Watch: Hossegor On The Weekend
The west-facing coasts of Europe have recently been under barrage from a series of North Atlantic lows with only a few short windows of opportunity among the wild weather.
One such time was Saturday morning in the Bay of Biscay where well-equipped* surfers hunted down big peaks. Why bolt for Mundaka when the Landes beaches are doing this?
* Too well-equipped? The surfers on shorter boards appeared to be doing better.
Comments
Some very Big Boards there?
Yes! What is it with rhino chasers? Bells gets above head high and suddenly there's a pack of guys on their 10'6" wrestling these boats down the face.....those shorter boards out there looked a hell of a lot easier!
the drop at 51s wow
Looks like old mate with the red vest doesn't know how to look inside.
Wave at 2:03 is super nice!
Bigger boards looked too hard to get the edge in eh..
yeah they're not stalling on take off, instead doing drawn out bottom turns and missing the barrel
Must be blind in his left eye.
Nice waves, very nice. But I'll join the "overgunned!" chorus. Maybe it was foecast to be bigger, who knows. And inflatable vests?
There was a little voice inside saying 5 times longer and nobody out and it would look very familiar.
Wow! Inflatable vests. Drop ins and crew ditching boards. Looked horrible - bloody circus.
Stunning waves - just remove the human element.
Do you reckon they're actually inflatable vests or just the flotation ones?
Its an interesting topic I reckon - as I sometimes wonder whether it is just vanity that stops people wearing them on solid but not maxing days down here in Vic.
Having done some whitewater guiding in my past - you'd be insane to not wear a floatation device in rapids - but surfers paddle out into serious conditions without anything but the illusion of safety due to a legrope - which we all know is often not guaranteed to hold.
Just wonder if it's only time until they are more accepted. Remember skiing / boarding with a helmet on used to be uncool - and now not wearing one is uncool.
Fair point Bungan.
Couldnt hurt, and would give a bit of extra confidence.
I've seen locals wearing padded vests and rugby helmets at various set-ups on the eyre peninsula. Not in big waves, but solid slabs. Seemed like a very sensible idea to me.
Fully agree, but inflatable BIG wave vests in these waves seem like overkill.
For sure - big wave vests are overkill. You'd feel pretty self conscious in that kit, on you 10'6" sitting next to a dude on a nice 7'0 step up who is getting better waves!
But I reckon donning one of those more subtle flotation vests would make me more willing to paddle out on the bigger days.
I might start the trend and ignore the haters!
Great waves, shit surfers.
haha
Just like any beach, reef or point in Australia.
what you said
Pumping. Yeah would be hard to know what to actually ride out there. Maybe a knifey 7'6ish just to get into them.
Definitely no quad. Don't wanna be out running those peaks.
Nice peak!
That was frustrating to watch.
Not that I would have done better but some of those waves were amazing, maybe it was hard to get behind the peak?
SR what’s the no quad theory? Slow down easier on a thruster?
It's a pretty loose theory goofy and i'm an unreliable source, but quads go fast in straight lines,. Can't imagine a board that creates more speed is going to be too useful in a barrel that you are trying everything but to speed through. Anyone with a more technical understanding feel free to scold me.
A big fast down the line barrel though is where i reckon quads are epic.
More fin area means more hold. More hold means you can sit higher in the face of the wave. Higher in the face of the wave means more speed.
Also, more fin area generally means more fin to push off to drive.
imo.
If I was up to paddling out I would be surfing a quad in those waves fore sure. Better for under the lip takeoffs but not many people doing it in that clip so what would i know?
Thanks @carpetman. Good feedback.
You mightve swayed me.
Also, it's really clear to me; the inner fin (inner to the wave face) acts as a fulcrum in relationship to the middle fin. These two fins are far more angled apart from each other than the similar relationship of fins is on a quad. Hence, they create drag and "turn". Once I understood this concept the clouds parted, the sun shone through in golden rays and there was a delicious hum that echoed around the world of HALLELUJAH!!!!!
Also depends on rail shape and length. Can get away with smaller fins on bigger, knifier board with correct rail shape as it is using the rail more.
I thought it was hilarious. Thx for the laugh.
Puffy vests and 12ft boards for an 8ft peak! Semi kooks are the worst
SEMI KOOKS!!!!! I love it
Give dead man’s footage any day
Obselete French submarine technology.
Great to see the team training for solid waves and getting accustomed to their big wave gear on a weird shoulder-less shorey!
I'm really excited to see the next instalment where they tow surf 4 foot waves around a mellow crew of normal human surf board riders.
They should call Tim Bonython to do commentary and supply extra slow mo footage.
Swell hit Mullaghmore as well, a better watch
I also noticed the excess of impact vests, board length, and lack of skill and awareness of others on the wave. Reminds me of paddling out at solid Impossibles and 2 Spanish kooks paddling inside the pack every wave with their impact vests thinking they owned the break, until I had to let them know others were in the line up too. They didn't like that, maybe the vests give Euros a sense of entitlement.
I will say though I was a mocker of those who wore impact vests until the large south swell event that rocked the South African coast a couple months ago. Ended up freefalling out of the lip on a too small/light board at 8-10ft Supers (full spring high tide hitting the ledge) with the impact and beating felt like I was hit by a car. I kept surfing and got some but next day my back and neck was fucked and had to sit out a nice 4ft Killers session at St Francis with my mates cos of it. After that I started to think about using a vest for the more heavier waves around the place. Funny how we get humbled sometimes.
Beautiful waves. Loved watching that. Hossegor has been on the bucket list for years.
I spent a few weeks just near there in Messange a few years back. It's less crowded and intense and not quote as heavy i reckon - but it's everything you see and read about. Even 2 weeks over summer and you get just a peak / bowl / wedge festival!
Do it!
The quality of those banks plus the lack of backwash makes me wonder if the dunes are in their natural state or if they to have messed up sand mobility with marrum aswell?