At some point this coming winter, Nazaré will pump out some of the largest waves the world has ever seen. And between November 3rd, 2015 and February 29th, 2016, the spot’s top chargers will be on call to show up ready to ride those waves in Mercedes Benz – AMG’s inaugural season of Red Chargers. The contest is the passion project of Garrett McNamara, who wanted a way to showcase Nazaré through the lens of the people that dedicate themselves to surfing there.
“It is amazing to see this event come to fruition,” he said. “The goal in creating the Red Chargers is to not only show the world the biggest waves being surfed live in Nazaré, but to showcase the men and women who risk their lives and sacrifice so much to follow their dreams. Their stories are truly inspiring and deserve to be told so that others can follow their dreams whether it’s surfing big waves or opening their own business. It is an honor to be working with incredible companies who also want to inspire and change the world for the better.” So to do this in a live broadcast contest format, Mercedes-AMG will livestream documentaries on the contestants during the waiting period whenever the waves aren’t on. And when Mother Nature does show up, host Garrett McNamara will be bringing viewers with him to the lineup as he and his team make rescues and surf some of the biggest waves in the world. Mercedes Benz-AMG hasn’t disclosed other details about the live broadcasts of the big wave contest, but they have created a unique awards format for it all.
Viewers will be able to vote online for awards in six different categories ranging from the Mercedes Benz Portuguese Performance Award to Buondi Brotherhood Award for the best team, and a handful of others. The winner of each award will get a minimum of $5,000, while the big prize for the winner of the Mercedes Benz Performance Award will be taking home a Mercedes Benz GLC. It’s not the shabbiest of prizes given throughout surfing.
