Here we go again: As a massive storm brings hurricane force winds through Western Europe, surfers in Nazaré, Portugal were taking advantage of monster waves, triggering rumors of record-breaking rides.
As we've reported, if there is a place to break the record for riding the tallest wave, it's in Nazaré. Back in January, when there were rumors of record-breaking rides, Scott reported that a deep, undersea canyon points massive waves toward the town.
The videos emerging from what happened at Nazaré on Monday are spectacular:
The Guardian reports that British surfer Andrew Cotton and the Brazilian Carlos Burle are claiming that they have taken advantage of the perfect conditions to break the 78-foot record set by American Garrett McNamara in Nazaré back in November of 2011.
"They were absolutely giant waves," Cotton told The Guardian. "I don't know how you would even begin to measure them. It was really exciting, a big day."
The Guardian adds that back in 2011, Cotton towed McNamara on a jet ski to the record-breaking wave. On Monday, McNamara towed Cotton to what could be his historic ride.
As Scott explained, measuring is an imperfect science. The Guardian says "the record will be announced in May next year, at the Billabong XXL awards."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
