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17:35 GMT, 10 May 2012

Thrill-seeker Garrett McNamara has taken the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed after barreling down a 'supersize'
78 ft tall wall of water off the coast of Portugal. Confirmed by a panel of experts at the annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards,
McNamara, 44, beat the previous mark held since 2008 by surfing legend Mike Parson by just one foot.

As a veteran surfer of enormous waves, McNamara used buoyancy aids to help him return to the surface if wiped out and was towed
onto the wave by a jet-ski rider. The Pittsfield, Massachusetts born surfer also used a specially weighted surf board that provides extra
momentum on release from the jet-ski.

Stunned by his own achievement in surfing the wave, McNamara had to navigate not only the 78-foot tall wall of water, but also the lip
of the wave as it came to halt as it approached the shore. Weighing tons, the cresting lip could have knocked him off the board and into
a spin cycle under the water that would have either drowned him or broken bones with the force of the water.