93.73 feet? Photo: Porsche
The annual parade of world-record claims coming out of Nazaré can get confusing every winter. In my opinion, that’s mostly because the big wave and media community have fallen into a habit of blindly throwing out “100-foot” wave estimates and empty “world record” assessments as fast as they can upload a given clip to social media. Measuring takes time and even then it’s a tricky, and sometimes controversial, process.
Give us a specific number, however, and I’ll bite.
According to Porsche (yes, the auto manufacturer), current world-record holder Sebastian Steudtner just topped himself by a significant margin. If the measurements are accurate then a February 24, 2024 wave Steudtner rode at Nazaré came in at 93.73 feet (28.57 meters). The current world record set by Steudtner in 2020 at Nazaré is 86.4 feet (26.21 meters).
The February wave was measured using a drone system designed by Porsche Engineering and “Team Steudtner,” Steudtner’s support squad, but an official measurement to establish this as a new world record is still pending. The drone prototype is equipped with cameras, control units, storage devices, and sensors the company uses in its current modern driver assistance systems. If it proves to be accurate, this could be a big step forward in big wave surfing and the ability to pinpoint or discern potential record-breaking waves from those that won’t measure up when put under a microscope. And do it a whole lot faster.
“We are open to share our technical insights from the drone development with official experts. Our goal is to further increase transparency in big wave surfing and to provide accurate measurement data more quickly,” says Marcus Schmelz, Project Manager at Porsche Engineering.
“Big Wave Surfing is a beautiful sport; I love it and I am very proud to be able to bring it to the next level through development of safety and technology and believing in my dream,” added Steudtner in a prepared release. “It is my goal to improve big wave surfing and take it to the next level. Together with my team, which is driven by its unique can-do mindset to define possible in big-wave surfing, we were able to accomplish this mission.”
