US surfer sets Guinness Record for largest wave eve - PHOTOS

Thrill-seeker Garrett McNamara has taken the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed after riding a 78-foot tall break off the coast of Portugal in November. Confirmed by a panel of experts at the annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, McNamara, 44, beat the previous mark held since 2008 by surfing legend Mike Parson by just one foot. Barreling down the enormous wave at Nazaré, McNamara risked being drowned or crushed by the enormous wall of water he was riding to take the coveted crown.

Taking to the sea on the morning of November the 1st, 2011, McNamara had been invited to Nazaré by the Government of Portugal to investigate the area for a big wave competition. As a veteran surfer of enormous waves, McNamara used buoyancy aids to help him return to the surface if wiped out and was towed onto the wave by a jet-ski rider. The Pittsfield,
Massachusetts born surfer also used a specially weighted surf board that provides extra momentum on release from the jet-ski. Stunned by his own achievement in surfing the wave, McNamara had to navigate not only the 78-foot tall wall of water, but also the lip of the wave as it came to halt as it approached the shore. Weighing tons, the cresting lip could have knocked him off the board and into a spin cycle under the water that would have either drowned him or broken bones with the force of the water. However, McNamara skillfully and successfully navigated the wave to set the record.



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