Windsurf · Foil era
2016
Jason Polakow windsurfs Nazaré
The Australian wave sailor becomes the first windsurfer to ride the giant waves of Nazaré in Portugal.
Praia do Norte, Nazaré · Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)
Nazaré, on the Atlantic coast of Portugal, is known for some of the biggest waves ever surfed. Until 2016 no windsurfer had ridden them.
On 2 February 2016 the Australian Jason Polakow did. He climbed down the cliffs to a waiting jet ski and sailed in light wind, and became the first windsurfer to ride Nazaré. Surfertoday reported waves of 43 feet, about 13 metres; Seabreeze described them as triple mast high.
It was not a clean sailed session. The wind was too light for that, and Polakow said himself that he had to stay close to the inside and use a lot of jet-ski assistance. But it took big-wave windsurfing beyond Maui’s Jaws to another of the world’s great big-wave breaks.