It sounds like a question for Wetass Philosophy 101: how many surfers can you squeeze onto a surfboard? The answer is quite surprising: as of last weekend the number is 47. Yup, 47. No, it wasn’t a normal board. It was a steroidal, super-sized surfer. Here’s are the key details:
Crafted by renowned Gold Coast shaper Nev Hyman, the monstrous 40-foot long craft is a super-sized replica of World Championship Tour (WCT) surfer Dan Wills’ (Byron Bay, NSW, Aus) standard 5’11 competition board.
Thousands of spectators and media gathered to watch more than 30 people carry the craft to the water’s edge before it was towed into the lineup with the aid of a 1200cc jet-ski.
Wills and fellow WCT competitors Troy Brooks (Aus), Chris Ward (USA), Victor Ribas (Brz), Neco Padaratz (Brz) and Hyman were joined by 41 others, including Hyman’s factory staff, all of whom climbed aboard to try and surf their way into the record books.
With a news helicopter hovering above and vision of the feat being beamed into hundreds of thousands of homes worldwide via the quiksilver.com live webcast, a huge roar erupted from beachgoers as the board was pulled into position and onto a small wave.
The world’s best surfers clung to each other for balance and jockeyed for position on the deck of the massive craft which slowly tracked shoreward, before its over-sized fins eventually dug into Snapper’s famous ’Superbank’ sandbar bringing the monstrosity and its passengers to a grinding halt.
Most riders were thrown laughing from the board into waist deep water and two of the fins were also ripped from its underside, yet the incredible ride is considered a successful entry for the Guinness record books.
“I almost didn’t believe he was making it when he told me,” said Wills of his shaper’s early intentions. “I was freaking out thinking about what might happen if we nose-dived? Or got caught by a massive wave? Or even how we’d manage to catch a wave! But it actually handled really, really well.”
“I was opting for the rail,” laughed Wills. “I wanted to be able to bail out if I needed to! But I reckon we could’ve had another 10 guys, easy!”
Hyman laboured for over a month to complete the giant shape which also required more than 300 litres of resin, ? ton of foam, 220 metres of fibre glass and cost more than $50,000.
“I’m just beside myself,” gasped Hyman. “All 47 surfers, we were in hysterics as we were getting pushed along. It only lasted a short time, I would love to get straight back out there and catch more waves, but we busted two fins out. But this has been a mission for me for a long time, and it’s turned out fantastically.”
The previous record for the most people riding a single surfboard was set in Cornwall, England with 14 surfers riding a narrow shaped paddle-board. The record for the longest surfboard has been held by surfers who constructed an oversized board in New Zealand, but today said Hyman confidently, “We smashed ’em all!”
I’d love to see them try that baby on a 60-footer. Calling Laird Hamilton…
“Goddammit! Who just pinched my ass…?”
The Earthist Chronicles 