German Sebastian Staudtner is the new owner of the award register One of the biggest waves ever browseThe World Surf League (WSL) announced on Tuesday. On October 29, 2020, in Nazareth, central Portugal, he managed to tame a wave 26.2 meters high.
Certified by Guinness World Recordsthe 37-year-old surfer’s achievement erases the Brazilian’s Rodrigo Coxa, who rode a 24.4 meter wave on November 8, 2017. The previous record had already been set at Praia do Norte in November 2011 by American Garett McNamara, pioneer of XXL surfing in Nazareth.
Perfect site for extreme surfers
The site has ideal characteristics for surfing giant waves due to the geological phenomenon called the “Nazareth Valley”: a crack in the sea floor 170 kilometers long and 5 kilometers deep, which pushes the waves of the Atlantic Ocean towards the coast. Every season, between autumn and winter, when a big wave hits the coast, avid surfers converge on this fishing town to offer an extraordinary spectacle to an increasing number of amateurs and passing tourists.
On that day in October 2020, when Sebastian Staudtner received his record, a large crowd gathered at the foot of the Nazareth Lighthouse and on the sides of the cliff that dominates the place. Due to the health restrictions in place at the time, local authorities were forced to restrict spectator access.
