At the end of February, Nazaré had a run of swell that is going in the history books. Sebastian Steudtner, Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca, Kalani Lattanzi, and Gabriel Sampaio were all there to take on the beast at Praia Do Norte, with Chumbo catching a wave that very well may be the biggest ever ridden. Now, videographer Tim Bonython gives us another look at the action.
Bonython’s catalog of work is impressive. The Australian focuses primarily on XXL surf, and it’s almost a foregone conclusion that any time a massive swell hits any part of the world, Bonython will be there to document it. Look no further than his recent trip to Mullaghmore to see the kind of footage he’s known for.
At the top of the video, Bonython describes a progression over the course of three days that started off big and eventually pushed the envelope to flat-out insane. “The first day, when the swell started to build, I was on the water and we got some crazy big waves,” he says. “I thought that was big, but wait ’til you see day two and then day three. Oh my god. It’s just out of this world. Literally some of the biggest waves surfed.”
The world record claims are already coming in hot. For his part, Lucas’ tow partner Alemao De Maresias seemed confident that at least one of the waves they saw was over 100 feet. Meanwhile, Chumbo was more measured in his estimation. “I don’t know, everything was big,” he told Bonython, “The waves from today and yesterday were pretty hard to measure, because they are tall on one side, small on another side, too much wind. I didn’t check to make sure.”
In the end, Chumbo seems less concerned with the record than just getting out there and doing what he does best. “I was there, just doing my job, you know, just doing what I love to do,” he said. “I love to drop [in on] those mountains of water. It’s the time when I feel most alive in the water.”
We probably have a ways to go before we know for sure about the world record. For now, though, we’re happy to have another look at what is undoubtedly one of the most impressive feats of big wave surfing ever seen.
