big-wave surfing Archives - New Zealand Surf Journal

Watch: Super Saturday Raw Footage Outer Reefs, Hawaii

Derek MorrisonJan 19, 2021May 3, 20210

Filmmaker and surfer Fellipe Valadao brings us this raw edit from the super swell that hit Hawaii over the weekend. “I had the privilege to ride a couple of the best big waves of my life today here on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii,” he told his followers. “This...

Watch: Kai Lenny Soars On Super Saturday At Jaws

Derek MorrisonJan 19, 2021May 3, 20210

The much anticipated monster swell forecast for January 15 and 16 turned Hawaii’s North Shore into a wild playground for the brave. Once again it was Kai Lenny who led the charge at Jaws. Tucker Wooding was in the gallery on the clifftop to record Kai’s waves in what will...

The Edge: Chasing Energy With Doug Young

Derek MorrisonOct 5, 20200

Doug Young, Dan Smith and Dave Lyons target an unruly wave on the edge of a reef during the last storm of the season. The ingredients were this: two 180-degree south swells, both 4m at 14 seconds, a west southwest wind that may drop to 20 knots, if we’re lucky,...

Watch: Paige Alms, Eli Olson Win Big Wave Paddle Awards

Derek MorrisonSep 11, 2020September 11, 20200

Paige Alms and Eli Olson win Biggest Wave Paddle-In Award at the World Surf League 2020 Red Bull Big Wave Awards. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this year’s Big Wave Awards (BWA) honour the best in big wave surfing from the past 12 months, from big-wave breaks throughout the world. Justine...

Maya Gabeira Wins Big Wave Awards With Guinness World Record Ride

Derek MorrisonSep 11, 2020September 11, 20200

Maya Gabeira sets a new Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed by a female as she wins XXL Biggest Wave Award. Gabeira’s record-setting wave measured 73.5 feet, besting her own previous World Record of 68 feet. She broke the record at the infamous big-wave surf break, Praia...

Science: The Big Wave Link Between Climate Change And The Southern Ocean

Derek MorrisonJun 11, 2020June 11, 20200

Monster waves in the Southern Ocean could grow even bigger and more frequent under climate change, scientists warn. Science journalist Jamie Morton explains what’s going on in the southern latitudes storm engine. Extreme waves in the wild and windswept ocean below New Zealand, stretching across notorious latitudes dubbed the “roaring...

Surfer Pulled From Water Unconscious During Nazaré Tow Challenge

Derek MorrisonFeb 12, 2020July 2, 20200

Portugese surfer Alex Botelho drowns during closing minutes of the Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge. He is then revived in a dramatic rescue by the WSL big wave safety team on the beach at Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal. Botelho, competing with team Portugal, was pulled lifeless from the water...

Chasing Giants: Hunting The 23.8m Swell That Broke Records

Derek MorrisonMay 13, 20190

A group of Southern surfers chase a record-breaking swell as it lines up a remote reef break buried deep in the Catlins. What transpires has it all: blood, guts, an inhospitable peak and the rise of a new talent in big-wave surfing. New Zealand Surf Journal takes you inside one...

The Reef: Riding A Once In A Blue Moon Swell

Derek MorrisonFeb 15, 20190

I’d been tracking it from a week out and it played the notes of the forecast with precision. For big wave surfing this was a classic: its deep fetch straight off the western edge of Antarctica, landing an almost direct hit on the southeast corner of New Zealand. Then, sometime...

Chasing Storms With Doug Young and Ross Clarke-Jones

Derek MorrisonOct 10, 2018October 10, 20180

Bobbing around on a jet ski near a reef off the southernmost tip of New Zealand’s South Island it dawned on me that I had been drawn here like a moth to a flame. Each passing set of waves grew in size and intensity and started to look more like...