Big Wave Surfing documentary with Andrew Cotton by Japanese National Broadcaster N H K

Japan's national broadcast station came to Nazare to make a film about big wave surfing. I was lucky enough to feature alongside Garrett McNamara and Hugo Vau in this great insight into Nazare .
These guys managed to catch the wipeout where I broke my back on November the 8th 2017 and were on of the first to release the footage which went viral.
Well worth a watch to get an inside view of big wave surfing in Nazare.

RIDERS OF THE ATLANTIC STORM - 18/01/2018

RIDERS OF THE ATLANTIC STORM - 18/01/2018 from Praia do Norte on Vimeo.

Riders Of the Atlantic Storm
As primeiras ondas XXL da temporada 2018 entraram no dia 17 e 18 de Janeiro, na Nazaré. E foram muitos os que agarraram a oportunidade. Vários big wave riders, entre os quais Ross Clark Jones, Hugo Vau, João Guedes, Axxi Munian, Benjamin Sanshis ou Sebastian Steudtner estiveram nesta sessão, tal como Toby Cunningham, Andrew Kar, Maia Gabeira, justine Dupont e muitos outros.
Vento forte de offshore e a habitual enchente de público preencheram a moldura da Praia do Norte.

Filmagem: Humberto Santos
Edição: Paulo Constantino

Hugo Vau

Hugo Vau, Nazaré | Photo: Rafael Riancho

This and Nothing Else: Hugo Vau

Local fisherman, simple man and big wave surfer their eyes light up when he talks about Nazaré.

Hugo Vau explains in the latest This and Nothing Else.

This and Nothing Else: Hugo Vau video from Red Bull 

You may have seen the name Hugo Vau around, but you probably couldn't put a face to the name. That's because any photo you've ever seen of Hugo consists of him riding a wave bigger than your house (or apartment complex… or skyscraper). Well, this is his face and his story.

Hugo's life revolves around the ocean. He fishes for work and for fun, he surfs the aforementioned skyscrapers. It's a strange and dangerous infatuation, but Hugo explains just what pulls him to the edge.

BOMBS at Mullaghmore

Great clip from Red Bull at Mullaghmore – It’s cold as you can believe and it needs big storm swells to break so it’s always dark and gloomy. The overall vibe of the place couldn’t be more intimidating. As multiple storms ran headfirst into the Irish Coast, Andrew Cotton and Hugo Vau scored some big wave bombs at Mullaghmore during the rare swell period…and we mean BIG.

Andrew Cotton and Hugo Vau, chasing a storm that had formed in the Atlantic ocean and generated huge waves. The conditions were extremely challenging, with snow and hurricane force gusts of wind battering the coast, but it was a rewarding and humbling experience to witness both nature's force, and the surfers' courage.

  

Andrew Cotton and Hugo Vau, Mullaghmore