Benjamin Sanchis (Hossegor, France) tows into one of the biggest waves ever challenged at Nazaré, Portugal, gets air, recovers, then goes down hard on December 11, 2014. Video by Michael Darrigade. An entry in the Wipeout of the Year category of the 2015 XXL Big Wave Awards
Archive for the ‘Surfing & SUP’ Category
Kiteboarding Niccolo Porcella finds himself in a tight spot at Jaws (Pe’ahi), Maui, Hawaii and his attempted airlift turns into a kung fu kick into the lip…and one of the best wipeouts in the history of watersports!
Banzai Pipeline, North Shore, Oahu, HAWAII – (Monday, February 1, 2016) — The best waves of the winter graced Pipeline for the Volcom Pipe Pro today, a World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 3,000 rated event with a $100,000 prize purse, up to 3,000 valuable ratings points on offer and qualification into December’s Pipe Invitational.
North Shore favorite and defending event champion John John Florence (HAW) posted the highest heat total of the day, a near perfect 18.84 for two cavernous Pipe waves. The 23-year-old competed against fellow Hawaii surfer Eala Stewart, New York’s Balaram Stack and Italy’s Leonardo Fioravanti.
“It was a really fun heat, I’ve been excited to watch it all day,” said Florence.” It’s been slowly picking up since this morning, conditions are incredible. The whole day I was just like, ‘please stay the same, please stay the same.’ Still light offshores, big, beautiful sunny barrels.”
Kelly Slater (USA) had a tough heat against Chris Ward (USA), Gavin Beschen (HAW) and Yago Dora (BRA), but made it through to the fourth round in second place behind Wardo. The 11-time World Champion won the Volcom Pipe Pro in 2014 and is eager for another shot at victory in the primer conditions.