Biggest? Laird says No

After Maya Gabeira’s heavy wipeout that nearly took her life, Carlos Burle went on to ride arguably the biggest wave ever ridden. "Arguably" is apt. In an interview with CNN, a certain Laird Hamilton, says: ”I’d say he wiped out on the biggest wave ever ridden, but you can’t expect to ride the biggest wave ever ridden and not finish the ride.”

Now Laird’s no ordinary random, blaring out opinions upon subject matter he has no clue about, he’s been in the big wave circles for many a year, pioneering tow-in surfing at Jaws and catching the ‘wave of the millennium’ in 2000 for that wave he caught at Teahuppoo. 

So who makes the rules here? Does a man have to ride the biggest wave and pull off the back? After all, Carlos could have shoulder-hopped the wave, ridden it safely (as safely as a man can ride such a wave), far from the breaking point and pulled off neatly without risking too much, would Laird have given him his due credit?  Give us your thoughts…

UPDATE: We replaced the original video with the one below because youtube took the other one down. He does not make mention of Maya in this video, but Carlos also has his say for a moment.

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