|
Sail: Weather links: Stormwatch: La
Nina: Profiles: Surf: Sky: Polar: Ocean: Fire: Drought: Weatherfacts: Books: Products: |
Biscay waves rival Hawaiian sets Autumn equinox gales provide plenty of power to Quicksilver Masters event at St Jean de Luz October 4, 2000 When Kelly Slater was towed into one of the biggest waves ever surfed along the coast of France, admirers surely took a double take at the size and quality of the monstrous, watery slope. Slater was towed into one wave which leaped beyond 15 feet from trough to lip. It sure looked like North Shore Oahu, but the legend surfer's full-body wetsuit gave a hint of the location ... somewhere other than the tropics! In fact it was at St Jean de Luz, in the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Biscay, just north of the border with Spain. World champion surfer Kelly Slater is towed into this monstrous Bay of Biscay wave on October 4. Equinox gales well west of here combined with deep water off shore, make for great waves. All it takes is a pro to ride them! Image © by Pierre Tostee/ASP Underwater geography lesson Considering the location of St Jean de Luz, it is less surprising that this wave happened. Gales during this year's autumn equinox had already provided big waves in water west of Ireland the week before, when the P&O cruise liner Oriana took a pounding in Force 10 conditions. But there is more to the Bay of Biscay's ability to trap westerly waves than merely the direction it faces. There is something about its underwater geography that works too: The Biscay Plain, more than 4500 metres below the European continental shelf, hugs the north coast of Spain and the water above it remains deep close to the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Biscay. Big waves lose little energy entering this corner of the ocean and when they do hit the continental shelf and jack up, surfers are waiting for them.
© weather-wise.com 2000 |