Carlos Burle: Surfer Catches Huge Wave, May Be New World Record

Surfer Carlos Burle might have topped the world record for the biggest wave ever ridden after catching a giant swell off the Portugal coast Monday.

Along with three other surfers, Surfer Today said Burle traveled to Praia do Norte with the goal of breaking the Guinness World record, which was for riding a wave 78 feet from trough to crest.

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Some are estimating the wave Burle caught was 100 feet tall, which would, well, blow the old record out of the water. Guinness will determine the wave’s official height.

“It was luck,” Burle, 45, told Surfer Today. “We never know when we will be catching the wave. I still hadn’t surfed any wave and everyone had already had their rides. Maya (Gabeira) almost died. For me, it was a big adrenaline moment to get back there after what happened.”

Burle referred to Gabeira’s ride on a big wave that ended with her being sucked into white water, Surfer Today said. She called for help to a jet ski, but passed out from exhaustion and Burle pulled her out of the water. She was recovering in a local hospital and put on her Facebook page that she was fine.

The current world record for riding a big wave is held by U.S. surfer Garrett McNamara, from Nov. 1, 2011, and it also occurred at Praia do Norte. He also rode another big wave in January this year, but that one is not on the books because official measurements aren’t in.

“All of the angles that were shot with video and still cameras, they don’t do it justice,” McNamara told ESPN of Burle’s ride. “He was right on the peak, right in the most critical section of the wave and the drop just kept going and going. It can be hard to tell where the bottom of this wave is, but I haven’t seen anything like that before. There are places where you find huge waves every once in a while, in Nazare, Portugal, it’s huge all of the time. It’s the eighth wonder of the world.”

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