'Crazy day': Lucas Chianca and Justine Dupont survive 60 foot waves to win Nazare Big Wave Challenge title
Brazil's Lucas "Chumbo" Chianca survived two brutal wipe outs to claim another Nazare Big Wave Challenge title in huge, clean waves in Portugal on Sunday (AEDT), while France's Justine Dupont sealed her reputation as the world's best female big wave surfer with her second straight win.
The unique event saw nine teams of two taking turns using jet skis to tow each other into waves of up to 60 feet in front of thousands of fans lining the cliffs at Praia do Norte near the Portuguese fishing town that has become synonymous with enormous surf.
The best team performance was won by Portugal's Nic von Rupp and France's Clement Roseyro.
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Multiple-time event winner Chianca set the tone with the very first wave of the competition, speeding down a giant left-hander in front of the headland before hitting some turbulence and cartwheeling into oblivion.
Chianca in action on a 60-foot wave during the TUDOR Nazare Big Wave Challenge. Getty
"That was a heavy moment for sure, one of the heaviest wipe outs of my life," Chianca said, praising jet ski rescue driver Sebastian Steudtner who sped in to save him from the churning seas in front of the rocks.
"Thank you so much, you saved my life today."
Chianca's second scoring wave ended in similarly savage fashion as he tried to exit another towering left-hander but was sucked over the falls and copped several more waves on the head before he could be picked up by a rescue jet ski.
Justine Dupont wins the Best Female Performance at the TUDOR NAZARÉ Big Wave Challenge. World Surf League via Getty Imag
Dupont rode her top two scoring waves successfully, both of the long left-handers that allowed her to show off some big carves.
"It was a crazy day, and I'm so happy with the win," Dupont said, cradling her trophy and her young son.
The waves at Praia do Norte are amplified by the Nazare Canyon, Europe's largest undersea trench, which funnels and amplifies already-huge North Atlantic winter swells into towering peaks.
Several world records for the largest waves ever surfed have been set on the waves at Praia do Norte.
Saturday's competition was called off before a planned second round after an early fog delay and a second hiccup caused by a power outage at the contest site.
