Hawaiian Ian Walsh and his epic wave surfed during the Peahi Challenge were the big winner of the night, yesterday in Los Angeles, at the WSL Big Wave Awards gala.

Competitors in several categories were only there to be confirmed as winners: Walsh for wave and tube, Andrew Cotton for worst blow, Paige Alms for best female performance and Lucas Chumbo for best male performance.

One of the things that was not expected was the announcement that the wave ridden by Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa in Nazaré, in addition to winning the award for the biggest wave surfed this season, would be recognized as the new biggest wave ever surfed.

The panel of judges at the event considered that the wave he rode on November 8, 2017 was 80 feet, 24,4 meters, higher than the one Garret McNamara surfed at the same spot in 2011, which was 78 feet, 23,77 meters. With this, the Guinness record went to the Brazilian.

“I try to surf big waves all the time and I had a huge experience in 2014 when I almost died in Nazaré,” said Koxa as he accepted his award. “Four months later I was having nightmares, I wasn’t riding, I was scared and my wife helped me psychologically. Now I’m just happy and this is the best day of my life. Thanks to the WSL, this is a dream come true.”

Ian Walsh was the man of the night and proved once again that stand-up paddleboarding can beat jet skis. He won tube and ride of the year for that 10 during the Peahi Challenge.

“I feel like there’s so much more to it than just riding this wave, it’s a snapshot of the camaraderie in our sport and I feel like we all rode that wave together. Congratulations to all the other nominees,” Walsh said as he accepted his award.

 

 

 

Among the ladies, Paige Alms, as world big wave champion, won the award for best performance.

The same was not true for the men's race. World champion Billy Kemper was not considered to have had the best performance of the season, but his tour partner Lucas Chianca was.

This list defined the CT quotas for the big waves that come by better performance, as follows:

1 - Lucas Chianca (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – Already qualified by ranking
2 - Kai Lenny (Haiku, Hawaii, USA) – Already qualified by ranking
3 - Grant Baker (Durban, South Africa)- 2018/2019 BWT Qualify by performance
4 - Billy Kemper (Haiku, Hawaii, USA) Already classified by ranking
5 - Ian Walsh (Haiku, Hawaii, USA) Already qualified by ranking
6 - Nathan Florence (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) - 2018/2019 BWT Qualify by performance
7 - Jojo Roper (San Diego, California, USA) - 2018/2019 BWT Classified by performance
8 - Jamie Mitchell (Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia) Already qualified by ranking
9 - Russell Bierke (Ulladulla, New South Wales, Australia) - 2018/2019 BWT Qualify by performance
10 - Ryan Hipwood (Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia) - 2018/2019 BWT First substitute for performance

Twiggy Baker, Nathan Florence, Jojo Roper and Russell Bierke are now entering the big wave CT.

Complete results

Tube of the year
Ian Walsh  (Haiku, Hawaii, United States) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on October 28, 2017.  

Hit of the year
Andrew Cotton (Braunton, Devon, UK) in Nazaré, Portugal on November 8, 2017.

Biggest paddle wave
Aaron Gold (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA) in Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on January 14, 2018.

Biggest wave
Rodrigo Koxa (Guarujá, SP, Brazil) in Nazaré, Portugal on November 9, 2017.

The surf of the year
Ian Walsh (Haiku, Hawaii, USA) at Jaws, Maui, Hawaii on October 28, 2017.

Ladies performance
1 - Paige Alms (Haiku, Hawaii, USA)
2 - Justine Dupont (Seignosse, France)
3 - Maya Gabeira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
4 - Keala Kennelly (Haleiwa, Hawaii, USA)
5 – Bianca Valenti (Mill Valley, California, USA)