“Deadly” conditions bring out only the bravest surfers

Image posted on Flickr by “gmk1209”. 

America's bravest surfers flocked to Hawaii yesterday after conditions unseen for years spurred the spontaneous launch of a competition that can only be held when waves reach 20ft (6 metres) or higher.

Waves as high as 30 feet reached the northern shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu on Monday, prompting a group of experienced surfers to launch the "Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau" competition, named after the legendary Hawaiian surfer and lifeguard who died in 1978 on a rescue operation. Californian surfer Greg Long won the competition, held on Tuesday, which attracted thousands of onlookers.   

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Posted on Flickr by Scott Sharick.

Posted on Flickr by Scott Sharick.

Posted on Flickr by Scott Sharick.

“Unless you’re a professional, you’d die trying to surf that”

Zara is an amateur surfer and former president of Southampton Solent Surf Club. She works as a watersports journalist on the Isle of Wight, UK. 

The waves have to reach at least 20 feet in order to hold the competition, and Greg Long won on a 30ft wave. To put that in perspective for Europeans - that's over 10 times the height of the waves at Biarritz this week. The power of those waves is beyond anything most of us on this side of the Atlantic could ever even imagine! And unless you're a professional, you'd die trying to surf that.

It's very rare for the waves to be consistently big enough - they have to wait a certain number of hours while the waves maintain the specified height to be able to declare the competition, so it's great that they've been able to do it. It's dangerous out there - as Tom Carroll, a famous pro who broke his ankle out in the surf on Monday, found out. But it's a true celebration of surfing, and congratulations to Greg Long."