 feet maybe? And it was a Nazaré tow challenge, yeah it's been a great day.
And how are you getting on in the competition? We don't know.
We surfed all day today.
We found out tonight at 7:00 there's an awards ceremony at the Lighthouse.
I hate to remind you, Andrew, of what happened there a few years ago.
You had a spectacular wipeout that nearly ended your career.
How are things progressing from then on? The wipeout a couple of years ago, it was traumatic but it was just an injury.
And, and Whatever I do it's always about the broken back, it's all about the injury.
It's like shit I've surfed so many good waves and they're like All they want to talk about is the injury.
Which is kind of sad isn't it? No one really cares about the ones you make, they want to see about the ones you don't.
You know? How many interviews have you been asked about your wipeout? It's just like oh my god.
See you later.
I'm so glad you guys are alright, thank you for looking after Tom for me.
We did some good waves man.
You're looking for a shirt, right? - You've got one in the camper there.
- I am there.
See you in a little bit.
Hi, mate.
Sorry I wasn't that good up there.
It's so hard.
Yeah, I know.
You're fine.
It was good, it was good.
- It's hard though, isn't it? - It's so gnarly.
It's hard, eh? Did anyone get any what was the Your last wave was probably a contender and nobody shot it.
They were all shooting Alex.
- No one shot the last one? - No.
From what they were doing your wave should be in the top five.
- The last wave.
- The last wave? Yeah, but they couldn't find it.
Oh I don't know that's too bad isn't it? Alright.
And then uh Okay.
Good surfing.
Basically the rules of the biggest wave within an event really depend on the video and photographic evidence.
Andrew Cotton caught an amazing wave at the last minute of the challenge and tragically it was not captured.
I remember them saying the cameraman caught the wave in the score and he caught it before the horn blast.
But everything was happening on the inside with Alex and Hugo and the attention obviously went to that.
How this can happen? When you have like 8-10 cameras? They were pointing all the cameras to the accident.
To the point they lost Cotty's wave.
Which was one of the biggest on that day.
I looked up and I saw it and it was a stunner but unfortunately, not only everyone working on the event but everyone who had a camera who was attending the event looked the other way.
So it was not up for consideration in the event.
Nor was it up for a consideration of the biggest wave of the year.
Until we can have a camera over every square centimeter of the earth a few things are gonna go missing.
Hello, how are you my darling? Well done.
You did so well, brilliant.
You didn't even know which one I was though.
But I think I knew sometimes.
No, it was great.
So glad that I was able to see you.
It was brilliant.
I saw you on that big wave coming down, I saw that.
Yes, we were fortunate to be still out there watching the final wave and it really, really was a big wave but um, I don't think an awful lot of people did see it though.
Cotty loves surfing big waves.
It's all he wants to do.
He is hungry, super hungry.
Obsessed with big waves but never really Never really Never really want anything or really had that moment.
WSL AWARDS CEREMONY My first words go to Alex and Hugo.
Let's give them a big round of applause.
I think they deserve it.
Second of all, my family, the surfers.
Man, you're here all these years.
I'll always be here to support you.
As long as the people of Nazaré vote for me of course.
But if they don't, I'll still be here.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Have a nice evening.
There's Seb.
Thank you.
You wanna say something? I just came from the hospital.
Alex has a problem with his lung, a lot of water in there, but he will push through and he will also be kept there overnight.
But probably also be fine.
And he asked me to pass the message that he really enjoyed the day.
He's stoked that everyone charged and he's happy to come back and see all of us.
That's the message he had.
Beautiful stuff.
So to be unique to this event we have the surfers voting on all the awards tonight.
It is something where you can't blame the judging, because you are all the judges as athletes.
I'm now going to introduce the highlights of today.
So please pay attention to this very closely so you can get your votes in.
The idea was we would watch everyone's run and we'd all judge it.
Surfing is more of an art than a sport and hard to judge in a lot of ways.
It was just about his gut feeling as a surfer participating in an event.
What spoke to you? Well there you go, round of applause for an incredible day of surfing.
When you hear your name please come up here and cast your vote.
I like the way the contest was organized but I didn't compete.
For me big waves are about you and God.
But of course it's amazing for the great community and I respect it a lot.
Our tabulator here works quickly and first awards women's wave of the day.
Over here, and it will go to Justine Dupont.
The real trophy is getting that wave.
We could question the need for a trophy in surfing? I mean don't get me wrong, it's nice to win some trophies of course.
- Do you recall the wave of the day? - One was kind of special.
But it's not about winning, it's about sharing.
Maya, her wave was huge today as well.
And tomorrow she will catch a bigger one than me.
So I like this game.
And we're helping push the limits together with the boys.
So thanks for this, but yeah.
Tomorrow I'll give it back to Maya.
Thank you very much, merci.
That brings us to the men's wave of the day.
I think that this one, the wave did a lot of the work but the teamwork got the wave.
So congratulations to Kai Lenny for the wave of the day.
Kai, I want to ask you first.
That wave was pretty special, you ended up splitting the peak with someone.
I think it was Team Britain that was going on the left.
And I yelled at Lucas, I'm like, let's go right and he's like, right, really? Because he was going to go straight to the cliff.
And he just whipped me up and the wave was so smooth I didn't know how big it was behind me.
If you were to ask any surfer to draw the perfect wave it would probably be something like that.
- Wouldn't you agree? - Yeah.
To be honest I remember seeing Kai on the right and I don't even remember seeing what happened on the left.
That's how good the right was.
Hindsight is 20/20 and I've been on the other side of the stick as well where you could have gone on the wave of the day.
I think it happens to every big wave surfer where he shoulda, coulda.
But you just have to go back out there and hope you get another opportunity at it.
Well you might stay up on the stage because the next one, you guys are the best team.
You won the best team as well.
One more round of applause for all the competitors.
Did you guys ever figure out if your last wave was found or ever seen? Don't think there's any video.
But there's a still.
Which is nice.
But there will be big waves tomorrow.
Bigger waves Monday.
It's just another wave.
I've got to go.
Alright.
I'll see you in the morning.
- Where is MacNamara? - No, he's gone.
He's in there.
Oh now that's right.
I was thinking MacNamara wasn't there.
I'm gonna give him a kiss.
Hey you! He was there the whole time.
I should have done the contest.
There's a small percentage of me that wanted to.
The teams are gonna get more organized, they're gonna figure out how to do better.
And it's gonna get harder.
It's just like the paddle contest.
I should have done that the first year but I had a broken arm.
Now this one I've got a broken foot.
There's some weird little juju going on and I don't know what's wrong.
Figure out what I'm doing wrong, or maybe I'm not doing anything wrong.
I don't know.
What would you have done though that no one else I would have got barrel.
Plain and simple, I would have got barrel.
I would have found a right barrel and I would have gotten blown out of a monster barrel.
And that's what would have won the whole thing.
At 52 that would have been pretty inspiring.
If it would have been perfect conditions Garrett would have surfed the contest.
I think he was just feeling fear, fear of loss.
Or fear of another injury.
Garrett, ten years ago was like, he wanted every wave under the sun.
He was hungry.
But now the growing fear of wipeouts, the impacts, the dangers.
Garrett's had a lot.
He's had more than most.
He's had a lot of beatings.
Oh my god.
The last four years he had an injury and he hasn't surfed as much.
Before I got hurt I really enjoyed being underwater, enjoyed getting pounded, and enjoyed every moment.
And Maverick's smacked me down.
The pain was so severe for so long that it changed my outlook a bit.
And then in G-Land during that wipeout it was spooky getting pounded and thinking about my family while I'm under water.
Not being there for them definitely weighs on you a bit.
Big wave surfing is one of the most challenging sports one can undertake because no matter how good you really are you're going to reach a situation that'll nearly send you into oblivion.
The fear that comes into big wave surfing.
There's fear for your life.
You can't go out into the sea and not be scared.
Fear is an ever present emotion.
Yet you have to go out into certain conditions.
You have obligations to yourself to your own drive.
Whenever you let go of the tow rope to catch a wave you don't know what's coming next.
You have no control over these elements.
The only control you've got is of yourself.
There's nervous energy there, but then there's a moment in time where it just disappears.
A deathly calm comes over you and the fear completely drains.
We know it's a sense of flying, it's like being a bird.
We know it's all consuming like you're not thinking about anything else.
You're completely absorbed in the moment, time goes slow you know? A second probably equates to more like ten seconds.
You are present.
Intensely present.
You are a human being against the wave and against the challenge.
You become part of something that is greater than you.
Part of nature, part of the universe.
And you're just riding, surfing, flying.
Voila.
It's the closest I've ever felt to euphoria.
I feel like I'm Icarus and I'm getting so close to the sun but my wax wings haven't melted just yet.
They're putting their life on the line every day when they go there.
Every wave can be their last wave.
It's what makes them feel alive.
It is magical and I think once you get a connection with the ocean I think it can be with you forever.
That feeling is the feeling I think you end up chasing for your whole life.
I've been surfing now for 33 years and I'm still chasing that same wave.
And that's why we pursue it.
That's why we do it our whole life.
That's why we fly around the world.
Because there's no one alive that when riding a wave wouldn't experience that feeling and not want to go back out and spend their whole life doing it.
Two days after WSL Challenge We were trying to do these remote control jet skis that we set up and we were attempting to capture the wave from a bunch of different angles.
And then in the midst of all of that, Garrett I think decided to catch a wave all of a sudden.
I'm looking up and there's perfect smooth rights on the 3rd and 4th peak.
And that's like a dream, it's just so fun.
I'm thinking okay I'm gonna go take Cotty on a couple of waves and then he's like man, do you want one? I almost want one.
My foot was kind of swollen.
I'll get you one if you want.
I'm like Okay.
It's been four years since he had a really big wave.
Let's all follow our hearts.
Everything will go great.
I get on the rope and there's the set.
There's Garrett.
Fear is something we choose.
Fear is when we're not in the moment.
When we choose to think about the past or think about the future.
Two things that don't exist.
For the big waves the only thing that exists is right now.
He got a bomb wave but then it was disaster.
We got pounded.
He went over the fall.
And then he got washed up on the beach.
I saw him on the beach on his knees there and I thought he was hurt.
He just got a horrific wipeout.
He got two big waves on the head, held under for 35-40 seconds.
And he came back smiling.
Five years I don't get pounded so It feel so good.
I've been letting fear consume me.
I wasn't sure if I enjoyed being under water anymore.
I really enjoyed it.
Yeah when I saw that big white water coming at me I wasn't afraid and I went over the falls and I wasn't afraid.
It was like back to normal.
Pretty cool.
It was so good that that happened.
It was a sense of relief.
And where does the fear sit now? The fear? Well as of now I feel the fear has disappeared.
Yeah.
Gman is back.
Look at how good it is up there.
Oh I might have to go back out.
I think the spark is back, Garrett's back and he's gonna ride a 100-foot wave here.
If the 100-foot day comes and the conditions are right, I'll definitely go out there and ride it.
There's no doubt about that.
Thank you all! Welcome to Nazaré.
Never a dull moment.
Thank you very very much.
ONE MONTH LATER Breaking news, stay at home, that is the order tonight from four state governors.
Governor David Ige announcing a mandatory 2-week quarantine for all travelers arriving in Hawaii beginning Thursday, March 26th.
Now this will not apply to My foot's all better.
No pain at all.
This is probably the longest we've ever been home.
That's cilantro.
What's this one? Sage.
Wow.
Sometimes it's great and other times it's not great.
Being trapped with my family has been interesting.
It's been beautiful just surfing regular waves and fun waves and just slowing down enough and remembering to enjoy it.
Garrett's also connecting with what's important to himself and his life.
I've actually been relaxing with the family.
Definitely starting appreciating everything out of the water more.
Not having to base everything on the next ride and needing that fix, that rush.
The best time of my life right now.
The best time.
Me come.
You're gonna get on the jetski.
- Do you wanna go with Sparrow? - Yeah, Daddy.
Can't remember when I was home for this long.
The work thing is eliminated and I get to enjoy time with the kids.
But at the same time, as soon as Portugal is open for surfing again, I want to get back down there.
It's what I've got to be doing.
I actually miss Nazaré very much right now.
The only thing I'm missing from this quarantine, we're supposed to be there.
As soon as we can go back, we're going back.
I'll probably be more prepared than I've ever been.
Definitely the best shape that I've been in since I got injured.
My body's strong enough, my ligaments, my tendons, the muscles are all solid.
Shoulders and foot are ready.
He's looking good and feeling good and he was out there surfing today and he got some waves.
I couldn't get off the bottom and the board was going like this.
I hit the bottom really hard and then I kicked off the bottom like superman.
Training for the next season is continuous and I want to be ready physically, mentally.
I think Garett's been a really positive role model in that you can surf big waves into your fifties.
It's inspiring to me to keep fit and keep injury free.
Keep focused.
Cotty's ready.
Cotty wants it, 100%.
If it comes and Cotty's there, he wants it.
And I really feel it going to Cotty because he's given me all of my best waves.
How many 100-foot waves have ever broken on the planet Earth? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? Thousands? There's a lot of luck involved with big wave surfing but you make your own luck, don't you? CJ, if he wants it then it could easily come to him.
I definitely could.
I know that I can.
Sometimes I don't want to.
Just 'cause maybe there's some fear and I think, okay, one little bump the wrong way and I'm paying the price.
But most of the time, seeing those big, massive waves when it's good Most of the time I want to.
And I'm feeling energized to go back to Nazaré for sure.
When Garrett started surfing big waves I'm sure he was only one of a handful of people on the planet that wanted to surf 100-foot waves.
Now I think he's inspired a whole new generation and a whole new group of people to want to go ride these giant waves.
Especially the 100-footer.
Hats down honestly and thank you to him.
Because he opened up a path for all of us.
Thanks to him we can all have these experiences and share these emotions.
That's awesome.
So thank you, Garrett.
There's no doubt with Nazaré coming onto the scene that 100-foot waves are definitely achievable.
And I think we all know that there's bigger waves out there and at some point in time somebody will ride one.
The 100-foot wave is going to be a 120-foot wave when somebody rides it.
And if it's not Garrett, I hope it's me.
I don't like to get too attached to numbers, goals and things.
I want to perform really well, but I don't want to be greedy.
In September, the WSL recognized Maya's Tow Challengd wave as the bigfest surfed by a man or a woman in 2020.
The wave measured 73.
5 feet, breaking her own world record.
Surfers always have travelled in search of waves.
In hopes of finding something incredible that might be greater than any of the waves that we've ever ridden.
That's what we do, that's what we've done, and that's what we'll always do.
When we met you, Garrett was talking about the 100-foot wave.
Do you think after this last year and a half, do you think that's still the goal? Or do you think it's changed? You know what? I don't know.
I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet.
- Let me get - No, I need help because it's small.
- To catch the wave? - Yeah.
But I can imagine if that swell that we've always known could come, comes I don't think that there's any way that he'd be able to stay out of the water.
If it's perfect conditions, he's gonna go.
This is the 100-foot wave.
Life is the 100-foot wave.
This right here is the 100-foot wave.
He was saying the 100-foot wave is right now.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's definitely changing for him.
I don't know if it's old age or what but he seems a lot more content.
Go, go, go.
Yes, yes, yes.
If you can live life like you're riding 100-foot waves all day every day you're gonna have really amazing days.