What Nic von Rupp calls the most crowded day he’s ever seen at Nazaré also resulted in his “gnarliest wipeout” when he collided with another surfer.
The 34-year-old Portuguese big-wave surfer posted a YouTube vlog of one particular late-November swell where there were 40 Jet Skis in the water along with paddle surfers trying to get their own. The video comes to a climax when Von Rupp, who is tow surfing, gets taken out by a paddle surfer (4:09 in the vlog, above).
Luckily both surfers were okay and, according to von Rupp, both apologized. Accidents happen in surfing, but when you have several dozen skis and paddle surfers vying for waves at one of the heaviest, most chaotic lineups in the world, disaster seems inevitable.
We spoke with von Rupp about that particular November day at Nazaré: what happened with the accident, how the pecking order works in a hectic Nazaré lineup, and his thoughts on how to make it safer.
What’s the rotation and pecking order like when there are that many people on Jet Skis at Nazaré?
It’s definitely a crowded place these days on medium swells. It sorts itself out just as anywhere else. Obviously, local surfers have a little bit of an advantage. But so many people have been there for so long, like Justine (Dupont), Lucas (Chumbo), and so on. We all respect each other. Whoever’s been waiting the most and is in a better position for a wave – that’s how it goes down. Obviously, there are a lot of newcomers who are just arriving and want a piece of the cake, and they’re still trying to figure it out. But the other day there were like 40 skis out.
Is there a lot of chop that ruins the wave when you have 40 skis driving around?
One hundred percent. But that’s nothing new. That has always happened that way. It’s not ideal, but it is what it is. We try to avoid it, but when you have skis in the water, there’s always wake.
Are the ski drivers communicating with each other non-verbally, or even verbally, about who’s going on each wave?
It’s hard to communicate, but it’s pretty obvious who’s in position – whoever’s deeper, whoever has been waiting for the longest. It’s hard to communicate since there’s so much noise. People are going so fast. But yeah, people try to communicate as much as possible.
As far as the infamous wave where you got run over: Was that just an accident or was it a situation where someone obviously committed a mistake?
I think the biggest issue here is paddlers versus tow surfers. Because tow surfers need to practice on their Jet Skis and tow boards on medium days. And on those days paddle surfers also want to push the limits of paddling. A lot of times, there’s a lot of paddle surfers out there not really catching any waves. They’re paddling, but the tow surfers are catching tons of waves. A lot of times a paddle surfer is showing intention to go for a wave, he ends up not going, and a tow surfer (has to) pull back. That’s the issue. Obviously, when there’s a paddle surfer going, we keep away from that wave because we know how hard it is. We’ve all been there. We all started with paddle surfing. But paddle surfing is quite frustrating because you just don’t catch that many waves.
So what exactly happened?
On that specific day, it was a very stormy swell. You want to paddle when it’s clean, not when it’s stormy. I think there’s a difference between wanting to make a statement as a paddle surfer and fighting the odds. That was clearly not a paddle day. It wasn’t that big, but it was choppy and everything was complex. So in our mind as tow surfers, we were not even thinking about the paddle surfers. When we see them in position to go for a wave, obviously we pull back. But my driver, when he’s putting me on a wave, maybe he even sees the paddle surfer, but the paddle surfer is so far out that 99.9 percent of the time, the paddle surfer is not going to enter that wave. On that wave, the paddle surfer was way further out, so we went further in to catch the wave. I think my driver never thought that the surfer would be in position to come down the wave, but he did. He managed to catch a little chop, make it down, and all of a sudden I’m on the wave and I feel something just going through my legs. At first I thought it was a Jet Ski. Then I realized it was actually a surfer. So I was surprised.
There was a lot of negative talk about this moment. But I’m so immune to that these days; there are always the internet cowboys who say whatever they want. The most important thing is that both of the people involved in the accident are clear. First, is everyone safe? Second, is everyone okay with each other? That’s what happened. We were like, ‘What the fuck happened? Are you okay?’ I was good. All positive vibes. I excused myself and he excused himself.
So that was the end of it? You guys said sorry and moved on?
Yeah, exactly. That was it. It’s easy to comment (as a spectator). But when you’re in the water, it’s a completely different story. There are so many moving pieces, so many Jet Skis, so many chops, so many big waves. It’s not that easy. It’s not like we are surfing Jaws or Maverick’s where the waves break in the same place. The place is hectic and everyone out there knows that.
Do you think on tow days that 40 skis in the water at once is going to be the new norm?
No. That was the most crowded. But if you ask me if 100 people out at Maverick’s is the new norm, frick, I don’t know. Hopefully not.
Do you think there needs to be any kind of rules or protocol implemented at Nazaré outside of the unwritten rules of a lineup?
For sure. I think there needs to be regulations implemented. I think whoever is out there needs to go through a process of becoming a big wave surfer. You just don’t buy a ski and a tow board and start towing. I feel like you need to be a big wave surfer before you start doing that. And you need to climb the ladder. Start off in smaller days and paddle. You move on to bigger paddle days. You get pounded. Then you move yourself up to towing into some big days. That’s it. I think as far as regulations, you will have to be certified, qualified, and only certain licenses will be allowed. But it’s normal that everyone wants a piece of the cake. Who am I to say whatever it is?
Has that crowded day spurred any conversation about such regulation or how to control the lineup?
Not really. Accidents happen. Sh%t like that happens when you’re in a dangerous environment. Obviously, it’s not up to me. I can’t change the world. It’s not the first time nor the last time. You learn from it. I think the public entities that (govern) Nazaré are involved. Those are the ones that would make those decisions. We’ll see. If it starts occurring more, maybe the surfers need to get involved. But for now, it’s still controlled. It happened. It is what it is.
