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Posted on Wednesday September 30th 2009 at 12:56 p.m.
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Surfco's Doug Young riding the Cow. Image by Calum Macaulay
Hitting the storm head on, Young teamed up with Australian big wave legend Ross Clark Jones, the two of them battling their way through torrential wind and rain out to the Cow Bombie, a break about 2.5km offshore from the Western Australian suburb of Grace Town, south of Perth.
Young and Jones used the surf as a warm up to their upcoming Discovery channel documentary, Storm Surfers, chasing the biggest waves on offer on the unforgiving rugged Fiordland coast of New Zealand.
Young almost didn't make it, experiencing serious delays as he tried to fly through the red sand storms in Sydney and finally arriving in Perth at 2am on the day of the swell.
"We had tracked this swell, with surf forecaster Ben Matson, all week and knew this was our one opportunity to surf a swell of this size this year! I did everything in my power to get to Western Australia in time to meet the swell! Mother nature wasn't making it easy for us with screaming onshore winds up over 30knots, freezing conditions and torrential rain! To add to it all there were 6ft side chops coming from every direction which made it difficult to tow."
The pair used a jet ski to maneuver into the giant waves as the extreme weather and size of the waves would not have made paddling possible.
"Ross and I were the only ones out there for the first two hours of the day when the swell peaked in size. It was crazy out there. We had already had a pile of bombs before the other teams arrived!"
The Cow bombie break is gaining itself a reputation as one of the hot spots for big wave surfing, Young is the first New Zealander to surf the break which usually only attracts Australian dare-devils.
With news of the big swell in Western Australia, surfers from around the world came to check it out. Big wave specialists Grant 'Twiggy' Baker , Mark Mathews, Ryan Hipwood, Mark Visser and Laurie Towner joined local crews such as Paul Patterson and Alfy Carter to tackle the giant waves.
Doug and Ross. Image by Calum Macaulay
"I was stoked to be towing out there with Ross", Young explains. "He is one of the worlds best ever big wave surfers and I was lucky to have him getting me deep into some of the biggest waves of the day".
Young is hoping the record rides will earn him another Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Award. He came third in the Ride of the Year and Biggest Tube categories back in 2007 for a death defying barrel ride at the feared Tahitian wave, Teahupoo. These awards are considered the Oscars of surfing.
Young will also be entering the ride in the Oakley Surfing Life Big Wave Awards for the biggest wave of the year with a prize of $20,000(Aus) awarded to the rider of the biggest wave in Australasian waters in 2009. Young has submitted entries in these awards every year since its conception and was the first surfer to win the Paddle in Category with a massive ride at his local big wave break at Papatowai.
Doug Young. Image by Calum Macaulay
"Winning prizes for what we do is just the cherry on the top of the amazing, mind blowing feeling you get when you ride these waves! After every big wave or crazy barrel, I'm just screaming and hooting like I just won a gold at the Olympics or the World Cup, then you go straight back out and do it again and again and again! By the end of the day you feel like your head is going to explode!"
For interview opportunities, please contact Ben Kennings, Surfing New Zealand,
benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz
Ph +64 7 8250018
For High Res, Raw format photos from the day please contact
Calum Macaulay
caldog69@hotmail.com
Australia Ph +61 400486640