Porsche Helped This Surfer Ride an Almost-100-Foot Wave
If you had to guess who holds the world record for the biggest wave ever surfed, you’d probably say it was a Hawaiian, or at least some gnarly dude from California. But you’d be wrong. The biggest wave ever surfed was ridden by a German, and Porsche had a hand in it.
German big wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner surfed what will almost surely be confirmed as the biggest wave ever measured at 93.73 feet in Nazaré, Portugal. The height was measured using state-of-the-art drone technology developed by Porsche Engineering and Team Steudtner.
“I am very grateful to Porsche for the cooperative partnership over the past three years,” Steudtner said in a Porsche press release, “True to ‘Driven by Dreams’ and with Porsche as a partner I have been able to fulfill my dream of contributing to the further development of my sport.”
The previous record was also set by Steudtner in Nazaré in 2020. That wave was “only” 86.4 ft.
But wait a minute, a German surfer? Sure, there’s that part of the Eisbach River that courses through Munich, where surfers have put up channels to create a rideable wave. You can watch it from the bridge at Prinzregentenstrasse. But it’s a big leap from there to Nazaré.
Steudtner actually grew up in Nuremberg and moved to Hawaii at the age of 16 to pursue his dreams. He would have left sooner but it took some convincing.
“It actually took me three years to leave. I was ready when I was 13 but I spent three years trying to convince my parents,” he told marca.com. “A lot of people didn’t understand it, even my closest friends didn’t understand it.”
It proved to be the right decision. He won the World Surf League’s Biggest Wave award in 2010, 2015, and 2021 and, once the WSL confirms this ride, will surely win it in 2024, though the year isn’t over yet.
Porsche got involved three years ago with technology to measure wave height using a drone. The drone prototype from the joint technology project between Team Steudtner and Porsche Engineering is a measuring drone that has onboard cameras, control units, and storage devices, Porsche said. In addition, sensors from vehicle development are used, which support modern driver-assistance systems. The device can measure all areas of the wave and the surfer within a radius of over 325 feet.
“We are very pleased to have created an innovative solution that can advance the sport of surfing,” said Marcus Schmelz, project manager at Porsche Engineering. “It was a challenge to develop a drone that can measure not only the height of the waves but is also capable of tracking the surfer within the radius throughout the entire ride.”
Before this technology, big wave records were certified by looking at photos and videos, measuring the height of the surfer, then stacking those images on top of one another to gauge wave height. The Porsche technology, some of which is in your 911 right now, promises to be far more accurate.
Porsche even helped design the board Steudtner rides.
“Using the latest simulation methods and wind tunnel validations, the water and air resistances were successfully reduced,” Porsche said. “As a result, with the new board ‘Caçador RS’, Steudtner can now reach speeds of up to 100 km/h, compared to the previous 80 km/h. The higher speed is necessary to ride larger waves—because the taller a wave is, the faster the surfer must be so that it doesn’t overrun him. It was this advantage in speed which now enabled Steudtner to ride the potential next record wave.”
Steudtner is enjoying it all.
“Big Wave Surfing is a beautiful sport; I love it and I am very proud to be able to bring it to the next level through development of safety and technology and believing in my dream,” he said. “It is my goal to improve big wave surfing and take it to the next level. Together with my team, which is driven by its unique can-do mindset to define possible in big-wave surfing, we were able to accomplish this mission.”
