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The Northern Hemisphere Winter of 2021-22 will be remembered one of two ways: the season of nonstop Pipeline, or the season of nonstop Nazare. But on February 25th, 2022, all eyes were on the latter, as some of the largest swell measurements of this supercharged North Atlantic winter put Praia do Norte in the crosshairs of surfers and scientists alike.

Miguel Blanco. Photo: Helio Antonio

“It’s been firing nonstop this year, more so than any other year,” Portuguese pro Nic Von Rupp, who’d won “Best Team Performance” alongside tow partner Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca at the TUDOR Nazaré Tow Surfing Challenge a couple weeks before, said in our realtime swell event, Freakish Friday: Nazare XXXL. “I don’t know how else to describe it other than full-on, nonstop Nazare: two swells over 50 foot, 60 foot… I’d hurt my ribs in the contest and actually wasn’t planning on surfing, but looking at the charts, this could be the last effort — the last session of the season — so I think I’m gonna deal with it.”

“Super fun day with some crazy lines, stoked!” says Nazare MVP, Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca, who made his fourth Nazare trip of the season. “Nazare is teamwork and we got some huge bombs. Thanks to my team — Nic Von Rupp, Alemao de Maresias, Lucas Fink — today was an amazing day.” Photo: Helio Antonio

And deal with it he did, alongside what can only be described as the most diverse (but mostly European) international field to ever challenge XXXL Nazare: men, women, teenagers, bodyboarders with heavy-kilo customized sponges, at least one skimboarder seeking a world record, and a couple dozen other brave souls you’ve never heard of. And may never hear of again. After all, it’s not like swells like this happen every day, not even during a banner season like this.

“A complex storm system took shape off the southeast coast of Greenland on Monday the 22nd, rapidly intensifying into yet another hurricane-force storm,” Surfline’s Charlie Hutcherson explains. “But instead of racing off to the east like most of the storms before it, this one hung out awhile. The strongest of the storm’s centers, a 958mb low, took a dive to the southeast towards Portugal on the 23rd with very strong (1044mb) high pressure in support over Newfoundland. A captured fetch developed once a wide area of well-aimed, 50- 60 knot+ winds blew over the largest developing seas towards Nazare.”

“Truth be told, the table was already set for the swell of the season by a pair of well-publicized beasts that rolled through the North Atlantic just before Freakish Friday,” Hutcherson continues. “Winter Storms Eunice and Franklin brought 100mph winds to the UK the weekend prior and left the North Atlantic with a turbulent 25-30-foot sea, what we in the forecasting biz call a ‘preheated oven.’ It’s a lot easier for the ocean to cook up a large swell when it’s not starting from zero. So, a powerful storm over a pre-disturbed ocean with a captured fetch — that’s a guaranteed recipe for an over-performing swell, if not the swell of the year.”

“But this season was full of clean XL swells, plus a couple of XXL days to top it off,” Hutcherson adds, “so we don’t wanna be quick to claim which was the biggest Nazare swell of the year. In most oceans, during most years, the biggest swell comes from the biggest and baddest storm of the season. But when you’re averaging a couple of hurricane-force ones a week, for months on end, brute strength will only take you so far. It’s actually the smaller details that separate the big days from the massive days, with an even finer line between an XXL and XXXL day.”

“It felt more like surviving than surfing,” says 19-year-old Nazare charger Tony Laureano. “A lot of jet-skis in the water. I got two good waves in 40 minutes, then stopped. I don’t think it was what we were expecting, but there were some really good, really big waves.” Photo: Helio Antonio

The nerves were palpable at Praia do Norte on Thursday evening, as tow teams consulted their partners, assembled their gear, checked their equipment, and remembered their training — the buoys pinging like “Tubular Bells” in The Exorcist. “Some of the anxiety is starting to show through at Nazare,” UK editor Jason Lock reported. “There’s a mix of nerves, terror, and a bunch of… not necessarily bravado, but a load of people willing to just take it as it comes, maybe teetering on the edge of freaking out.”

Vino Dos Santos. Photo: Helio Antonio

And unlike the past few Nazare swells — with the WSL’s pair of tow events or the local Gigantes de Nazare comp — this one promised to be a full-on freesurfing bonanza. In other words, no excuses. And with many of the Championship Tour already in Portugal for the upcoming event at Supertubos, many wondered which pros would vest-up and grace Praia do Norte with their presence. None did. For good reason.

There’s pro surfing. Then there’s the daredevil circuit.

Brazilian charger and Nazare convert Vini Dos Santos left January’s XL swell at Nazare with staples in his head from his errant board. He was fully healed by Friday and caught a couple bombs before things went awry again, and Vini left the water with another head injury. Photo: Helio Antonio

After being shuttled up the beach on a stretcher, Dos Santos was deemed fine by medical professionals. Our thoughts are with the young charger on his road to recovery. Photo: James Tew

“The swell started to come up on Thursday afternoon,” Hutcherson continues, “but hazy, greyed-out conditions, and then sunset, kept the surfers from getting a real taste of XXXL energy. By daybreak on Friday, it was full-on. The swell steadily rose through the night, peaking soon after sunrise. The Nazare buoy broke mooring and drifted 80 miles southwest during the swell, but still reported a peak of 24 feet (7.4m) at 22 seconds from the NNW (bulk of the swell at 18-19 seconds). For comparison, the January 8th XXXL swell (when the buoy was in position) was just a hair smaller at its midday peak, 23 feet (7m) at 17 seconds from the NW.”

So, to address the elephant in the room, how big was it exactly?

“It was bigger than January, for sure,” Nic Von Rupp asserts. “Probably on par with the October 2020 swell, but maybe not as clean. A whole load of bombs, though.”

“Couldn’t ask for anything better, just being here with this team,” Lucas Fink says. “I don’t know if I beat my record, but my goal was to ride big waves with my skimboard. Always looking for an XXXL day. It was very challenging — the session where I felt most out of my comfort zone. It was something else.” Photo: Helio Antonio

“What a crazy day, definitely the biggest of the year,” agrees Chilean born Nazare vet Rafael Tapia. “Not the biggest we’ve ever seen, but 60-70 feet. It was beautiful out there, but also weird. Big ribs. It wasn’t as clean as we thought it would be, and there were things happening like I’ve never seen before. The waves were doubling up way out to sea. It was scary. Really raw.”

“Chumbo [pictured] got some good waves, Nic got some good ones…” says Rafa Tapia. “A lot of people caught waves, but not a lot of people surfed them.” Photo: Helio Antonio

“Conditions were actually pretty favorable,” Hutcherson adds. “Mostly calm to light offshore winds, with a light N wind at times, but surfers reported more challenging, ribbed-out waves. This was likely due to a combination of several factors, the least of which was the local wind. Strong, supporting high pressure over Canada shifted east and eventually extended over Portugal, which ensured light local winds, but also ultra-consistent sets. That high also set up N/NW winds further up the Portuguese coast. So, this was a situation where: shorter-period N swell from upcoast was in the water; a massive, super-consistent, wide-ranging NW/NNW swell was running at the same time; plus, there was an outgoing tide for most of the day, which only supercharged the rips.”

Nic Von Rupp. Photo: Helio Antonio

“Once all that swell energy turned into waves at Nazare, much of it was trapped in the nearshore zone (aka the world’s worst foam party, aka the Nazare Death Zone) by the continuous onslaught of sets that wouldn’t allow it to head back out to sea (i.e. backwash and rips). So, that energy was forced to travel north, up the beach, to escape while a portion of it returned to the lineup in the form of a choppy plume.”

Hence, ribs. Arsenic to the perfect line.

“Personally, it was a hard one,” Rafael admitted. “I went out with Joao de Macedo and Clint Kimmins, and when it was my turn, I took a heavy wipeout. I saw a 60-footer coming, whipped in, and got buckled by the wake of another ski. (Not complaining, though, I thought I could clear it.) Looking up, I saw this giant lip — not on top of me, but landing close to me. It was super heavy. Then I took seven waves to the head. Then I put Clint in a wave, and he went down and got worked. Then the front hood of the jet-ski I was on broke and hit me on the head, and the ski had to be ditched. Then I went to shore, thinking I’d go back out. But no, I was rattled.”

“Honestly, I’d initially planned to go elsewhere,” Joao de Macedo admitted, “but I stopped over at Nic Von Rupp’s house and he was frothing out, so I stayed here [laughs]. Just wanted to try and catch one or two, you know?” Photo: Helio Antonio

“I came up close to the shore. I actually started laughing because my mind was blown.”

“The conditions were really tricky,” says Sebastian Steutdner. “Fast, bumpy and giant. Not quite the size we were expecting, but still a lot of size, and it was a great day for my comeback [from injury]. I caught a bunch of waves, and I’m happy everything went well.” Photo: Helio Antonio

“The already-agitated sea state, the robust fetch and the storm movement made for an ideal scenario to send one of the biggest swells of the winter to Europe,” explains Surfline’s Mike Watson. “To top it off, Nazare was on the southern edge of Azores high pressure, which set up offshore winds and groomed conditions as the swell peaked on Friday.” Photo: Helio Antonio

Storm Location and Movement: Rapidly intensifying, complex storm system off the southeast coast of Greenland on the 22nd dropped southeast then tracked eastward across the North Atlantic

Peak Storm, Wind and Seas: 957mb low with trailing 1044mb high pressure over Newfoundland produced widespread 50-60kt winds with peak pockets to hurricane force; Ocean Prediction Center analyzed peak seas at 62’ while the largest satellite-observed seas measured at 46’

Swell Travel Time: 2-2.5 days

Peak Swell Height, Period and Direction: 24 feet (7.4m) at 22 seconds from 330 degrees; largest single wave 39 feet (12m) with the bulk of the swell at 18-19secs (Note: the Nazare buoy broke mooring, drifting 80 miles southwest of its normal position during the peak of the swell)

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