This is raw footage of the biggest set of the day, during one of the most monstrous days of the season, at Nazaré. Four massive waves detonated along the first peak of Praia do Norte, directly in front of the cliff with the famous lighthouse landmark — which is the most dangerous section of Nazaré (but also where the biggest waves break). The first wave of the set was caught by Axi Muniain (from Basque Country), followed by Rafael Tapia (from Chile), and then finally, the third and biggest wave of the set was ridden by Rodrigo Koxa (from Brazil). The fourth wave rolled through unridden.
This set had some of the biggest waves of the day and earned Rodrigo Koxa one of the five nominations for the Biggest Wave of the WSL Big Wave Awards Competition on April 28th. Of the five largest waves nominated globally, three were surfed in Nazaré, which should solidify this place as the Mecca of the big wave surfing world.
The infamous Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 here later became known as “The Big Wednesday.” It’s the same day Andrew Cotton broke his back when he was thrown 30 feet into the air and slammed back down on the surface of the water.
If you listen, you can hear somebody at the end of the video calling this the “Super Set” in response to the filmmaker’s *beeped* comment over the radio. The name stuck and this soon became a historic moment at Nazaré, now referred to as the “Super Set” by the locals.
