Biggest wave ever attempted by a kneelo

[KenM]

Spoke to Marc Merritte on the phone this morning.Some of you will remember him as one of the crew of kneemen that charged at Big Rock in the 70's. Anyway, Marc has taken to stand up surfing Maverick's.He told me that he had witnessed Phil Curtis attempt the biggest wave ever attempted by a kneerider.He said the wave was 25',FROM THE BACK!!!!!! He said Phil free fell about 40' and went right through his board when he hit the bottom of the wave.Phil was then yanked out of harms way by a rescuer on a jet ski.Ay caramba, Ken

[KAVA]

HMMM LIKELY FROM THE WEIGHT OF THOSE MUCHO GRANDE CAJONES TO CHARGE A WAVE THAT BIG. GUESS I WILL HAVE TO CANCEL THAT TRIP TO TODOS SANTOS NOW

[Johnny]

Martin,

I know that Phil is really into competitive paddleboard racing. Point to point might be from the point at Steamer Lane or Pleasure Point to Lover's Point across the bay in Pacific Grove.

[surfhorn]

In light of the closing of Clark Foam, Phil is one of the lucky ones. He just picked up a new KB from Freeline last week.

Should be sturdy enough: 6 layers of 'glass on deck AND bottom.

"Hey, mister. Can you spare a blank for a KBer down on his luck?"

[skansand]

i was told that phil makes that wave......heard there was a video clip of it and he managed to stay on his board...........who else has seen that clip??? i gotta see it .....post it please someone...

[Scott]

heard there was a video clip of it and he managed to stay on his board...........who else has seen that clip??? i gotta see it .....post it please someone...

The only place I saw the full clip of the wave was on http://www.pacificwaverider.com It is a free site for most of the stuff, but you have to pay a small fee to watch the videos. I don't know if they still have Phil's legendary wave in their archives. You might have to email them to find out.

Yes, I watched the actual video clip in the first weeks right when pacificwaverider made it available for viewing. It's still pretty tatooed in my brain: Phil freefalls down a bit of the top of the face--about 10'--then lands solidly in the middle of the wave (miracle #1), finishes flying down the steep face to just about the trough, then he catches a bit of bump at the bottom, goes airborne again, lands that also (miracle #2), does a nice bottom turn and makes it out onto the unbroken face. Pretty special. I like big waves, but seeing him catch air like that makes that sort of kneeboarding look almost impossible--I don't know what assurance anyone could ever have of making a similar type of wave even 1/3 of the time, even if you new exactly what was coming (which Phil probably didn't). Way too risky in my book.

I was just talking with Phil about a week ago after he had just come out of the water in Santa Cruz. He was trying to work the kinks out of a new Freeline Mavs board he just recently got as he prepares for his next ascent to Everest. He told me about a few other local kneelos that have come out there in recent years and gotten a few great waves. He also said that every year the competitiveness of the crew just keeps moving the takeoff spot deeper and deeper into the bowl; the risk factor is going up geometrically. He's not sure what that will mean for him and others in the future. Pretty heavy stuff...

[Man O' War]

Scott, did he mention tow-ins? More realistically, did he mention the lefts? That might be where a kneeboarder could survive and even blow some minds. Jack White, where are you?

[skansand]

the lefts at mavericks are ridiculous....the rides are shorter they put you closer to the rocks and directly into the impact zone of the next wave....id go right cause it drops you right into the channel......see new mavericks surfline clip......the one guy that goes left is ready to take the next on the head..........

[skansand]

is it worth 5$ a month???? ..are there any other good clips?..im really just interested in phils ride......