Big wave surfing. . . in France?

Just spotted this in today's NY Times:

Extreme big-wave surfing, a fairly new twist on an ancient sport, is possible wherever monstrous storm swells and lunatic surfers converge. This generally happens in only two places on earth: Hawaii and California.

That is why jaws dropped from Maui to Monterey last month when the sponsors of a contest promising $60,000 for the rider of the surfing season's tallest wave received a late challenge from out of left field.

Way left field. That is, France.

Early last month, a French surfer, Fred Basse, and a handful of his countrymen tracked an immense low-pressure system as it swung east from Newfoundland and out over the Atlantic. This storm sent a 25-foot-plus swell marching ahead of it at 35 miles an hour toward the coast of Europe.

It caught up with Mr. Basse and five fellow surfers on the sunny morning of March 10, as they waited with surfboards and personal watercraft at a relatively unknown reef two miles off the coast of St. Jean-de-Luz, in France's Basque country. Towed in by the watercraft, the Frenchmen successfully rode waves that towered from 60 to 80 feet.

More coverage here and here from the California papers.

Posted by David on April 7, 2003 7:31 PM