On Wednesday night in Manly, Oakley held the 2013/14 Big Wave Awards. The big cheque was taken home by Tyler Hollmer Cross who battled his brother for it but promised him a cut of the $20,000 winnings after. He dedicated the win to his mother who passed away last year. The winning wave was caught at Pedra Branca and he described the experience as …

“… the biggest waves I’ve ever seen in my life. As Tasmanians, we are lucky enough to have some of the biggest waves in the world on our doorstep. I knew I had to get out of the way of the lip so I didn’t get knocked out. I tried to pull through the back of the wave, but it took me with it and I was driven so deep into the abyss. It felt like my head was going to pop from the pressure.

Jeff Goulden took out the biggest paddle in category for a wave caught in Outside Critterbeasts. It was an early start and only his second wave when he caught the winner. He said, “I was still half asleep and I hadn’t really noticed how much the surf had grown in size until this wave was bearing down on me. But it looked big, so I had to go.” He got $5K for his efforts which really doesn’t seem enough.

Shipsterns gave Laurie Towner the heaviest slab category. He’s a previous winner of the Big Wave Awards and again got $5k for scoring the wave which also got him on the cover of Surfing Life’s 298th issue. Talking about the wave he said, “Tasmania’s Shipstern Bluff is far from my comfort zone – in cold, dark, dangerous water – but the thrill of pulling in to waves of that magnitude helps to overcome the fear.”

You can see shots from the waves over at the Big Wave Awards site. The night got messy after the formalities were done and you can see shots of that shenanigans above.

Photos by Little Red Jet.