Surfers Worst Wipeout Videos and the Biggest, Baddest Waves Ever Recorded

Our man in paradise, pat, sent us a “worst wipeout” surfing video which reminded us the sheer power of waves and man’s attempt to tame them. We added a few more videos of man versus waves, such as one fellow who discounted the actions of waves and the combination of jagged rocks, plus we thought we’d throw in some “science” about the “property of waves” and the largest waves ever recorded.

Enjoy!

First up, for every “perfect” wave, there’s also a few perfect “wipeouts”:

Now for the “science part” and how waves are formed.

From OnKayaks.com:

Waves are mechanical energy that has been transferred from wind, earthquakes, landslides, or other waves to the ocean water. Most of the transfer is by wind and waves travel outward from the energy source. As more energy is supplied, waves become larger.

Properties of waves.

Three factors determine size of wind generated waves.

1. Time of contact.
2. Velocity of wind.
3. Fetch-distance over which wind is in contact with water.

Particles in the ocean are set into an elliptical motion as wind energy acts on water. The energy of the particles moves. being transferred through the ocean, not the particles. Their movement makes the waves shape.

The highest part of the wave is the crest, lowest is the trough, the distance between successive crests or troughs is the wave length, and the vertical height-from the top of the crest to bottom of trough is the wave height, the time between successive crests/troughs passing a fixed point is the period of a wave. Sharp peaks are called seas and as waves move out of their area, the crests become rounded forming a swell, a long, low wave that can travel thousands of miles.

As the wave approaches the shallow water, it changes shape. -the wave length decreases. -the height increases as particles encounter resistance from the bottom. -pathway of the particles become more elliptical as it gets closer to the coastline. -bottom resistance slows the waves. -shortens wave length when depth is 1/2 wavelength. When depth decreases less than 1/2 wavelength (or 1.3x height) the frictional drag along the bottom and forward motion of the wave and steepness of the crest causes the wave to break or collapse against the shore. Stored energy is released as the water falls against the shore.

In “simpler” terms, waves are formed by wind flowing over the surface of the ocean and the “power” of waves vary in different parts of the world :

Waves are caused by the wind blowing over the surface of the ocean. In many areas of the world, the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide continuous waves. There is tremendous energy in the ocean waves. Wave power devices extract energy directly from the surface motion of ocean waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface.

Wave power varies considerably in different parts of the world, and wave energy can’t be harnessed effectively everywhere. Wave-power rich areas of the world include the western coasts of Scotland, northern Canada, southern Africa, Australia, and the northwestern coasts of the United States.
–OCSEnergy

Different devices are used to measure the force or “energy” of a wave, such as the oscillating water column which are set perpendicular to the direction waves travel and floating devices such as a point absorber.

We found this fellow who apparently didn’t give much thought to jagged rocks and unpredictable waves:

Imagine a wave the size of a nine story building. With the advent of scientific technology and the ability to measure the size of wave, researchers found the largest wave ever recorded occurred in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Ivan.

The World’s Biggest Wave

On 15 September 2004 the eye of a giant storm passed over a set of scientific gauges on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico. The instruments measured the size of the waves created by Hurricane Ivan as it headed towards the American coast.

A study published today in the journal Science reveals that the hurricane created waves measuring at least 90 feet (30m) from crest to trough – the tallest and most extreme open-ocean waves ever recorded by modern instruments.

By monitoring differences in water pressure on the seabed, the scientists were able to estimate the size of the column of water overhead.

The researchers also surmised that there were even larger waves, of up to 132 feet within the storm.

Yet there seems to be a dispute to the “largest” waves ever recorded. And the difference between the waves recorded during Hurricane Ivan are miniscule compared to the ones that occurred in 1958 at Lituya Bay on the southern coast of Alaska due to an 8.3 earthquake. The size of the super-wave is almost too much to comprehend, at a mind boggling 1,720 feet. For more on how scientists were able to “measure” the wave see “The biggest wave ever recorded measures in at 1740 ft”.

Yet hurricane and earthquake related super waves are rare. We wanted to know the waves that some surfers crave, the “planet’s gnarliest surf spot”.

According to ExtremeHorizon.com, Ghost Tree, located near Monterey, California, has waves that are “scarier” than Mavericks, located at the tip of Half Moon Bay, 40 minutes south of San Francisco, and “heavier than Waimea Bay, located on Oahu’s North Shore. Ghost Tree’s waves have been known to reach 70 feet in height. For more on the biggest and “baddest” places to surf on earth visit Extreme Horizon.

The following video is man versus one helluva wave. (We’re not sure of location of the wave but the video is terrific)

This video was a longer distance shot, giving viewers a better perspective of surfers attempting to tame a series of “50″ feet waves in Maui in 2004:

And there’s these guys who discovered their boat may not be a match for “smaller” waves:

By LBG

Image – Surfing photo

Tags: energy, largest, Science, surfers, Surfing, videos, waves, wipeouts