Think surfing is a solo sport? Think again. As part of International Surfing Day, 66 boarders from Huntington Beach, USA teamed up to break the world record for the most people riding a surfboard at once.
Smashing the previous record of 47 – held by Snapper Rocks in Australia – the record breakers included people aged between 15 and 79 and featured two-time Surfing World Champion Brett Simpson, the first ever Surfing World Champion Peter Townend, a local congressman and plenty of local enthusiasts. Hundreds of spectators gathered on the beach to watch the official attempt and were rewarded with an impressive 13 seconds of boarding time – 3 seconds longer than was necessary to break the record.
Huntington Beach is known as Surf City and staged the attempt in collaboration with Epic Big Board Ride as part of their ‘100 years of surfing’ celebrations. Aside from record attempts, the world-class waves at Huntington are also a huge draw for tandem surfers and a sure-fire spot to pick up one of the best wetsuits or eco surfboards.
Guinness World Records have also confirmed that the attempt resulted in a second world record being broken – that for largest surfboard. So big it had to be lifted into the sea by a forklift, the super-size surfboard measures 12.83 metres long and 3.37 metres wide. Obviously impractical for every day use, the enormous board will now go on display at the nearby International Surfing Museum.