For anyone who might have had their head in the sand for the last 8 weeks there have been some massive swells crashing into Europe and beyond. One place that seems to grabbing a lot of the headlines is the break of Nazare, North of Peniche in Portugal. Atlantic swells charge out of the deep Nazare Canyon and then jack onto The Praia da Nazare, creating a monstrous wedging beach break. Big wave surfers from across the globe relish the opportunity to catch the biggest wave and for the gathered spectators it is quite a site to see.
One surfer who has been making regular appearances and is fast becoming a legend at the spot is a plumber from North Devon by the name of Andy Cotton. Andy has been teaming up with Garrett McNamara who is another big wave charger regularly seen tackling the beastly break of Nazare. Garrett recently united with Mercedes-Benz and has been out testing a new surfboard he has produced in collaboration with Mercedes especially for these gigantic conditions.
To get some sense of what these guys are taking on, we have included a video below of the session that went down on the 2nd of February. What puts it into perspective for me, more than the site of them ant-sized below mountains of white water is the shot of them making their way out on the skis. It certainly is not for the faint hearted.
Check out the video below and then buckle up, as news emerging today is that we are set to see another 3 or 4 big storms in the coming weeks and I’m sure this won’t be the last you see of McNamara, Cotton and Nazare.
