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Long regarded as the barometer of influence, impact and popularity within the sport, the Surfer Poll honours the heroes of the sport, as chosen by the public, while the Video Awards are selected by a panel of acclaimed surf filmmakers, world champion surfers, and Surfer Magazine editorial staff.
One of the names in the nominees list for the ‘Coors Heavy Water’ Big Wave Award is Port Elizabeth surfer and world traveler, Duncan Scott.
Duncan picks up the story.
“The nomination stems from the big Mullaghmore Head waves we rode in the closing segment of the surf film ‘Waveriders.’
It’s an Irish surf film, which was shown as a big-screen cinema release in Europe, and has picked up a number of awards at film festivals around the world.
Waveriders was also nominated in the ‘Best Documentary’ category against films like the Slater/Irons duel ‘Fly in the Champagne.’
We missioned pretty hard for that swell. I’ve been spending a lot of time over the Northern Hemisphere winters in Ireland, there are some incredible big-waves and psychotic slabs there, and the potential is only now starting to be seen. It’s a really interesting and special time to be part of the pioneering crew over there.
I was in Newquay when we spotted the long-range swell forecast. It looked massive so I flew over to Ireland 5 days early to prepare for the day with Irish surfer Al Mennie, whom I’ve towed with a lot over there. We headed down to Mullaghmore Head, County Sligo, and had a test run the day before. It picked up from 3 to 15 feet over a few hours.
The winds were forecasted to be near gale-force onshores, with the possibility of a 2 hour window of manageable sideshores. The headland at the point reduces the fetch for the cross-shore chop, so sometimes it is doable. The approach is murder, but the wave hits the ledge and draws out, so it smooths out a bit. Still, you can rely on a lot of chop and burning thigh muscles…
The actual M1 Galway marine buoy readings for 1 December were 48 feet at 18 seconds, which according to Met Eirann (the Irish weather office) were their biggest on record. We were up all night trying to second-guess the winds, until we just decided we were going out no matter what, and got suited up and headed out in the dark.
We had an adrenalizing session over a few hours before the wind went gale force onshore, lightning strikes started closing in, and the fuel warning buzzer on the jetski went on. Definitely time to call it a day. I was fortunate to get a few bombs that day, didn’t fall once, and had one of the best sessions of my life!
I feel really honoured about the nomination, the other nominees are guys like Todd Morcom, Dylan Longbottom and Nathan Fletcher, whom I’ve surfed with in some heavy waves and they are legends, so just to be considered in that same category is a big honour.
I love riding big waves, but a highlight moment like this nomination only comes from a big support base. I feel like I am learning all the time from the people around me, the Kommetjie and Irish crews who have done so much to help me, and my crazy friends like Al, Mickey Smith and Jughead Allport. Thanks also to O’Neill and Vans for the love.”
Links
http://surfermag.com/events/spa09/news-nominees-announced.html
Waveriders Film trailer
www.vimeo.com/3594901
Live Surfer Poll and Video Awards event webcast:
www.surferpoll.com
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