On October 24th, 2016, during the first big swell of the season in Nazaré, Portuguese surfer Hugo Vau charged into some of the biggest sets of the day. Two waves in particular though nabbed Vau “Ride of the Year” nominations in the WSL Big Wave Awards.
Footage of this massive wave had already been released, but this new drone angle reveals something unique you’d never catch from land: Brazilian waterman Kalani Lattanzi’s duck dive.
Until recently, I hadn’t even noticed that Kalani was actually in that footage. He’d started by scoring a few waves on a bodyboard, then switched to bodysurfing and swimming through the massive lineup. At one point he was caught in the impact zone, with a jet ski rescue attempt that only proved he actually didn’t need rescuing in the first place; something you don’t see every day.
I caught up with Hugo Vau about this wave, showed him the footage and asked him if he knew that Kalani was down below while he was flying down a massive Nazaré bomb. “Crazy Kalani,” Vau said after seeing the footage for the first time.
As for Kalani Lattanzi and the question everybody wants the answer to, yes, he made it out to the other side.
Editor’s Note: You can find more footage from Máquina Voadora // WSL and this year’s Big Wave Awards nominees here.
