Should You Play With Monsters?

It looked like Lucas Fink (wave at 4:35) had never surfed before. Frantically windmilling his arms down the face of a thirty foot burger, I thought, “Has Nazare become a stage for clowns out of their depths to try out their little act?” Turns out he was on a skimboard. The windmilling is forgiven. 

Kind of.

Nazare has become a divisive big wave venue for this very reason. Is a big wave a wave you can do chop hops on? Airs? Should you be able to play with a monster? And if you can, is it really a monster after all? If there’s levels to big wave tow surfing, NVR, Chumbo and Kai own the penthouse. They’re consistently on the biggest waves, drawing the most critical lines, making it look playful.

But Nazare is no joke.

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A post shared by Mason Hyce Barnes (@masonhycebarnes)

Let’s hope the illusion of ease doesn’t allure too many clowns.