100 Foot Wave – Series

100 Foot Wave – Series

100 Foot Wave’ starring Garrett and Nicole McNamara and a host of UK surfers – Cotty, Al Mennie, Tom Butler. We caught up with big wave pro surfer Andrew Cotton to find out what to expect.

Where and when can we watch it?
It’s a HBO production which in the U.K. can be viewed on SKY , I think there’s a new episode every week for the next six weeks on Sky documentary’s.

So pretty rad story. I am taking that you have seen it. What can we expect from the 100 foot wave?Yeah I saw it as it was released in the states over the summer. Surfing and mainstream telly is always a worrying combination but to be honest I was super impressed and the feedback so far has mainly been positive. It focuses on Garrett and his surfing achievements but mainly about nazare so obviously that includes U.K. surfers such as Tom Butler, Al Mennie and myself

And you have been part of the journey from quite early on?
Yeah I’ve been very fortunate to spend a lot of time in Nazare and with Garrett and Nicole, all have definitely been a big part in my professional career.

As we have seen the inside section has got to be one of the heaviest in the world to deal with. I mean it’s basically a big heavy shorey?
Yeah , it’s definitely a place you take seriously. Which is why it’s such a great place to train and be a more rounded surfer.

I guess there are a lot of crew lining up for this season now. You guys must be fully on with the safety. You have to be one of the best, if not the best drilled crews out there? Can you run us a through who is involved in the safety every time you go out? From spotters to back up skis to first aid?
I think most surfers are pretty knowledgeable with basic rescue and first aid as so many of us double up as seasonal lifeguards in the summer. For any team or ski driver in Nazare communication is key so having a spotter on the cliff with a SOP is a must then it comes down to skills on the ski. Always carry very basic lifesaving equipment in a small peli case.
Try not to over complicate things .

Obviously its not without risk, and you’ve have really done yourself proud with the come backs. How do you get back on the horse, it must take massive amount of drive to do what you do?
I think it’s more a passion for surfing, loving what you do and still having a bit of a dream and end goal. At the end of the day it’s just surfing and it’s all about fun.

100 Foot Wave is on Sky Documentaries tonight at 9pm.
Or stream from the link below.

Offshore all week with Andrew Cotton and Sharp’s Brewery

Palm trees, stunning sunsets and an icy cold ‘Offshore’ brew straight out of the cooler; this was what awaited the Devonian Wayne Martin when he won a sought-after spot on Andrew Cotton’s Surf Fit Retreat in Nazare, Portugal.
The prize, provided by Cornwall-based Sharp’s Brewery to launch its refreshing ‘Offshore’ Pilsner, included an intensive week of yoga, strength and body conditioning plus ocean preparation and awareness – all essential skills for long-term development in the water.

40 year old Wayne has been surfing for more than 20 years and the Surf Fit Retreat could not have come at a better time for him. Currently working as an Outdoors Activities Instructor, Wayne is ready for new challenges as he’s about to take on a new role as an Emergency Care Assistant with the South West Ambulance Trust, meaning his fitness needs to be at an optimum level.
Wayne said enthusiastically, “I actually almost missed the email saying I’d been given the opportunity to travel to Portugal – but I’m very glad I didn’t!”
Wayne said, “The retreat was absolutely fantastic. We’d go from 7am to 7pm doing either pool training or intensive gym type work, as well as learning about things like ‘hypoxic training’ which is all about how you improve your body’s performance with you adapting to low oxygen. At some point during the day we’d find time to go for a surf. This differed from a normal surf because of the time spent preparing and we would always stretch and do some deep yoga on the beach, and after we’d surfed, we’d follow up with a 2-minute beach clean.”

The Surf Fit Retreat was hosted by two fellow North-Devonians, professional big-wave surfer Andrew ‘Cotty’ Cotton and fitness coach Andrew Blake, who together have developed a programme that caters to surfers at any level.
Collaborating with a team of global wellbeing, nutrition and training experts and scientists, Cotty has created his bespoke, personalised Surf Fit Retreats. Bringing unprecedented access to the world’s most qualified surf fitness coaches and their deep pool of knowledge and methods, the week-long retreats deliver psychological and physical training techniques to dedicated surfers at all abilities, and all levels of confidence. You can check out the Surf Fit Instagram @surf_fit_life to see what goes on during the retreats themselves. Cotty recently topped the headlines when he broke his back in a death-defying fall surfing Nazare in November 2017. Footage of this led him to win the title ‘Wipeout of The Year’ in the recognised Big Wave-awards hosted by World Surf League in Los Angeles, just a couple of weeks ago. As a result, Cotty has a crystal clear focus on making a full, and swift, recovery and aims to be back surfing the big waves by the end of this year.

Cotty said, “Surf Fit is all about making you more comfortable in the ocean so that you can take your surfing to the next level, and to make the most of all surf conditions, especially when it goes offshore. No matter what level you are starting out at, our specialist Surf Fit team will provide our guests with targeted support to increase their personal confidence and performance. Whether they’re aiming to paddle into 3 feet or 30 feet, what Wayne and the guys learned within this packed week will improve their general and surf specific fitness with long term results and benefits. And as I think Wayne agrees, those benefits will spill over into their everyday life in ways they couldn’t have imagined.”
Wayne said, “Having the opportunity to meet with Cotty and the personal trainers was just amazing. It had been a while since I’d been in the water and it was great to get all the focused and intensive training during the week. It was a packed schedule and there’s so much to it in terms of detailed inner and outer body training, as well as mindfulness and attitude. To get this directly from these professional athletes and trainers is invaluable and I plan to use everything that the guys have taught me both in the surf, and in my new career.” Wayne continues, “It was great to meet everyone who was on the course and go through all of this together. We all had a lovely meal at the end with the sun going down at the beach behind us, and of course we enjoyed a few of Sharp’s Brewery’s Offshores. It was so memorable and a great adventure in personal fitness.”
Every surfer knows that there’s nothing quite like it when those rare moments occur, when the wind turns offshore, creating perfectly clean waves. And to honour that feeling, and their passion for surfing, the team at Cornwall-based Sharp’s Brewery has created ‘Offshore’, a refreshing, invigorating Pilsner, inspired by the coastal breaks around the Cornish coast.

Follow Sharp’s Brewery’s social media pages for more exciting competitions!

Life’s Breath

You may have seen many top pros are now using breathing exercise to improve health, wellbeing and performance. If you practise yoga (as many surfers do) you may know a lot about this already. If not then you may find this useful.

Andrew Cotton runs us through his routines he uses to reduce stress and help him survive wipeouts at Nazare.

Breathing is pretty important really but it’s surprising how so many of us do it wrong, over the past few years I’ve done a few courses and learnt a lot about my breath all in the hope of giving me that extra edge in the sea but also on land.
The body is an amazing machine and capable of so much more than we can think is possible we just have to use it correctly . First we need to breath properly, deep belly breaths so your using all the lungs. Try lying on your back one hand on your stomach the other on your chest as you breath in you only want your hand on your belly rising then you know you’ve got it.
So the next exercise is how I prepare for big days but also come to learn it also helps me with stress, anxiety and to relax.

Breathing pattern: Lie on the floor and start to belly breath. 3 seconds in , inflating the belly then the chest, 10 seconds out, slowing down the exhalation with tongue and mouth . This doesn’t need to be exact, as long as you breathing out longer than breathing in your oxygenating your body .

No learn the dump breath:  this is exhaling everything you have in your lungs completely then re filling from the bottom up. Almost visualising filling your lungs with oxygen right from the belly , into the chest then finally the shoulders throat and head.

Now the exercise :
Get into your breathing pattern , totally relaxed lying on the floor. 3 seconds in through nose 10 seconds out through mouth .

2 mins.
• Dump breath then hold for 30 seconds
• The straight into breathing pattern for 2 mins
• Dump breath then hold for 1 min
• Straight into breathing pattern for 2 mins
• Dump breath then hold for 1.30 mins
• Straight into breathing pattern for 2 mins
• Dump breath then hold for as long as you can
• Never breath train in the water, bath or swimming pool .

Check out surffit.life for more info

Behind The Lines… Andrew Cotton

Andrew Cotton, known to us all as ‘Cotty’ is the British big wave surfer who has spent the last few winters carving out a name for himself in the hallowed halls of global big wave surfing. This is his new web series. Episode 4 is fresh out today. Once you’ve had your fill of that you can catch up on the first three episodes n’all!


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Nazare – Big Monday

A giant swell hits the Portuguese coast, causing indescribable waves due to their strength and size!
Surfers as Garrett McNamara, Andrew Cotton, Hugo Vau, Eric Rebiere, Carlos Burle, Maya Gabeira, Pedro Scooby, Felipe Cesarano, Nitzan Benhaim, Sylvio Mancusi went into the sea of Nazareth willing to write a new chapter in the history of surfing.
From the near drowning of Maya up to the largest possible wave surfed records favored by all surfers who risked surfing a wave on this day! Nazareth once again shows the world its size and power …