Andrew Cotton surfs the world’s biggest break at the WSL Tow In Challenge in Nazare
Andrew Cotton has surfed some of the biggest waves on the planet and he was back at the WSL Tow In Challenge in Nazaré, looking for more.
Nazaré in Portugal is well known for producing the largest rideable waves on planet Earth. The location’s deepwater canyon allows the surf size potential to reach exponential heights, according to the size and direction of the groundswell that it receives. Its ideal positioning for monstrous waves makes it the perfect location for the World Surfing League’s big wave competitions. Every year, the bravest and most skillful in professional surfing compete at the Nazare Tow-in challenge where teams of two compete — one on a surfboard, and the other on a jet ski to tow the surfer into these gigantic waves.
A storm in Newfoundland sent 85mb of pressure difference to drive a 40-50 knot wind speed hurtling towards Nazare’s shoreline, which led wave predictions to reach as high as 40 feet for the competition on Monday, Dec. 13 and Tuesday, Dec. 14. When we scale this back in comparison to the average soft top beginner surfers who tackle waves of one to two feet in height and still get thrown around like a washing machine, these waves have a force to be reckoned with.
Watching the competitors tackle the monstrous waves of Nazare in real-life is almost unfathomable. As you stand on the cliffs watching bombs roll in, it’s like watching gladiators enter an amphitheater. There’s danger in the air as you watch the jet ski tow each competitor onto what could be the biggest wave of their lives. Although the sun had come out to grace the shoreline, the waves didn’t form as high as initially anticipated, reaching between 20 and 30 feet – but still big enough for the competition to continue. This allowed those surfing to focus on their technique rather than simply trying to survive, as they might on a titan-like wave of up to 100 feet.
The only British competitor in this year’s event was Andrew Cotton, a Plymouth-born surfer who picked up the sport at age 7, then went on to develop his competitive surfing career at the Croyde Surf Club in North Devon, UK. From surfing beach breaks in Croyde Bay, he went on to pioneer big waves at places like Mullaghmore in Ireland, before turning his attention to the biggest waves in the world.
Cotton went on to enter multiple Billabong XXL competitions, before gaining international notoriety in 2012 for towing fellow surfer Garrett McNamara into what was recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest wave ever surfed. After watching this year’s Tow-In challenge, I spoke with Cotton to ask his thoughts on the experience.
“I’m pretty bummed that I didn’t get the waves that I wanted but you learn. On to the next one. All good,” said Cotton. He entered this year’s Tow-In challenge alongside teammate Will Skudin from the USA. He survived two heats in round 1, placing fourth, which eliminated him from the competition.
Big wave surfing is unlike traditional competitive surfing in that your success isn’t just dependent on your technique and strength but also the height of the waves that you find yourself on. The skill in big wave riding is anticipating which waves will build to the biggest height, and hoping that your teammate maneuvers the jetski to place you into the optimum position to ride the wave. Then if the waves you catch don’t develop the height you had expected, you have to accept the ride you’ve been dealt.
Andrew Cotton has experienced the highs and lows of surfing Nazaré
The Friday prior, Cotton had been surfing with Alemoe de Marsais, when the jetski they rode out on was hit by a wave. Rodrigo Koxa managed to rescue Alemoe but Cotton was swept through the rocks into the southside of Nazaré. The event had caught media attention.
“The rock thing was blown out of proportion really, it was fine,” said Cotton.
There’s a calculated risk in everything a high-level athlete does. What may seem like a dramatic occurrence to the onlooker, is actually a thought-out plan, where the athlete has weighed up their options and realizes the potential risks. Cotton clearly maintains his cool even when things don’t go as expected.
This wasn’t his first nail-biting escape from a run-in with a gigantic wave. In 2017 at the same location, after being towed out on a jet-ski by teammate Garrett McNamara, Cotton suffered a wipeout on a wave that was estimated to be 60 to 65 feet in height, which broke his back from the sheer force.
“That’s the hard thing about Nazare,” Cotton explained via his YouTube channel in January of 2020. “The waves look one way but then they suddenly change. The wave changed shape dramatically at the bottom, and because it was so slopey I lost speed and I was in a bad spot. As I jumped I didn’t feel any impact, I just had a weightless feeling. Then when I felt the impact, it hit me hard. Then I took another wave on the head, which was even worse. But it didn’t put me off.”
“Surfing big waves has changed a lot over the last few years,” said Cotton after the event this week. “When I first started surfing it was all about trying to get to the bottom of the wave. Now it’s more about performance.” To prepare both physically and mentally for a big wave competition, “you approach it like a marathon,” explained Cotton. “It’s not something you can just do overnight. It takes years of time, energy and focus. It’s definitely a long-term game, you know? Rather than doing a few weeks training. It’s definitely a longer game.”
“There are always places where you wanna try and surf or get to, but it’s just about waiting for the right conditions or the right moment. Growing up, I was always drawn towards surfing bigger waves. In my late teens, I did a couple of seasons in Hawaii. It was never a plan to make it a job or anything, it was just a passion, you know? Especially in the UK, we grow up thinking that everywhere else is better for surfing. You grow up watching surfing in Hawaii and Australia and all of these far-flung places. I came to the realization that actually the UK and Ireland do have big waves, so it was a turning point, really.”
When asked for his advice for aspiring big wave surfers, Cotton said, “You can always get better. Getting better is continuous. When I was in my teens, I thought that I would peak at 20. But I’m 42 now and I’m getting better, and stronger still. You can always get better and improve.”
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Cotton will be featured in the second series of 100 Foot Wave, which will be released in 2022 on HBO Max. He’ll also be featured in Savage Waters, an adventure documentary that is scheduled to be released in January 2022.