hiya wa howa aswat

You know Belharra, right? That big wave magnet near Jean de Luz in the French Basque Country? Well a storm named Hercules hit it this morning. And some of the world’s best big wave surfers came in hot. As of writing, Shane Dorian has paddled the two best waves of the day, (one of which is pictured above).

Quiksilver France guru Nic Dazet is in a boat in the channel. And, he answered Stab‘s call, interrupting himself frequently to whoop in real time as the team in the lineup scratched or whipped into bombs. “(Shane) Dorian got the sickest one paddling, a left,” said Nic. “It wasn’t the biggest, he just timed it perfectly. Benjamin Sanchis went right on the same one and fell. Peyo Lizarazu whipped into the best tow wave of the day, but then it turned into a paddle-only session. Jamie Mitchell did the sickest air drop on the biggest one of the day, easy 30 feet, but then ate shit.”

“This has been the first real paddle session here,” continues Nic. “A lot of broken boards. But then the wind come on strong and the sets died off. It was still decent Belharra.”

As an aside, Twiggy Baker and Jamie almost didn’t make it out there this morning. They rolled down to the water at pitch black to find their ski underwater. Luckily it worked out and they made it to the lineup. Justine Dupont, Greg Long and Ian Walsh were also all in the water along with Basque locals and, like, the rest…
Stay tuned for more to come.