High waves: Surf's up as waves hit 80 feet

Leonard Doyle, Independent 8 Dec 07;

Low-pressure weather systems moving off south-east Greenland and spiralling into the Atlantic brought 40ft (12m) waves, some of the highest ever recorded, to the west of Ireland and northern Spain this week. That is the equivalent of three double-decker buses on top of each other.

Unusually, similar systems were also occurring in the Pacific, bringing huge waves to Hawaii and California. Bill Sharp, of Billabong, a company which sponsors surfing equipment, said: "To have the biggest days ever in Ireland, one of the biggest days ever in Spain, and then the next day a big old day in Hawaii and then a huge day in California, back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I can't remember anything even close to that ever happening."

In California, the biggest ocean swell in two years hit the coast and a surfer died when he became separated from his board in waves up to 70ft high. Peter Davi, 45, was found floating face-down off the Monterey peninsula. His drowning, days before a major surf contest, shocked the tight-knit surfing community.

Film-makers for Waveriders – about the Irish-Hawaiian George Freeth and his role in reviving the "sport of kings" in Hawaii in the 19th century – found themselves out in County Sligo's biggest ever waves while filming off Mullaghmore.

Surfers talked of unique conditions in Hawaii where wave faces reached 80 feet this week. "They were the biggest waves any of us have seen," said an extreme-surfer in Maui, Buzzy Kerbox.