A British surfer from Devon could be on the verge of making history after tackling what is believed to be the largest wave ever attempted by a woman.
The Record-Breaking Ride at Nazaré
Laura Crane, aged 30, faced the monumental challenge during the Nazaré Big Wave Challenge in Portugal last Saturday. The surfer from Devon took on a colossal wall of water, an effort now under official review by Guinness World Records. The current women's record is held by Brazil's Maya Gabeira, who surfed a 73.5-foot (22.4-metre) wave at the same Portuguese spot in February 2020. Crane is confident her recent wave was taller.
Speaking to The Times, Crane recounted how her jet ski driver warned her the wave was going to 'be a bomb' as he released her onto it at roughly 30mph. She described the sensation as 'flying', calling it an insane, out-of-body experience. "You are moving so quickly and you don't have much control of what is going to happen," she explained, emphasising the need to trust her training and the ocean itself.
A Lifetime of Preparation and Perseverance
Crane's journey to this point has been far from straightforward. After moving to Devon at eight years old, she fell in love with surfing and by 12 had already won several titles. However, she has faced significant hurdles, including sexism within the surfing world, which she says often treated women more as models than athletes. She also battled an eating disorder at 16, took a break that included an appearance on Love Island in 2018, and later survived a serious sepsis infection.
Her preparation for Nazaré involved months of intense physical and mental training. "I believe I have been training for this my whole life," Crane stated. "Big wave surfing is really interesting and your life experiences play a part in your mental strength." Earlier this year, she broke her ankle while training on a jumbo Nazaré wave but fought back to compete this winter.
The Aftermath and the Wait for Verification
After surviving the ride, Crane was overcome with emotion. She burst into "incredible tears of happiness and joy" when picked up by her support jet ski, feeling immense relief after confronting the towering swell. A photographer on site immediately told her, "I don't think you understand how big that wave was."
The verification process by Guinness World Records is meticulous and can take many months, even years, as experts analyse footage to calculate the wave's exact size. Crane noted her ride angle is similar to Gabeira's, which should aid the comparison. She hopes a confirmed record would be "very exciting for British surfing."
The small fishing village of Nazaré, north of Lisbon, is famed for its winter waves, which are magnified by a three-mile-deep underwater canyon to heights comparable to a ten-storey building. The sport carries grave risks; veteran surfer Marcio Freire died there in 2023, and others have been seriously injured. Despite the event being temporarily halted due to a technical fault during the competition, Crane and fellow Brit Andrew Cotton continued, racing against the dying light and swell.
