Category 10: The Biggest West Coast Hurricane Swell Ever??

Actually, none of us really know when the biggest Hurricane swell ever hit the West Coast, but we have a pretty good idea now after asking some hardcore surfers what’s the biggest Hurricane swell you can remember? Here’s what some of them recalled ….

Chris Cullen ‎1858 unnamed h’cane grazed San Diego and during the1939 swell/storm surfers rescued passengers from a capsized boat in the Newport Harbor entrance ….
Benjamin Luick I would have to say the wedge in ’95.
Samuel Ortegón Pepke Hurricane Linda in 1997.
Antoine Ortega ‎1997 Hurricane Guillermo.
Luke Wright Agreed 1997 was a good year to poo your wetsuit.
Steve McDearmon Hurricane Guillermo. Got it just as it was arriving at the beachie in front of my family’s Baja house. The day we left was 8-10′, but the four hour sesh in 4-6′ A-frames the day before sealed it in my brain forever. And that was just the beginning.
Kurt Steinmetz Hurricane swell during one of the US Opens and Curren surfing a good sized left toward the pier in a heat! 1990 something? He was riding for Mormaii wetsuits and on a Craig Gonzales board if I remember correctly. I went to the Point that same day and remember Strider Wasilewski getting stand up barells that looked like Pipe!
Scott Moses Summer swell in September 1972 … the Wedge was 35 feet, biggest recorded day at Wedge ever. I was 6 at the time and I heard it breaking at my house on Miramar. The water went all the way down channel road. Paul I’m i right?
Alan Reynolds The 1975 September SE swell that was a monster that broke the Wedge at over 20 feet easily,it also went through the channel islands and winter spots were firing like El Capitain on a south swell!!! I know because I surfed it.
Ned Marr The summer of ’72 in my humble opinion tops the list. I was a 10 year old grom at the time. The point broke huge a lot that summer. One incident I recall all the Newport legends like Lenny Foster, John Van Ornum, Farwell, Pells and a handful of charging locals were ripping sick huge perfect point with the blackball about to go up. Don’t you just love it! The lifeguards were threatening and the surfers refused to come in and they in turn dispatched the harbor patrol which turned it’s fire hose on the surfers. The incident made the magazine under the glaring title of “Pipeline Comes to Newport” … and then the summer of ‘97 during Guillermo and following hurricanes when Shaun Thomson along with a whole slew of rippers came to town should rank up there. I remember chatting with Shaun in the lineup and he was asking me how often the point gets like this? If I were to answer him today I’d tell him “since I saw you last”.
Travis Frink I think it was 50 years ago actually. Ya see everything moves in cycles. And the winterstorm came outta Antarctica and tore up the Pacific. And it sent a huuuuge swell North 2000 miles. It missed Bells Beach but it came here to OC. It will happen again this year and I will be there!!!
Adam Wright Hurricane Guillermo 1997 and Hurricane Linda 1997 had some of the biggest, legitimately recorded surf on record. There are probably some storms that were stronger and produced bigger surf further back before more consistent records were kept, but the surfers weren’t really there to ride those either.

Category 10: The Biggest Hurricane Swell Ever!!!

Actually, none of us really know when the biggest Hurricane swell ever hit the County of Orange, but we have a pretty good idea now after posting the question on our Facebook… we asked what’s the biggest Hurricane swell you can remember and here’s what some of your surfed out arses said….

Chris Cullen ‎1858 unnamed h’cane grazed san diego-(sandy ego)… and during the1939 swell/storm surfers rescued passengers from a capsized boat in the newport harbor mouth …. Photos are in newport nautical museum
Benjamin Luick I would have to say the wedge in 95
Samuel Ortegón Pepke Hurricane Linda in 1997
Antoine Ortega ‎1997 hurricane Guillermo
Luke Wright Agreed 1997 was a good year to poo your wetsuit.
Keith Poletiek I body-surfed a 20 footer at the HB Pier in 1974. Then the pier broke….good times.
Steve McDearmon Hurricane Guillermo. Got it just as it was arriving at the beachie in front of my family’s Baja house. The day we left was 8-10′,but the four hour sesh in 4-6′ A frames the day before sealed it in my brain forever. And that was just the beginning.
Nathan Anderson i love the trivia that ghetto juice produces, but I never seem to see the answers posted. so at what point are you gonna tell us the ANSWER, to this great question.? P.S. you rule joe mack!
Kurt Steinmetz Hurricane swell during one of the US Opens and Curren surfing a good sized left toward the pier in a heat! 1990 something? He was riding for Mormaii wetsuits and on a Craig Gonzales board if I remember correctly. I went to the Point that same day and remember Stryder Waldowski getting stand up barells that looked like Pipe!
Scott Moses Summer swell in September 1972 the Wedge was 35 feet, biggest recorded day at Wedge ever. I was 6 at the time and I heard it breaking at my house on Miramar. The water went all the way down channel road. Paul I’m i right?
Alan Reynolds The 1975 september SE swell that was a monster that broke the Wedge at over 20 feet easily,it also went through the channel islands and winter spots were fireing like El Capitain Pt,on a south swell!!! I know because I surfed it.
Ned Marr The summer of 72 in my humble opinion tops the list. I was a 10 year old grom at the time. The point broke huge a lot that summer. One incident I recall all the Newport legends like Lenny Foster, John Van Ornum, Farwell, Pells and a handfull of charging locals were ripping sick huge perfect point with the blackball about to go up. Don’t you just love it! The lifeguards were threatening and the surfers refused to come in and they in turn dispatched the harbor patrol which turned it’s fire hose on the surfers. The incident made the magazine under the glaring title of “Pipeline Comes to Newport” … and then the summer of ‘97 during Guillermo and following hurricanes when Shaun Thomson along with a whole slew of rippers came to town should rank up there. I remember chatting with Shaun in the lineup and he was asking me how often the point gets like this? If I were to answer him today I’d tell him “since I saw you last”.
Travis Frink I think it was 50 years ago actually. Ya see everything moves in cycles. And the winterstorm came outta Antarctica and tore up the Pacific. And it sent a huuuuge swell North 2000 miles. It missed Bells Beach but it came here to OC. It will happen again this year and I will be there!!!
Adam Wright Hurricane Guillermo 1997 and Hurricane Linda 1997 had some of the biggest, legitimately recorded surf on record. There are probably some storms that were stronger and produced bigger surf further back before more consistent records were kept, but the surfers weren’t really there to ride those either.

Originally posted 2013-08-21 16:24:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter