The biggest wave conquered by a surfer. Why do Nazaré have the biggest waves in the world? Hell of a cocktail for the biggest waves

The most dangerous waves are those that every surfer “must know by sight.” The waves that made surfing what it is today, the waves that challenge the brave. This article will talk about the largest and most dangerous waves for surfing, which have claimed many lives. We'll talk about Pipeline and Jaws in Hawaii, Mavericks in California, Teahupoo in Tahiti and Shipsterns Bluff in Australia, off the coast of Tasmania.

The most dangerous waves for surfing.

The Banzai Pipeline wave, which is located off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, is considered a surfing mecca. A legendary wave with stunning tubes occurs where the energy of the swell meets the coral reef. Pipeline hosts many competitions, including the Pipeline Masters. Professional surfers come here from all over the world to ride one of the biggest and most dangerous waves on the planet. In winter, waves reach sizes of up to 30 feet (about 10 meters). Depending on the size of the swell, Pipeline breaks on several peaks: the most famous is First Reef, this peak works most often and is the most powerful; Backdoor - right wave at the same peak; and Third Reef, which is not surfed as often, but has even bigger waves.

The most dangerous waves are here: Pipeline is called the deadliest wave in the world. Several professional surfers and photographers have died here, including Malik Joyeux, a Tahiti surfer who became famous for his surfing on Teahupoo.

This wave is at southwest coast islands of Tahiti. Teahupoo is often called the heaviest wave in the world. The name in the local dialect is correctly read as Chopu, but many simply call it Teahupu. Chopu became popular in the sixties of the last century, thanks to its unique shape. It is simply impossible to confuse this wave with any other. The semicircular reef, which goes steeply down, is precisely thanks to it that Chopu gets up so sharply, quickly and has such a thick linden during big swells.
There have been five deaths reported on Teahupoo since 2000. In 2001, surfer Briece Taerea fell from a 13-foot wave (just over 4 meters), hit a reef, broke his neck and spine in 3 places, fell into a coma, and two days later said goodbye to his life.

Shipsterns Bluff

Formerly called "Devil's Point" after the headland that juts out over the ocean, Shipsterns Bliff is located in the south-eastern corner of Tasmania, which absorbs the storms of the Indian Ocean. The spot is famous for its complex bottom topography, which creates a wave that seems to mutate as it breaks.

“The wave doesn’t just break here,” says Shipsterns master Marti Paradisis, “the ocean folds, trying to destroy everything in its path. To surf here you have to put yourself in the mindset to fight... this wave is completely unpredictable.” And this is true, especially when the famous “steps” begin to appear, trying to knock the surfer off his feet.

“When you launch at Shipsterns, you see the ocean suck the water off the reef and the surface begins to curve according to the topography of the bottom, and this is what forms the “step”,” explains Marty. “As soon as you see it, you have to decide what to do: either jump the step as quickly as possible when the wave is small, or, when its size becomes larger, ride in the pipe. It's a challenge!"

Many surfers who dared to ride this wave were unable to escape unscathed. “I remember being stuck in the current 300 meters from the safety of a dry rock, bleeding. At that point, I was trying not to think of myself as food,” recalls Kieren Perrow, referring to shark food.

Jaws

The wave called Jaws, or in Hawaiian version Peahi is located on the north shore of the island of Maui under impressive cliffs. Windsurfers pioneered the wave, and in the late 1990s Jaws became a testing ground for the nascent toe-in surfing movement led by Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama.
The largest waves here can reach heights of 40-70 feet (13-23 meters), thanks to winter storms. To achieve the speed necessary to take off on a wave, toe-in surfers are accelerated using water scooters. However, recently, surfers such as Shane Dorian, Carlos Burle and Mark Healey have begun to tackle this wave manually.

"Of all big waves in the world, I think this is the fastest,” says Mark Healy. “She moves faster and hits harder.” Rescue operations using jet skis are very difficult because the foam avalanche hits a 300-foot cliff.”

Jaws got its fearsome name when Hawaiian surfers John Roberson, John Lemus and John Potterick, surfing here in 1975, noticed a sudden change in conditions when the wave turned into a huge, dangerous monster. They nicknamed it after the film of the same name, comparing the unpredictability of conditions to the suddenness of a shark attack.

Mavericks

Known to most Russian surfers from the movie Chasing Mavericks, this wave is located in Halfmoon Bay in northern California. And it became the site of the most dramatic events in modern history big wave surfing. Only a select few dare ride this dangerous, sometimes deadly wave, which can reach up to 80 feet (about 25 meters) in height.

Grant Washburn has been riding for the Mavericks almost the longest. He says that the incredible thrill of riding this wave makes you obsessed with it, but sometimes you have to pay for the desire to “conquer” the most dangerous waves. This fact is confirmed by several deaths and tragic cases where surfers almost drowned in the waters of this spot.

But in addition to the dangerous conditions typical of huge waves, Mavericks have their own hidden threat.
“Right below the huge peak is a deep hole in the ocean floor, into which it is rapidly drawing water with each passing wave,” says Washburn. - This place is called “The Cauldron”, and “thanks to” it keeps surfers under water for two waves, and it is also responsible for the deaths of Mark Foo and Sion Milosky.

As you can see, the most dangerous waves attract people whose surfing is not just a lifestyle, but their passion and excitement. But, unfortunately, not everyone was able to compete with nature. We invite you to watch this video so that you can clearly see which giants we are talking about.

Waves most often calm and mesmerize the person watching them. Just imagine: the beach, the setting sun drowning in the ocean waves, one after another rolling in white foam onto the golden sand. “Idyll,” you say. Now imagine: strong gusts of wind, a cooling breeze and a huge 30-meter wave that grew right in front of you in a matter of seconds. “Idyll,” the big wave surfers will say.

Today we will talk about the most famous spots with big waves: how and where these ocean Hulks come from and who is hunting for them. Source: birdymag.ru

(Total 14 photos)

Mavericks, California

1. Perhaps, these giant waves have become the most popular and are familiar even to people far from surfing, and all thanks to the film “Wave Conquerors” (2012), which tells real story the young surfer Jay Moriarty, who conquered those same Mavericks. But that’s not about that now.

The spot got its name back in 1967, when three surfer friends came to surf the unnamed spot. There was a dog with them - a German shepherd named Maverick, who loved to swim next to the guys. Leaving the dog on the shore, they swam by boat to the line-up, but the dog still went after them. The boat had to be turned around in order to tie Maverick more tightly - the weather had deteriorated greatly and it was unsafe for the dog to be in the water. In terms of riding, that day was not successful: the guys were surfing close to the shore, and the giant waves rising far in the ocean seemed very dangerous to them. Returning to shore, they decided to name the place after the dog, who was much luckier that day.

2. Since then, the small town of Half Moon Bay in Southern California has become a Mecca for surfers who cannot live without deadly waves. But not for everyone. For many years, the spot was a great secret, jealously guarded only by a select few. And all the rumors about Mavericks looked more like crazy nonsense. Only in the 90s, thanks to Surfer Magazine, the spot received wide publicity and became a magnet for everyone who wanted to watch and ride the rogue waves.

3. These waves acquire such power due to the unique bottom topography: at a distance of about one and a half kilometers from the shore, the reef has depressions that, like a pump, pump up the wave with an additional volume of water coming from other deep-sea reefs. But this is only “meeting a good friend on the threshold”: the waves themselves are formed long before approaching the shores of California. Mavericks in their pristine state are echoes of storms in nearby areas of the North Pacific Ocean. Overcoming a distance of 320 km (ideal), the waves move south, driven by the westerly wind. Another important component for a large Maverick is the period with which swell waves arrive at the reefs, this period should exceed 16 seconds. When all the factors come together, a huge 25-meter wall rises in front of you.

Nazare, Portugal

4. Who would have thought that ordinary fishing village will instantly become a surfer's center of attraction? And all thanks to the recently opened spot of the same name with truly terrifying waves.

As in the case of Mavericks, it plays into the hands of surfers deep canyon Nazaré (Canhao da Nazaré). This is the largest underwater gorge in Europe, stretching along the coast for 170 km. In some places, the width of the Nazaré Canyon reaches 5 km, and the depth is about 300 m.

5. Find a surfer

6. Nazaré waves are “fed” by strong Atlantic storms, the swells of which move towards Europe. The canyon, like an arrow pointing straight to the beach of Praia do Norte, enhances the power of the waves, and the sharp difference in depth between the gorge and the reef allows the waves to grow in height, reaching 30 m, and sometimes more. There are plenty of madmen who have conquered such giants.

7. Take, for example, the Guinness record holder, American Garrett McNamara, who rode a wave 23.7 meters high in 2011. And just two years later he increased his success by conquering a 30-meter giant in the same Nazaré. The deadly St. Jude storm helped Brazilian Carlos Burla beat McNamara by 1.5 meters. By the way, Burle’s girlfriend, big wave surfer Maya Gabeira, almost lost her life after falling from a giant wave in Nazaré.


Garrett McNamara catches Nazaré's monster

Jaws, Hawaii

8. The Hawaiian spot Jaws (“Jaws”) on the northern coast of the island of Maui is happy to open its mouth to everyone from November to March. This name was given to it by local surfers in 1975 in honor of Steven Spielberg’s just-released blockbuster of the same name. The waves that arise here are really similar to the unpredictable behavior of a shark: suddenly a quite friendly wave can turn into an 18-meter monster.

9. “Jaws” arrives thanks to the storms of the big-wave entertainment-rich Pacific Ocean. These high, fast and powerful waves attract town-in-surfers, i.e. those who get caught on a wave by being towed on a jet ski. By the way, this method was invented precisely at the Jaws spot in the 1980s.

10. “Jaws” appears due to an underwater ridge that appeared as a result of a volcanic eruption. The ridge sharply slows down the rapid movement of the swell, driven by sharp gusts of wind, and the reef, concentrating this entire mass, collapses it in a certain place. In the same place where the XXL Big Wave Awards will be held on May 1.


"Jaws": a surfer for mom, a surfer for dad...

Teahupoo, Tahiti

11. The Teahupu spot (or rather, the name is pronounced “Chopu” in the local dialect) is located in the southwest of the main island of French Polynesia - Tahiti in Pacific Ocean. Translated, the name sounds like “tear off the head” and it fully justifies itself. Of course, it appeared as a result of the bloody inter-tribal wars that happened in these parts hundreds of years ago. But these days it does not lose its relevance. And all because gigantic heavy waves rise 500 meters from the shore and crash onto reefs slightly covered by shallows, sharp as a thousand knives. This is due to the strong southwest swell carrying the left wave, and the unique semicircular “jagged” relief of the reef, sloping steeply down, allows it to show itself in all its treacherous, ponderous glory. It seems that giants simply grow out of nowhere.

Rhys Wartenberg, surfer, traveler: “When I climbed out of the water after my first brutal “kiss” with the reef in Chopu (on my thigh), one of the surfers warming up on the shore said that I was lucky not to grab this beauty with my face. And then I realized: yes, damn it, I really am the lucky one!”

Chopu is included in Transworld Surf magazine's "Top 10 Deadly Waves" list. The full power of the “daredevil” was experienced by surfer Bruce Taerea in 2000. An unsuccessful attempt to duck dive a 4-meter wave ended in death for a professional athlete: a powerful wave pushed the athlete, throwing him onto the reef. From a broken neck and spine, Bruce fell into a coma and then died in the hospital.


Gave Chop

Pipeline, Hawaii

12. What can we say, Hawaii - historical homeland surfing, attracting riders of all levels and ages to its waves. But big wave hunters have a specific point here - the Pipeline spot on the shore of the island of Oahu, or rather, on Banzai Beach. In winter, there are huge (up to 10 meters) pipes here, which, when closed in shallow water, add another 10 points to the danger level.

13. It is noteworthy that, depending on the size of the incoming swell, the wave on the Pipeline breaks into several peaks, the most traveled of which is First Reef. This is logical, because the reef, extending into the ocean, is divided into three parts by depressions, giving the incoming waves additional power. Encountering shallow water, this whole huge mass collapses, creating a perfect, but damn dangerous pipe.

By the way, about pipes. The Pipeline spot got its name, surprisingly, not because of the characteristics of the waves. It was 1961 when director Bruce Brown decided to film some guys on anonymous waves for his surfer film In Search of Summer. And very nearby there was work on laying underground communications in the ocean. So Brown christened the place - “The Pipeline” - very unromantically.

14. Since the 1970s, The Billabong Pipeline Masters competition has been held here annually, where the strongest athletes fight the elements for a prize of $425,000. But everything is not so rosy: since 2000, six deaths of professional surfers and photographers have been recorded here.

Of course it's not the only places on land where you can come face to face with huge waves. But to learn, and most importantly, to understand them all, you need to make a lot of effort. Not only physical, but also mental. After all, big wave surfing is a deadly undertaking. And for those who still dream of riding, for example, Mavericks, we have come up with the motto: “Explore. Go for a ride. Rule."

About one of the most dangerous, but at the same time the most popular surf spots in the world called Mavericks, which is located in Half Moon Bay in California. We've chosen ten more the most dangerous places for surfing, which attract extreme sports enthusiasts, despite the giant waves, bloodthirsty sharks and the risk of breaking on the rocks.

Banzai Pipeline

Located on the north coast Hawaiian island Oaksi, this spot is dangerous not so much by the height of the waves (they reach three to four meters on average here), but by the shallow coral reefs, which are easy to break on. Over the past ten years, five professional surfers have died here, including Japanese Moto Watanabe, Joaquin Velia from Puerto Rico and famous water photographer John Mozo.

Waimea Bay


Not far from the Banzai Pipeline there is another world-famous spot - Waimea Bay. It is not so shallow here, and the waves can reach 19 meters. Among the tragic incidents, the deaths of surfer Dickie Cross in 1943 and Californian Donnie Solomon in 1999 are known.

Peahi


And again the Hawaiian spot. It is located on the island of Maui, but if Waimea Bay is famous for almost a century of history, then Peahi is a relatively new place; surfers came here only in the late 1990s. According to surfer Mark Healy, Peahi's waves are the fastest in the world, and their crests crash against 300-meter cliffs.

Teahupo


This spot is located in the southwest of Tahiti, on one of the islands of the French Polynesia archipelago. Translated, the name of the spot means “tear off your head”; the waves here fully correspond to this name. Since 2000, there have been five deaths on Teahupoo, the most high-profile of which was the death of professional surfer Brice Terea, who was caught on the crest of a wave and fell from it directly onto the reef.

Dungeons


The coast of South Africa near Hout Bay, where this spot is located, is famous for the largest number of sharks in the world. The predators that live here are known for swimming up to their prey at great speed and flying out of the water completely, sinking their fangs into it. The waves at this spot reach 20 meters, and additional difficulties for extreme sports enthusiasts are created by the extremely low water temperature and huge underwater boulders.

Ghost Tree


All the same dangers can be experienced on yourself and in North America- at Pebble Beach in northern California. Here are the coldest waves in the world, which are also infested with great white sharks. The height of the waves can reach 25 meters. In 2007, popular Californian surfer Peter Davi died in the waters of Ghost Tree.

Cyclops


Located on south coast In Western Australia, the Cyclops spot is not as popular as other places on this list; due to its inaccessibility, you can only get there by boat or jet ski, and you will have to travel several hours. The crests of the largest waves in this spot break on the coral reef, so any mistake by a surfer here can be fatal.

Praia do Norte


The spot is located in the Portuguese town of Nazaré - in an underwater canyon five kilometers deep and several hundred kilometers long, some of the most destructive waves in the world are born. It was here that American surfer Garrett McNamara set a world record by overcoming the highest wave in history - more than 23 meters.

Meñakoz


Europe cannot boast of spots as attractive for extreme sports as America and Australia, but it also has its own dangerous beaches. The main one is Meñakoz, located in northern Spain, near Bilbao. The highest waves in Europe reach six meters, and the large number of sharp stones gives the coast an additional danger.

New Smyrna


The beach in Florida is not distinguished by multi-meter waves or dangerous reefs, but the spot is known to all surfing fans because huge amount sharks Every year, sharks make dozens of attacks on athletes conquering the waves of New Smyrna, most of which end in death.

What causes the appearance of most waves in the oceans and seas, about the destructive energy of waves and about the most gigantic waves and the largest tsunamis that man has ever seen.

The highest wave

Most often, waves are generated by the wind: air moves the surface layers of the water column at a certain speed. Some waves can accelerate up to 95 km/h, and the wave can be up to 300 meters long; such waves travel enormous distances across the ocean, but most often their kinetic energy is extinguished and consumed before they reach land. If the wind subsides, then the waves become smaller and smoother.

The formation of waves in the ocean follows certain patterns.

The height and length of the wave depend on the wind speed, the duration of its influence, and the area covered by the wind. There is a correspondence: highest height wave is one seventh of its length. For example, a strong breeze generates waves up to 3 meters high, an extensive hurricane - on average up to 20 meters. And these are truly monstrous waves, with roaring foam caps and other special effects.


The highest normal wave of 34 meters was recorded in the Agulhas Current ( South Africa) in 1933 by sailors on board the American ship Ramapo. Waves of this height are called “rogue waves”: even a large ship can easily get lost in the gaps between them and die.

In theory, the height of normal waves can reach 60 meters, but such waves have not yet been recorded in practice.


In addition to the usual wind origin, there are other mechanisms of wave formation. The cause and epicenter of the birth of a wave can be an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a sharp change coastline(landslides), human activities (e.g. testing nuclear weapons) and even the fall of large celestial bodies - meteorites - into the ocean.

The biggest wave

This is a tsunami - a serial wave that is caused by some powerful impulse. The peculiarity of tsunami waves is that they are quite long; the distance between the crests can reach tens of kilometers. Therefore, in the open ocean, a tsunami does not pose a particular danger, since the height of the waves is on average no more than a few centimeters, in record cases - a meter and a half, but the speed of their propagation is simply unimaginable, up to 800 km / hour. From a ship on the open sea they are not noticeable at all. A tsunami acquires destructive power as it approaches the coast: reflection from the coast leads to a compression of the wavelength, but the energy does not disappear anywhere. Accordingly, its (wave) amplitude, that is, height, increases. It is easy to conclude that such waves can reach much higher heights than wind waves.


The worst tsunamis occur due to significant disturbances in the topography of the seabed, for example, tectonic faults or shifts, due to which billions of tons of water begin to abruptly move tens of thousands of kilometers at a speed jet plane. Disasters occur when this entire mass slows down on the shore, and its colossal energy first goes to increase in height, and ultimately collapses onto the land with all its power, a wall of water.


The most tsunami-hazardous places are bays with high banks. These are real tsunami traps. And the worst thing is that a tsunami almost always comes suddenly: in appearance, the situation at sea can be indistinguishable from low tide or high tide, an ordinary storm, people do not have time or do not even think about evacuating, and suddenly they are overtaken by a giant wave. Not many places have developed a warning system.


Territories with increased seismic activity are areas of particular risk in our time. No wonder the name of this natural phenomenon is of Japanese origin.

The worst tsunami in Japan

The islands are regularly attacked by waves of different calibers, and among them there are truly gigantic ones that entail human casualties. Earthquake east coast Honshu Island in 2011 caused a tsunami with a wave height of up to 40 meters. The earthquake is estimated to be the strongest in the recorded history of Japan. The waves struck along the entire coast, together with the earthquake they claimed the lives of more than 15 thousand people, many thousands were missing.


Another of the highest waves in Japanese history hit the western island of Hokkaido in 1741 as a result of a volcanic eruption; its height is approximately 90 meters.

The biggest tsunami in the world

In 2004, on the islands of Sumatra and Java, a tsunami caused by a strong earthquake in Indian Ocean, turned into a major disaster. According to various sources, from 200 to 300 thousand people died - a third of a million victims! To date, this particular tsunami is considered the most destructive in history.


And the record holder for wave height is named “Lituya”. This tsunami, which swept through Lituya Bay in Alaska at a speed of 160 km/h in 1958, was triggered by a giant landslide. The wave height was estimated at 524 meters.

Meanwhile, the sea is not always dangerous. There are “friendly” seas. For example, not a single river flows into the Red Sea, but it is the cleanest in the world. .
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In December 2004, a photo of the largest wave in the world spread across all publications around the world. On December 26, an earthquake occurred in Asia, which resulted in a tsunami wave that killed more than 235 thousand people.

The media published photos of the destruction, assuring readers and television viewers that there had never been a big wave in the world. But the journalists were lying... Indeed, in terms of its destructive power, the 2004 tsunami is one of the deadliest. But the magnitude (height) of this wave is quite modest: it did not much exceed 15 meters. History knows of higher waves, about which one can say: “Yes, this is the largest wave in the world!”

Record breaking waves


Where are the biggest waves?

Scientists are confident that the highest waves are not caused by earthquakes (they often cause tsunamis), but by ground collapses. This is why high waves are most common:


... And other rogue waves

It's not just giant waves that are dangerous. There is a scarier variety: single rogue waves. They come out of nowhere, their height rarely exceeds 15 meters. But the pressure they exert on all objects encountered exceeds 100 tons per centimeter (ordinary waves “press” with a force of only 12 tons). These waves are practically not studied. We only know that it crushes oil rigs and ships like a sheet of ordinary paper.

 

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