Quickly access the spots you care about most.
Yeah: Portugal was still going strong this afternoon. Photo: Helio Antonio
Next Round? Ireland | France | Spain | Portugal | Morrocco | Canary Islands
This concludes four full days of Surfline’s realtime Swell Event coverage, Atlantic Overdrive. Our undying gratitude goes out to, first and foremost, all the photographers, videographers and local liaisons who let us have a look inside their world during this nonstop North Atlantic surf bonanza. With that, we’ll turn it over to our UK-based editor, Jason Lock, who’s been pulling all the strings and reporting on this swell event for, hell, close to two weeks now — which spanned seven different countries communicating in five different languages, from Norway to Morocco.
“Looking back over the past few days, it’s crazy to fathom what’s just happened across Europe,” says Lock. “These back-to-back-to-back swells were something else — the dozens of open tabs on my computer are kind of testament to that: swell charts and historic forecasts comparing data from multiple swells over the past 10 years. From way up north in the Arctic all the way down to North Africa, this swell touched just about every country along Europe’s western flank, and there’s something special about the connectivity of it all.”
“That XXL day in Ireland?” he adds. “That same swell was surfed in England, France and down into Portugal. Even Nazare, had the fog not halted proceedings, got blasted. For the past four days, we’ve been going at it day and night to be as up-to-date with coverage as possible. But all that forecasting, all that prep work, all those hundreds of hours would have been nothing without the contributors who breathed life into this thing. A huge thanks to everyone who picked up the phone, everyone who sent in images, everyone who (at my last-minute requests) shot video at crazy o’clock, everyone who stationed themselves at beaches all day waiting to capture one last ride, and all the surfers who flung themselves over the edge in burly, all-time surf. It’s been an honor working with you all.”
UK Forecasts: North Cornwall | South Cornwall | West Cornwall | North Devon | South Devon | Gower | South Pembrokeshire | Severn Estuary
“The best part,” he finishes, “is there’s more swell on the way! And after being strapped to my desk for the past who-knows-how-many hours, I’ve gotta go join the party.”
Stay tuned to Surfline for a full Swell Story wrap-up of Atlantic Overdrive — as well as an exclusive video of the XL Irish Slab Session and more.
“This clip from Norway was shot by Mats Slaastad Birkelund in freezing temperatures,” Surfline’s Euro editor Jason Lock explains, “and features Joel Stevenson (JS’ bro), who moved out there a number of years ago and started Infusion Surfboards, based out of Fredrikstad in Viken County.”
“This turned out to be one of the best and biggest days I’ve seen in my three and a half years up in the Arctic,” says lensman Mats Slaastad Birkelund. “We get big swells every winter, but the wind is usually a problem. It was a bit windy this session, as well, but not as bad as it could’ve been. Honestly, we didn’t really know what to expect. The forecast looked so good early on, with perfect wind and all. But a 13.5 feet at 18 seconds swell is so rare up here, at least that long of a period, so we expected it to drop a bit. Also, on the last big swell here in September, this spot got kinda messy and weird. It’s a boulder pointbreak, and it only works when it’s big.”
“We drove there in the morning mist,” he adds. “The sun is not to be seen at this time of the year. Polar night. But we have daylight-ish from 10am to 2pm. The sets got bigger and bigger throughout the session, and the guys where charging. One broken board and a broken leash. The air’s about 32F and the water 41F. You’d need a 6/5mm wetsuit, 7mm boots and 7mm gloves just to get through the session. So sick, though.”
Also worth noting: this swell was a blend of the longer-period stuff from our initial hurricane force low (one that sent big waves to Ireland on Sunday, 55-foot seas, etc.) and also some shorter period stuff from that second storm — the one that intensified as it tracked past Ireland Sunday PM and into the Norwegian sea yesterday.
The Canaries have seen a few fine moments over the past week or so, but today, the European Pipeline got slightly serious for the mostly local crew of chargers. Manu Lezcano is one such charger, and this wave has a bit of a backstory.
“There was devil energy out there,” said videographer Manu Miguelez. “Lots of broken boards. On Manu Lezcano’s first wave of the day at this heavy wave in the Canaries, he got hit really hard, sent to the bottom and we all had a scary moment thinking something was wrong. We called the surfing off to check on him. He could hardly walk properly. But then, after low tide, he showed back up with his impact wetsuit on and pulled into a few bombs. Warrior mode 100 percent.”
Born-and-bred Portuguese photographer Helio Antonio is at it again on Day Four of this particular pulse of big North Atlantic swell that, at this point, is kinda blending in with all the other pulses of big North Atlantic swell. In short, December is a great month to be a surfer, surf photographer or surf filmmaker in Portugal. Maybe the best month.
“Today really is a day for everyone,” says Helio. “I was looking for a few different angles than what I got yesterday, which was more about the search for heavier waves, and that often means empties. This morning I went to a more urban area close to Lisbon looking for some good lineups. This place has a really good setup and the swell hits a bit smaller than the West Coast, so I was hoping to find a bunch of surfers wanting to ride out the rest of the day.”
“It was 3-5-foot and perfectly offshore,” he adds. “Lots of barrels and a few guys having some great rides out there. Funny how Nazare is still kicking ass today, and just one hour away you can go get some fun barrels. The vibe is really good! Just about anyone who can be in the water is in the water.”
After days of unruly surf (step-offs only, for madmen only), the swell is finally cooperating with the beachbreaks in Southern France. Rumor has it former CT star Joan Duru is currently injured — and a bit heartbroken, as this is the kind of day he lives for at home. We wish Joan a swift recovery. “Waves are pretty good,” says French lensman Seb Picaud. “No big names out there yet. Gone a bit quiet here and the usual epic spots like Culs Nus are not that crazy. But what we have noticed is, after months, the sandbank at La Grav is finally back. Now, we wait for the tide.”
Most of us won’t be in one of the many lineups that will still be firing on Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean we can’t all watch the surf from the comfort of our screen of choice. So, if you feel like going on a virtual surf tour of the UK, Europe and North Africa, check below for the best time to score.
Sunset at Nazare (5:15pm local): U.S. East Coast 12:15pm | U.S. West Coast 9:15am | Hawaii 6:15am | Brazil 2:15pm
Sunrise at Nazare (7:45am local, day behind): Hawaii 9:45pm | Japan 4:45pm | Sydney 5:45pm | Perth 3:45pm
The far west of Cornwall decreases on Tuesday but there will still be some fun waves. The cross-shore SSW wind also continues, adding some unwanted side chop to the most exposed beaches. Protected corners and coves in Cornwall and Devon will be the cleanest, although not all that big. Heads up: better wind and more swell lines up for later this week. Check the forecast for details.
Taz Knight. Photo: Darragh Gorman
Still some surf around on Tuesday as a reinforcing pulse of W swell fills in. Nowhere near as big as Sunday but that’s likely a relief for most. Moderate S to SSW wind for sideshore conditions at many breaks.
Monday had some moments but was still pretty wild and wooly. Wave period and swell size will come down another notch on Tuesday, which should further open up the beachbreak magic the region is revered for. Light offshore wind and clean conditions are expected all day.
The morning should offer the best wind and tide window once again ( S wind, low/incoming tide). Gentle easterly winds look to come up some in the afternoon which will put a bit of a devil-wind bump to the surf for the second half of the day.
No longer XXL on Tuesday but still plenty of juice to get the heart pumping, even from the safety of a cam. Nazare won’t be the only game in town either with the light offshore SE winds setting up great conditions for much of the country.
Tuesday should continue where Monday evening left off – fun but not solid. Look for the best waves over the afternoon on the low tide.
Thousands of waves were ridden across Europe and North Africa today, from giant tow-in a-frames at Nazare to leg-burning right points in Morocco to hollow slabs in the Canaries and beyond. (Scroll on below for evidence.) But not all waves are meant to be ridden, which is clearly illustrated by this bulbous double-up, captured by the illustrious Helio Antonio, who spent the day on the road up and down Portugal’s craggy and wave-rich coastline. (The second wave clearly was meant to be ridden, by an as-yet unidentified surfer.)
“These are the days we crave for,” he said. “My morning was spent basically watching waves breaking alone. Either because it’s a tricky spot or because the WSL event was on at Nazare. There’s this slab, I have to get it right at one point. In the afternoon, the conditions were amazing for the west coast and there were some incredible waves for anyone who wanted to put their faith into it. After a long day on the road, I’m sure: Portugal is one of the best places on earth at this time of year.”
The North Atlantic started kicking into gear the first weekend of the month. And there was no looking back after that as a series of XL to XXL swells unloaded on Europe. The largest surf may be behind us but there’s loads more swell on the way. The atmospheric pattern leading to the hyperactive run of XL swells (positive-NAO) is about to flip, setting up another positive outcome for surfers around Europe. While the waves this week won’t be XL for most breaks, they’ll arrive to find much better conditions, even offshore winds in many regions that have been overloaded with waves and wind for well over a week.
Forecasts: France | Spain | Portugal | Morrocco | Canary Islands
A positive North Atlantic Oscillation (shown above) sees an active storm track steered right into the wheelhouse of Europe’s swell window by higher pressure to the south over the Azores. As the NAO shifts toward negative through the week, high pressure shifts towards Portugal and sets up over the Mainland. While the high provides light and favorable, offshore winds for many zones, it redirects the storm over the Atlantic. This limits the strength of swells as storms are steered north, passing through the swell window rather than tracking toward the region while in the swell window.
UK Forecasts: North Cornwall | South Cornwall | West Cornwall | North Devon | South Devon | Gower | South Pembrokeshire | Severn Estuary | and Ireland
As a very general rule, Tuesday through Thursday will offer similar size surf for many zones from Ireland to the UK to Europe as overlapping W to WNW swells move in. Conditions will largely be favorable too. Lighter southerly wind prevails in Ireland, wind improves for southwest England and offshore flow continues for much of Portugal, Spain and France. Heading into and through the weekend we’ll see surf trend down.
Watch the swell animation below for the week ahead — the green/blue area in the middle of the Atlantic shifts toward Portugal and France through the week — that’s high pressure. Notice the red areas of larger seas shift away from Portugal through the week? That’s the redirected storm track as the pattern shifts. Better for conditions but not for XL surf.
“The swell came really late for Anchor Point, so I went to check a few spots at sunset,” said filmer Amine Nader. “Drove up here and there were only three, maybe four people in the water. You have to drive a way to check this one so it just didn’t get that busy. Plus the borders are still closed.” (Moroccan borders are closed until December 31st now.)
Check out the Anchor Point Cam
Kai Lenny. Photo: Antoine/WSL
No, we’re not shocked. We actually would’ve been flabbergasted if Chumbo and Kai Lenny DIDN’T win Best Team Performance Title, or if Chumbo and Justine Dupont didn’t win Individual Best Performance Awards. (Have you seen what they’ve been doing out there all week? Scroll below if not. Next level stuff.) And Pedro Scooby winning Most Committed Award was a foregone conclusion after the Brazilian hucked himself into lighthouse-sized tubes all morning.
Justine Dupont. Photo: Antoine/WSL
“This is definitely team work and Pierre (Rollet) was amazing,” Dupont said. “We started coming here to Nazaré together a long time ago so it was awesome to partner with him today and with Fredo on the safety ski. We had so many friends around and it was just so sick to have all our favorite people there to share this with.”
“It’s an honor to be towing and be Kai’s partner,” Chumbo said. “He definitely put me on the best waves of the day for sure and we did our best out there. This is one of the best performances of my life and I’m so stoked.”
“It’s so much fun out there, two heats is just not enough,” Lenny said. “Our first heat ended chaotically but that’s why we come here, to charge. The second was better, Lucas got such a nice wave. It’s not massive but it’s always big in Nazaré.”
Pedro Scooby. Photo: Antoine/WSL
“It was a beautiful day in Nazaré, I love this place,” Scooby said. “Nic (Von Rupp) deserves a lot of credit for this win, I’m just here to have fun, I don’t have the same level of focus that they have. He pushes me a lot and I really enjoyed being out there.”
France is bombing right now for golden hour. That God’s breath (aka offshore wind) is blowing spray out the back. That evening light is shining bright. And a handful of brave Frenchman, including longtime WSL grinder Marc Lacomare and international tube hound Benjamin Sanchis, are tackling maxed-out beachbreak surf at La Nord. With the swell period dropping some overnight, tomorrow looks promising.
“Tonight was just magical,” Sancho updates. “The last half-hour of light we had was crazy. The waves were good up until dark. But tomorrow looks smaller, so we’ll probably end up doing step-offs in to the shorebreak, I think. The next few days should be fun.”
“Yeah, it was much better at the end of the day, but no light,” French shooter Ripitup.fr agrees. “I couldn’t really see, so I was just focusing through the cam as best as I could to see what was going on. Good step-off waves.”
Marc Lacomare. Photo: Ripitup.fr
“It was super smooth at the back of La Grav, but it got way too big for the high tide bank where we normally step-off,” says Lacomare. “But it felt nice to be in the ocean on a sunny day after two weeks of storms. I ended up just riding a little 6’2” step-up. Tomorrow should be a bit smaller in the north, so maybe I’ll ride a bigger board. It could be one of those beautiful days.”
Peru Zuñiga. Photo: Jon Aspuru
Mundaka showed moments of brilliance today — to the great delight of the locals, because only a select few got to partake yesterday. “The Basque Country’s regional championships wrapped up yesterday,” says photographer Jon Aspuru, “with Roberto Letemendia taking out the Men’s final and Janire Gonzalez Etxabarri winning the Women’s. Today, though, the swell was a bit of a mixed bag. It was clean in the morning and ended up decreasing during the day. The wind in the morning was strong offshore, then it was light in the afternoon, then it was onshore. But while all that was going on, we still needed the tides to be right. So when the wind was good, the tide was wrong. And when the tide was right, the wind went bad. Still, 16-year-old Peru Zuñiga managed to find a beautiful barrel in the end.”
Who is Peru Zuñiga? you ask. “Peru is a young grom from my hometown in Bakio,” Jon adds. “He usually travels to Mundaka a lot. In the championships, he reached the final in the Open and placed 3rd. He will undoubtedly be a great surfer in future Mundaka sessions.”
Gony Zubizarreta. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
Coxos, wouldn’t you know? Kanoa and Steady Freddy are out there mixing it up with Gony, Andy Criere and a few local aces. And by “mixing it up” we mean mixing up their repertoires. Tubes and turns — Coxos is the kind of joint that offers a bit of both. If it’s big enough. And clean enough. And empty enough. Which it is right now.
Andy Criere. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
Kanoa Igarashi. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
Kanoa Igarashi. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
Frederico Morais. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
Mechanics of Nazare: How It All Works | Live Nazare Stream
Lead forecaster Jonathan Warren breaks down the bathymetric magic that happens below the water line at Nazare.
Anchor Point Cam | Morocco Forecast
Our Moroccan lensman Amine Nadir is posted up at Taghazout’s most famous wave, Anchor Point, just as the swell is starting to fill in. “He reckons at sunset, it should be pretty special,” says Jason Lock.
“Today, the period is a bit too long and that means it’s taking forever for sets to come through,” says our French correspondent, Ripitup.fr. “Sometimes there’s just one bomb or two. I’ve been here all day and probably saw both of them happen a little while apart — I shot them straight away. Everyone’s still excited about this swell, but we’re waiting for it to calm down a bit. Hopefully it’ll get good over the next two or three days.”
Christian Porteli. Photo: Manu Miguelez
Things have finally started to turn on for surfers in our favorite Spanish archipelago, the Canary Islands. “We’ve been waiting for bigger waves, but it felt as if something was blocking the swell,” reports photographer Manu Miguelez. “Still, we are not complaining today. The sun’s out and we’ve got some super fun waves. The boys are psyched for what’s coming up, though.”
Manu Lezcano. Photo: Manu Miguelez
Morocco Forecast | Anchor Point Cam
“Not empty,” says videographer Amine Nader. “A couple of locals were getting amongst it at this righthand point in Morocco yesterday. But not many people like to come to this spot. It’s such a long drive and people prefer to stay closer to spots they know.”
Noah Lane. Photo: Darragh Gorman
Yesterday, while we were over at Ireland’s premier hell slab reporting like banshees, this lefthand freight train was cracking over shallow rock somewhere else along the same coastline. “Someone like Noah Lane will wait all season for a day like this,” says Surfline’s Euro ed, Jason Lock. “It’s why the Australian took root in Ireland a few years back. Noah’s a cold-water slab hunter of the highest order whenever it’s on, and when it’s not, he’s working as the co-founder of Bundoran’s best coffee shop, Foam. ‘As big and clean as I have seen this place in years,’ said photographer Darragh Gorman. ‘A few wild sets, but some were near-perfect. Not many people even checked it, it was eerily quiet. Noah’s wave selection and commitment paid off and he made it look all too easy.'”
If you know ’em, tell ’em they’re on Surfline! If you don’t, pretend they’re you. After all, we don’t just mind-surf waves. We mind-surf bodies, too. Every peanut gallery from Portugal to the Pipe House will testify to that.
As stated before, Portuguese lensman Helio Antonio has been on a full-on surf romp all weekend, exploring the myriad options his home coast presents. This is what he got into this morning: lefts, rights, A-frames, jetty wedges, beachbreaks, slabs, pointbreaks, reefbreaks, mushballs, cove reforms, triple-black-diamond XXL widow makers… Portugal has every type of wavescape imaginable. Except for maybe a wave pool. Portugal may or may not have one of those. But then again, who cares if they do?
“This area is a very tricky place to get working,” says Helio. “It’s super susceptible to the wind and takes a lot of swell to get going. The waves are usually very fast, but today was okay with solid, heavy waves. These images are over a stretch of the coast, but all the waves are crazy. And with the wind as it is, I knew this zone would be working today.”
“That slab?” he continues. “It’s very gnarly. It’s only been surfed, like, five or six times by the locals, but it’s a place I want to go to more and more. I’m trying to get a crew to go surf it, but it’s hard to get people to go because that wave will mess you up.”
“I like trying to do something different from shooting Nazare,” he finishes. “Even though it’s my favorite place to shoot, the circus can get a bit much up there if I’m being honest. And there’s so much more that I want to bring to the table. I like to get away a bit, and the search today has been great.”
Official Event Forecast | Live Nazare Stream
Pedro Calado. Photo: Helio Antonio
Before heading back to Nazare for the comp, which is a GO this morning, Pedro Calado threw himself into at least one nasty pit at a more-perfect, less-nutty, sorta-secret lefthand slab somewhere along the Portuguese coastline.
Good morning from Portugal. Our man behind the lens, Helio Antonio, is off and running and roaming about. Most of the places he’s shooting we’re not allowed to name, for good reason. But no one said anything about renaming. So, we’re calling this spot “Stitched Lips.” Sounds gnarly, right? Like you can’t talk about it because your lips are stitched together. Or if you talk about it someone’s gonna punch you in the mouth and you’ll get stitches. Don’t you just love double-entendres?
“Yesterday, an hour or so before sunset, while the fog was clearing at Nazare, Tom Lowe was getting drained in Portugal,” reports Jason Lock. “Then, around the same time but some 1,000kms away, Tom’s hometown pal Jayce Robinson, the current UK champ [below], was getting covered up at their childhood home in Cornwall.”
Jayce Robinson. Photo: Mike Newman
Callum Robson. Photo: Gary McCall Photo: Gary McCallBarry Mottershead. Photo: Gary McCall
Yeah, much of Europe was very extra-large today. Nazare, unfortunately, was fogged in. This particular Irish Slab, though, was perfectly in the crosshairs of the latest North Atlantic swell, and winds stayed good (if freezing) all day. Local hellperson Conor Maguire is no stranger to what happens when this much ocean unloads on this much reef, and was one of the standouts of the day. More to come soon.
As mentioned earlier, Ireland clearly won the swell. This slab went completely mental from sunrise to sunset, with a solid local crew tackling the freezing, windy beasts — and yeah, paying for it, too. Especially during the afternoon session, pictured here. “It was pretty mental,” said Conor Maguire, pictured above. “It was good and a lot of effort. This evening was another level, the wind just picked up to what felt like 100kph — it was like, crazy gale force when we were coming in. It was actually scary and intense but we’re home, dry, just out of the shower and dry again.”
“We got battered on the way in,” said filmmaker Clem McInerney, on the ski above. “Was a rough day at the office. Took the sled to the back of the head twice — second one nearly knocked me out and I ended up being thrown off the ski three times. Both me and the driver on the way back in got thrown off with what felt like hurricane wind blowing in.”
PV Laborde: “Yeah, was pretty crazy out there. There were only a few good ones, so kinda stoked I got that one. Ended up being a bit weird, but tomorrow – tomorrow will be beautiful and big.” We hope. Video: RIPITUP.FR
Nazare sunset, December 12th. Photo: Tuckere Wooding
Fog was maddeningly stubborn at Nazare today. While not unexpected for the morning, it managed to stick around all day, forcing the WSL to call the Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge off. They’ll look to Monday to complete the event in what should still be solid swell.
The fog should become much less of an issue later tonight and overnight as stronger offshore SE wind develops sometime between 9pm and midnight. We do not anticipate fog being a problem on Monday, with light to moderate SE wind in the morning (offshore), trending SSE/S over the later afternoon and easing. Overall we expect good/clean conditions all day.
Check: Peniche/Nazare High-Res Wind Forecast
The long-period swell should peak this evening but we remain on track for plenty of energy to hang through the day on Monday. In fact, the models show a very subtle pulse/build through around mid-morning, which is generally reflected in the upstream/drifting buoys as well. We should be close to what we saw Saturday afternoon, although cleaner. Face size in the 35-40 foot range through the first half of the day, big sets to 45-foot-plus through mid-morning. Size should gradually ease over the afternoon (but not drop off).
Nick Todd. Photo: Gary McCall
Seamus “Shambles” McGoldrick. Photo: Gary McCall
Conor Maguire. Photo: Gary McCall
James Garvey. Photo: Gary McCall
Gearoid McDaid. Photo: Gary McCall
Peter Conroy. Photo: Gary McCall
Barry Motorshead. Photo: Gary McCall
Nick Todd. Photo: Gary McCall
UK shooter Clare James embarked on a classic Cornwall swell chase with two of her favorite female subjects and their trusty dog. “When the open beachies of Cornwall in the UK are blasted by strong, cross-shore storm swell, you’ve got to seek shelter,” explains Surfline’s Euro Ed, Jason Lock. “For best buds Emma Fraser-Bell, Lottie Lewis and photographer Clare James, who all hail from Cornwall’s de facto surf capital in Newquay, that meant stay around the crowded, sheltered spots in town, or head west.”
“So glad we drove out of town,” said Emma, as the trio managed to pack four boards and two dogs into the car (one being Emma’s ever-present surf pooch, Meli). “It was great. Hadn’t heard any good reports from Fistral at all. So when we arrived down west, it looked 3-4-foot and we were frothing to get in. As soon as we did, though, we realized it was a little bit bigger than that. We’d never surfed down there before and didn’t realize how setty it could be. I took out a 6’6″ Sempa Surf two-plus-one — a nice little cruisey board — because I thought some of the sets looked super fast and closey and I could pick off a few on the reform. That was definitely the right idea. I got smashed a bit, came face to face with a little seal a few times. It was a great Sunday. It’s actually looking great all this week, so me, Clare and Lottie have all synched up time off work to get in.”
“Normally we’re pretty on it with checking the forecast and pre-planning our surfs, but this morning was a last-minute idea,” said Lottie. “We were all free, twiddling our thumbs and keen for a Sunday mission, so we headed down west to find some shelter from the that 20-foot swell. In hindsight, we probably should’ve headed a bit further south, but we got excited at the first spot we checked and suited up. The sets looked pretty big but not unmanageable, so Em and I left the dogs on the rocks with Clare, who was shooting, and paddled out into the rip at Hayle Rivermouth. It was probably the longest paddle of the winter so far, and the coldest. Naively, I went hoodless, but we made it out through a really long, chunky set. I’d just picked up a secondhand Channel Islands twin-fin that I’d been desperately hunting for, so I was keen to get at least one wave amongst all the hold-downs.”
“Everyone was scoring bombs and we picked up a few fun ones, too, before the constant freezing sets on the head got too much,” Lottie finished. “It was the first solid winter session of the season, though, and I always feel so much braver when I’m surfing with the girls. It turns scary situations into hilarious ones, and I find it often softens the lineup, too.”
“The tide was really against us today,” says UK photographer Luke Gartside, “but we managed to get a few right on dark at this slab that was just going off.”
The TUDOR Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge has been called off for the day. “We waited for a long time but the fog is just not going to lift unfortunately,” said Jessi Miley-Dyer, WSL SVP of Tours and Head of Competition. “We think that there’s still swell and that it’ll be hanging around for tomorrow. The swell that we’ve been watching is going to peak tonight so we’re keeping the TUDOR Green Alert ON for tomorrow morning.”
That’s good news for many Portuguese photographers, who are no longer bound to their resident monster and are now free to roam around the Portuguese coastline in search of good surf — and better lighting.
One of ’em is the Portuguese photographer Noora Lindstrom, who followed her wits and her friends to one of Portugal’s most popular waves, Coxos. “Well, it was definitely heavy today,” she says. “The morning still looked a bit small, and it had a bit of wonk to it. But by the afternoon, you could clearly see that long-period swell out there. It went up to double-overhead, easily, and then more later on.”
“This is one of the biggest, cleanest swells of the year,” Noora continues. “And Lena Kemna [pictured below] was crushing it. She’s originally from Germany but has lived here for a number of years. She’s often out there on the bigger days, and today she was on another level.”
“My local is the best it’s been in the past decade, I think,” laments our UK editor, Jason Lock, who’s been glued to his seat — and his screens and his mics — for well over a week now (or what he calls going “full goblin”), getting the scoop on this nonstop locomotive of North Atlantic swell action. We tried to console him with, “Yeah, well, look at it this way: you can take the month of January off.”
To which he replied, “Nah, mate. Nazare pumps in January.” No rest for the wicked-frothed surf journo, we suppose. But on the real, JL was able to break away and get wet today. Hell, how could he not?
Surfline receives our heaviest photo dump yet from our ace in the hole, Irish photographer Conor Flanagan. This is the first time we’ve collaborated with the local crew on an undertaking like this, and our first time reporting from Ireland in realtime, and we can’t thank them enough for their froth. Head over to Surfline’s IG stories for shots from the channel. In the meantime, here’s an eyewitness report from local videographer Clem McInerney:
“It is wild out there. Big waves, even bigger wipeouts. We’re just taking a breather while the tide sorts itself out, spot of lunch. Now’s the important question: do we roll the dice and go out here again? Or do we go check elsewhere to mix it up a bit? Thing is, it’s 20-25-feet here, easily. And you don’t get days like this that often…”
“So here’s the plan: we’re sticking it here for the long haul, fully committed, because it’s so sick. So far, Taz Knight got the wave of the day. Peter Conroy got a sick one. Maguire, too. Back on it.”
Official Event Forecast | Live Nazare Stream
Wondering why you haven’t seen anything out of Nazare today? We all know the swell’s out there, but there’s some thick fog putting a halt on proceedings. Photographer Tucker Wooding fires up his eye in the sky to give us an idea of what the WSL is dealing with right now.
Click here to watch the live WSL webcast for the TUDOR Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge.
Forecast: North Cornwall | South Cornwall
Myttin da (good morning) from West Cornwall! “Yeah, Cornwall has its own language, Kernewek, which is a testament to how unique this place really is,” says Surfline’s European editor, Jason Lock. “The same swell that’s pounding the rest of Europe is getting into England’s southwest, too, along with a strong SSW wind. For some, that means surfing’s a no-go today. But for those in the deepest depths of the Duchy, that means it’s party time.”
Official Event Forecast | Live Nazare Stream
What kind of surfboard does one need to be able to launch into the stratosphere above Nazare? Well, one with straps, for starters. That would help. But that’s just part of it. In the case of Brazilian phenomenon Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca’s equipment, dude needs a lil’ something extra to do the kinds of things that he and Kai Lenny are spearheading at the most challenging big wave in the world.
Eat your heart out, Bezos.
Intrepid Portuguese photographer Helio Antonio is currently roaming his country’s peninsula-indented coastline looking for gold. He began his day shooting the action at Peniche’s marquee wedge, Molhe Leste, before going mobile. But before he left town, Helio couldn’t help but snap a quickie of Supertubos, which is looking way more user-friendly than yesterday.
“The swell is still filling in this morning, but there’s already a few people on it,” reports Portuguese photographer Helio Antonio. “Molhe Leste (that’s the wave just up from Portugal’s premier beachie, Supertubos) was perfect, like, 3-5-foot and glassy. But everyone is waiting for this afternoon. Hopefully there’ll be some proper big waves around.”Photo: Helio Antonio
“There are some bombs coming through,” says Irish photographer Conor Flanagan. “It’s absolutely sick. The team are going crazy out there. There’s a long wait between sets, but we knew there would be, that’s how it is with the long period. Looks about 20-feet out there on the biggest ones, and it’s solid and square. The tide is coming up but it’s still ridiculous. It’s real hazy but clean, like the cleanest it’s been in forever… Pumping and clean.”
Ireland’s big-wave slabs are going off at first light, and all the local players are locked and loaded for the caper. Safety teams, safety equipment, safety skis and safety protocols are of the utmost importance on a day like today, and the lads aren’t taking it lightly. Safety, that is. Because once you dial that, all you have to worry about is your fun factor.
“This morning, there were a bit of nerves,” says Irish lensman Conor Flanagan, “but mostly, I think everyone here — the safety, the photographers, the videographers — is just so fired up to be back doing what we love. And the nerves kind of melt away when all this crew is together. Everyone is world-class. World-class safety team, world-class surfers, world-class wave.”
The harbor at Mullaghmore, the nerve center of the operation. The whole crew runs through a safety briefing before getting the skis ready. Photo: Conor Flanagan Conor Maguire’s been up well before first light checking charts and forecasts, and generally frothing. Here, Conor gives the final eye-over. Photo: Conor Flanagan Conor Maguire blows up before he blows up. Photo: Conor Flanagan Teamwork makes the dream work. Photo: Conor Flanagan Gearoid McDaid, probably Ireland’s greatest performance surfer. A couple years back, Gman decided it was time to step into the XL realm, and he’s been melting minds ever since. Photo: Conor Flanagan Not pictured: the additional safety ski bought on board just for this session. That’s how heavy it is out there today. Photo: Conor FlanaganFirefighter, father and all-round big-wave hellman Peter Conroy. If there’s one person you want running safety when Ireland blips to XL, it’s this legend. (And he’ll throw himself over the ledge on just about anything, too.) Photo: Conor Flanagan
Today, some of the Basque Country’s best surfers are competing at Mundaka, arguably the world’s greatest rivermouth wave, as part of an event run by the Basque Country Surfing Federation. It was firing this morning and is due to get better this afternoon. “The sun came up and it’s so clean and pumping,” says local photographer Jon Aspuru at dawn. “It’s epic and I think this afternoon it’s going to be amazing.”
We’re seeing some impressive numbers on the buoys as of 5AM around Ireland, the UK and Europe. Long period energy spiked on the M4 buoy off Ireland last night and that swell has filled in further this morning. The same long period forerunners are building into Corwall and beyond this morning, with the swell on track to increase through the day in southwest England.
CAM WATCH: Strandhill (Ireland) | Crantock (UK) | Nazare | Mundaka |
Further south, a drifting buoy to the northwest of Portugal has a significant wave height of 20-feet with peak swell period of 17 seconds. This buoy is about a half-day away from Nazare and a good indicator that we’ll see a peak in swell at the end of the day on Sunday.
What you see above you is the last set of the day at Nazare from today. It’s gonna get bigger tomorrow. (Official forecast right here.) As mentioned below, it wasn’t a perfect day at the iconic, extra-large a-frame, but there were some moments, as you’ll also see below. “I was walking to my car, saw this set come in, grabbed my camera to shoot it and realized I was wearing a long lens,” says our man behind the camera, Helio Antonio. “Never have I changed a lens that quickly. Glad I did.”
Kai Lenny, Lucas Chumbo and Justine Dupont during this evening’s event briefing for tomorrow’s tow-in contest, which has been given the green light. (No, we don’t know what would be going through their minds, either.)
Still a bit of light left. Out there? Size and conditions certainly bode well for the morning. Stay tuned. (Not for just Nazare, but other zones in Europe will be lighting up all over the place as well.) “It was firing this afternoon,” reports Nic Von Rupp. “There were some bombs, for sure. How big? I don’t know, but there were lots of teepees. It’s always so hard to tell at Nazare. When you’re out there and then you see the images, you’re like, ‘wow, okay.’ There were some tow sets, maybe 25-30-feet.”
Tow partners Rodrigo Koxa and Kealii Mamala.
Great Circles: How They Connect Us All| Live Nazare Stream
It is going to be big for Portugal, but oh, what might have been. In order to produce the largest surf possible, you want intense winds blowing over a great distance directly at you for a long period of time. This North Atlantic storm packed hurricane-force winds, so we checked that box — but there was limiting factors when it came to the orientation and duration of those strongest winds. A big part of that was due to the storm movement — tracking towards the northeast or north-northeast meant that the pocket of the peak winds didn’t move along the Great Circle path towards Portugal. Instead, the storm and strongest winds side-stepped through the ideal Nazare swell window. That didn’t allow the strongest winds to translate additional energy into the ocean to really amp up the incoming swell heading to Portugal, or down to Morocco.
The largest seas associated with this storm, peaking at least in the 55-foot range, were heading northeast along the storm track. That means we’ll see way more impressive numbers on the buoys off Ireland overnight Saturday into Sunday than what we’ll get off Nazare. Of course Nazare compensates for any swell shortcomings with the canyon magic, ensuring a long-lived swell with XXL size both Sunday PM and Monday.
Seeing a purple blob on the charts definitely gets the blood flowing, but nothing compares to getting real observations of a storm or the resulting swell. So far, this North Atlantic storm has racked up a pretty impressive list of feats — hurricane-force winds, visually stunning satellite appearance, peaks seas in excess of 50 feet, etc — but now, we’re really verifying what tomorrow will look like along the Irish coastline based on buoy observations close to the shore.
The blue line and dots indicate observations from the buoy, suggesting much longer peak swell periods this evening compared to model expectations.
Recent observations from the M4 buoy, located west of the northern part of Ireland, can be added as another notch in the belt from this powerful storm system. Peak wave period, measured this evening, topped out above 22 seconds a few hours ago. That is above the model guidance, as was expected based on some of our previous data surrounding this storm and swell. Significant wave height is quickly increasing on the buoy, building 2 meters over the course of two hours tonight. That trend will continue with building swell and the period dropping several seconds as the real meat of the swell passes the buoy and explodes along the Irish coastline on Sunday morning. In other words: buckle up…
Official Event Forecast | Live Nazare Stream
Justine Dupont. Video: Tucker Wooding
“It was a bit tricky with the wind,” says Justine Dupont. “Still a really good session, though, with some bombs in the mix. A lot of jet-skis in the beginning, then way less people. I towed because I was partnering up with Pierre Rollet. We had a load of fun — going left, going right. We tried to just catch a load of waves in one hour, because tomorrow in the comp that’s all the time we’ve got, maybe less. So it was good to train on that. Fred David, my boyfriend, was running safety. He towed me on a few waves at the beginning, some really good lefts.”
“They’re not just my crew,” she adds. “They’re my friends, my family. Tomorrow, I just want to have fun, but also push my limits to actually surf that wave like it’s never been surfed. That’s my aim.”
Pedro Calado. Vid: Marco Antonio Arellano
“Looking at the chart, it looked like there would be a window with less wind and XXL waves to paddle,”Calado said. When this type of forecast happens, I always give priority to paddling, ’cause here in Nazare it doesn’t happen with the same frequency as tow in. In the morning, when I was arriving to check. it, I found Tom Lowe who was ready to paddle. That’s what inspired me. At least I knew I wouldn’t paddle alone. It was another very challenging morning at Praia do Norte, with waves around 30 feet and the wind still light at the beginning of the session. I got this wave after 20 minutes of waiting. Everything went right: clean track, good entry into the wave, board on foot, just put it down and make the wave line.”
Somewhat slow. Kinda misty, if not downright foggy. Pretty jumbled. Dimly lit… And still big A.F. But Nazare wouldn’t be Nazare if everything (hell, if anything) went according to plan. And right now, all best-laid plans be damned.
Photographer Yana Vaz, Pedro Calado and Tom Lowe talk story. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
The waves are not perfect. The weather is not ideal. The lighting sucks. The consistency is not there. But it’s hard to fathom a better warm-up for the upcoming Tudor Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge than what’s happening right now. Tom Lowe’s out there on human horsepower alone. Chumbo’s getting barreled and doing other distinctly Chumbo-esque things. Justine Dupont’s gotten at least one bomb. And all is well at Praia do Norte. And by “well,” we mean “sick.”
Rodrigo Koxa. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Nic Von Rupp. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
“Lotta help you are, drone.” Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Tony Loureano, Nic Von Rupp and Pedro Calada. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Rodrigo Koxa. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Textbook maneuvering by the best PWC crews this side of Oahu. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Tony Loureano is under there somewhere. His father Ramon Loureano is up there in the crest on the ski, beaming with pride (or horror). Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Rodrigo Koxa. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Felipe. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Supertubos Live Stream | Peniche Forecast
“Kabluey,” says Peniche’s premier beachbreak, Supertubos. “Bless you,” says a bodyboarder. We don’t know which. We just know it’s a bodyboarder. Because who else would want a piece of this?
Benjamin “Sancho” Sanchis, La Nord, France. Video: David Berthet/ripitup.fr
“La Nord, it’s where my heart is,” says international tube hound, Benjamin “Sancho” Sanchis. “I grew up surfing there along with Miky Picon, so it’s always special when we surf together. It was kind of messy and we didn’t want to push it too much, because it’s the first day and I’ve just arrived back from the Canaries. This was more about getting in the rhythm, trying out boards, and getting ready for the next few days. I guess I could’ve been way deeper, but yeah… Best not to go too hard on Day One.”
Official Event Forecast | Live Nazare Stream
We’ve been closely monitoring drifting buoys and satellite passes for any intel to help refine the size and timing of the incoming swell. Based on the data we’ve seen, we’ll push the timing of the swell back slightly on Sunday and bring the size down a bit.
For the first half of the day on Sunday we’ll see mainly the older, fading NW swell that peaked today (which was a good warm-up day for competitors) and the very-long-period forerunners of the new NW swell. We expect 25-35-foot waves (faces) during the first half of the day. There is a chance of fog early, but that should clear by mid-morning. Conditions will be clean with light offshore wind.
From roughly 1pm through 4pm we expect to see the new, long-period swell build with waves in the 30-40-foot range (faces). The swell should peak from 4pm to 8pm with 35-45-foot waves, max sets up to 50-feet.
Monday morning should be down slightly from the late-Sunday peak of the swell, but it’ll still be solid with wave faces in the 30-45-foot range, coming down gradually through the day. Overall, it’ll be another great day of surf.
Conditions are expected to be good to excellent both Sunday and Monday. Weak offshore wind Sunday morning may give way to weak onshore wind in the afternoon, although conditions are likely to be glassy. For Monday look for light to moderate SE wind through the day, which is great for the rights.
Tristan Boxford. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
Tristan Boxford. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
“It was pretty bumpy out there,” says Dado Girardini, who surfed just north of Ericeira today. “Went out for a couple of hours on my 9’6″. Not the biggest, not the cleanest, but it was definitely a special day.”
Dado Girardini. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
“There were just two people out, Dado and Tristan Boxford on the SUP,” adds photographer Noora Lindstrom. “Tristan’s a legend on the windsurfing/SUP side of things. No one wanted to join them. I can kind of see why. But then, it was one of the bigger surfable days we’ve seen in a while.”
Dado Girardini. Photo: Noora Lindstrom
With only a few hours of daylight left, Portuguese surfers and bodyboarders (who are surfers, too, by the way) pack as many pits as they can at Carcavelos. Though not quite as famous as other strongholds like Supertubos or La Graviere, this beachbreak is one of the heaviest, dumpiest sand-bottomed surfbreaks on Earth. Today, though, it’s just loads of fun.
While Nazare is doing its thing (scaring people, thrilling people, and making people hold their breath for a very long time), some 130kms south, Praia de Santo Amaro is looking downright delightful. “While a northerly wind might not be ideal for Portugal’s biggest wave,” Jason Lock explains, “it’s pretty much straight offshore down here.”
All Photos: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Live Nazare Stream | Official Event Forecast
“Chumbo just got a sick barrel,” reports Jason Lock. “There’s a load of new people here, too, but…” But Chumbo always finds a way to distinguish himself? Is that what you were gonna say, JL?
La Nord, Hossegor, France. Photo: Seb Picaud
“Hossegor is big and unruly today,” reports Surfline European editor, Jason Lock, “but this is the first day the swell’s hitting there. It will be better once the storm passes through.”
“This morning, the tide was not the best,” explains French lensman Seb Picaud. “It was a bit messy. Big, almost unsurfable, but a few bombs found their way in. Everyone here is excited about what’s about to happen over the next few days, once the conditions settle down enough – maybe even this afternoon, if things clean up.”
“In a lineup filled with tow surfers,” Jason Lock points out, “this legend decides to paddle. The vibe on the ground is it’s too big to paddle. But that vibe must not be familiar with Tom Lowe.”
Trevor Carlson. Photo: Tucker Woodling
Tom Lowe and Trevor Carlson are up and at ’em doing the pre-dawn boogie. Checking the Surfline cams. Dialing their equipment. And taking their last terrestrial breaths before heading out into the big, bad brine. It’s an XL day out there at Nazare. And that requires XL attention spans.
Tom Lowe. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
XL peaks almost visible beyond the harbor. Photo: Pedro Stichini Vilela
Dylan Stott, Ireland, December 8th. Photo: Gary McCall
Nobody wants to be the first one to the party. Standing there all awkward, fidgeting, pretending to be on your phone. Waiting for someone else to show up. Hoping for something, anything, to happen. The truth is, the North Atlantic has been barfing up so much surf this month already, it’s hard to know where the wind starts and the swell ends, or vice versa.
Taz Knight, Ireland, December 9th. Photo: Lighthouse Industries
But the best of the bunch has yet to ping on the buoys. So, in that regard, we’re not fashionably late — we’re right on time, as all the elements are now in place (surfers, shooters, energy) for a special swell event, spanning a myriad of regions, nay, countries, that are vastly different culturally, linguistically and viscerally — the one common denominator being one furious Atlantic ocean.
Morocco, December 9th and 10th. Video: Amine Nader
Some spots will go XXL. Some will just go Good-to-Epic. The WSL Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge is on Green Alert for Sunday/Monday. And Surfline has correspondents dispatched accordingly from Northern Europe to North Africa to deliver quality imagery and intel in real time. Atlantic Overdrive is running hot. Let’s party.
Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca, Nazare, December 8th. (Yeah, he may have just invented the “Canyon Pirouette”.) Vid: Luís “Ben” de Sá
Timing is everything. Txaber Trojaola waited all day for a pocket of good wind, paddled out, and nailed it. Mundaka, December 8th. Photo: Astrid Fonseca
North Atlantic Charts: Wave Height | Wave Period | Wind
If you’re a surfer (or weather nerd) it’s hard to look at a satellite image like the above and not get excited. That’s a beautiful storm: classic, tightly wound comma shape and extensive popcorn-looking clouds indicating strong wind. A few other tidbits on this impressive setup:
The one thing a single satellite image doesn’t convey is the track of the storm which, in this case, isn’t ideal for a place like Nazare and other areas like Morocco. It’s racing off to the north-northeast toward Iceland instead of at Europe. This will limit size, relatively speaking, as well as consistency. Had a storm of this size and strength pushed directly toward Portugal we very well could be talking about 50-75′ waves Sunday instead of ‘only’ 40-50′, which is what we expect to see over the later afternoon on Sunday as the swell peaks. We’ll just have to make do…
Watch Live: Nazare | Carcavelos | Mundaka | Anglet | Anchor Point | SW England
A full week ago we warned that the North Atlantic was heading into a hyperactive period, due to spit out a slew of XL swells. Europe got a warm-up last weekend with a solid W/NW swell that came with an ominous sign of what was to come: onshore winds. XL swell hammered the region midweek, along with 20-knot onshores for many areas. A few great sessions went down at some of the more tucked-away locations, but most could only hope for improving conditions over the weekend.
While hurricane-force storms continue to parade across the North Atlantic, dumping XL swells off in Europe, high pressure shifts toward the mainland, bringing lighter winds and improving conditions as a pair of XL swells moves in. Even with the better conditions, most breaks are overwhelmed with surf this weekend, focusing the action on the big-wave spots. Things really start to look good for the masses once we move into next week. High pressure sets up over Europe, providing light or offshore winds from Southwest France to Northern Africa. The UK and Ireland will have a tougher go, however, as storms continue to blow through, ruining their waves but helping to ensure there’s heaps of surf for everyone next week.
Hang on tight, cause the North Atlantic merry-go-round’s kicked into overdrive and won’t stop spinning for another week.