Faaaaaark. How big was that?

Holy fuck! He bounces about 10 meters in the air! Far out that was heavy, I wonder how long the hold down was?

You better believe that's a paddlin'.

at 12 sec the full dragon fly.very impressive mad cojones

Had to laugh,such a gutsy effort but sorta looked funny in a frightening way,but i thought they were not allowed jet skis at mavericks being a marine reserve?

Update on condition, explanation why contest was not on.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20160107/SPORTS/160109771

What always gets me about those guys surfing those monsters. Do they see the first 30 ft or is that just a blur and they concentrating on the next 30 ft. Regardless of wave face height , I suppose your holding on to your last 6 ft of tail hoping it grabs for a continuing line. But then there's always bumps that can ricochet you off like a bouncing ball. My fave Mavs shot was that monster a few years back of Taylor Knox now there's some cajonas' and he made it. Of course There's Flea out at Porto E on those massive beach break days when he was back dooring those huge barrels . G' Mac and the rest of you water mountain tamers well done, keep finding them for our entertainment ha',, I could certainly never do it. 12 - 15 ft Ulu was my biggest day of my surfing life and that was back in 78' hoorah guys love ya work , stay safe , stay alive , breath deep and swim hard !

He wouldn't have had any breath after the bouncing its amazing he lived but thats g.mac the wipe out pro

I reckon GMac would have been about as out of breath as Slashbash after the above comment!

Here's another wipeout lover too. Just his short shorts and board!

'For most of us, our elementary school principal was a dork. He was almost always pale and overweight, and aside from chasing kids down the hall, his only physical exertion came from plopping out of his golf cart to whack his ball out of the rough. He certainly wasn't any kind of action hero.

But for students at Haleiwa Elementary in the '60s, there was no more fearless waterman than their commander Jose Angel. At a time when North Shore machismo was all that mattered, Principal Angel was a man among boys.

Raised in San Francisco, where he was active in swimming, boxing, scuba diving, tennis and school, Angel made it to college before surfing took hold of his life. At San Francisco State, he met a female surfer named Mozelle Gooch who sparked his interest in riding waves. When Gooch moved to Hawaii, Angel followed, and the couple was married in 1955. They raised four children before splitting up during the mid-'70s.

Surfing still wasn't central for Jose until the Angels relocated to the North Shore in the late '50s. The Waimea curse had just recently been lifted and a subculture was forming at the Bay. It was a coming out of sorts for Angel, who thrived in the challenge.

Backside at Waimea, he would sit outside on the biggest days and wait for the nastiest waves that no one else wanted. When the avalanche would annihilate him, leaving the rest of the lineup concerned for his safety, he'd invariably come up laughing. It was all fun for Angel; wipeouts were just part of the experience.

Not interested in organized competition, he enjoyed the natural challenge of riding big waves and even refused to leave the water during a contest. The first cover of Surfer magazine in 1960 featured Angel's fearless backside attack at massive Sunset. Greg Noll, considered one of the boldest of the North Shore's pioneer watermen, called Angel "the gutsiest surfer there ever was."

Surfing wasn't the only forum for Angel's bravery. He was a peerless diver, routinely going beyond 200 feet without the aid of scuba gear. While the winter beckoning came from the surf, summer was a time for freediving. In 1974, Jose was diving off Kauai when a severe case of the bends left his right leg partially paralyzed. Since the injury hampered his surfing ability, he began diving deeper and more often to avoid having to face his handicapped status. He briefly remarried a girl from San Francisco in 1975, but he clearly was a shadow of his former self.

'On July 24, 1976, Angel was diving at a spot called Shark Ridge off Maui. More than 300 feet below the surface, he never came up. His body was never recovered. Since he stayed out of public view after his earlier injury, he is remembered as he once was -- the sculpted waterman, family man and big-wave legend. Not for money, fame or glory but for the thrill. -- Jason Borte, October 2000'

I remember other amasing articles about him, swimming up and down the North Shore trying to find somewhere to get in when everywhere got too big.

http://encyclopediaofsurfing.com/entries/angel-jose

I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

Winner of wipe out award

Thanks for the mention of Jose Angel uplift.

Jose Angel used to paddle Waimea, stall a bit just as the lip was feathering, hop to his feet, then do a freaking backflip onto the flats...just for a laugh. He was just before my time but I heard all those stories of him. Classic dude.

No worries Rusty Moran. I hope you've been able to get in the water.

Just watched this again. Gotta be the biggest wave ever bodysurfed. Hect-tic!

Yeah Uplift, I've just come back from Hawaii. Some fun towing and paddling around the comfortable 15 foot mark. Getting into Kelly Starrett. Mobility WOD.

It looked to me as he didn't quite recover from the first little cavitation when he was hel up in the lip , or more so when he did gain control as he reconnected to the critical part of the wave his feet where in the wrong spot or something the like . Then it was a a reluctant failed bail out .
I think he , mark Matthews and Jamie Mitchell might need to talk to some top end water ski racers on how to bail out at ultra fast speeds .
Mind you those guys have loops in the hip of their wetsuits that their arms loop through to stop that exact occurence as GMAC and MM . Jumps water skiers also have the same . They will get 30-40 ft in the air at speeds in excess of 70 mph , leaping beyond 200 ft in length . And speed skiers occasionally in excess of 130 mph . Some mad men in those Disciplines practice gut sliding to stop to avoid things after stacking and skimming along the water at horrendous speeds . Crazy town .

Surfline have some footage from side on of GMacs wipeout

Yeah Rusty it's not a paddle option .
But in saying that I know guys without it that have kept their elbows in when proned out during a face forward stack and then with hands near their shoulders pushed out in front into a classical body surf position . . Just like snow boarding /skate boarding people are better off keeping their arms in and roll during a fall than putting out their arms and doing wrist and AC joint injuries .
The other thing is guys in previously mentioned water racing activities wear neck collars and helmets . The collars although a nuisance could help in that guys wouldn't have to worry as much when diving off to break the water entry with their arms .
Not much help from me , but I'm sure there is lessons to be learned or even thought of if I was at these guys levels .

good discussion ,as I was not criticizing , but just putting it out there about technique in how to wipeout.

great idea from Southey with how water skiers wipe out .

I tow a fair bit and always try to wipeout in the fetus position ,once went over the falls backwards on a very big wave and tore both MCL's as my legs were sticking out.

Rusty sounds like you need to get operated on for those shoulders ,ouch!