This American big-wave surfer holds the world record for the highest wave ever surfed, topping a staggering 100 feet. McNamara and his wife Nicole are also behind the HBO series called “100 Foot Wave” which has won several Emmy Awards and is currently filming its fourth season. In between risking his life in the ocean and filming, he has also found time to co-design a new GMT timepiece with Charriol. WorldTempus talks to him to find out more.
You just won another Emmy for the second series of your documentary “100 Foot Wave”: Can you tell us about this?
My wife wrote the treatment for the series with a view for it to be a one- and-a-half-hour movie. But when they got the hard drive, they saw it as a series. She was a little mad because she wanted an Oscar …but she was very grateful for the Emmy. And a series is way better than an hour movie as we can reach so many more people for so much longer.
When you look back at your career, what moments stand out for you?
In 2002, when I retired from surfing, I opened a store and I was miserable. The store was doing well, but it wasn’t surfing. So, I wrote a business plan to keep surfing and it worked. We won the big wave contest and I was focused on winning. That was a really pivotal moment. It brought me to my knees. I was crying afterwards. And then in 2003, I went back to Jaws again, where the contest was, and I got the best barrel I have ever rode and it was the most spiritual, overwhelming ride of my life.
How would you describe the feeling of surfing such big waves?
It feels like getting in a race car and riding on a road under a mountain that has an avalanche coming down. The avalanche is engulfing the car and you are doing your best not to get caught in it, but at the same time, you are trying to stay on the edge of it. Once you do it a lot, you kind of surf with your heart, not your brain, and you feel your way through it; it is very spiritual. It is a dance with God, dancing with one of the most powerful forces Mother Nature has to offer.
Does fear ever get the better of you?
I surfed these waves in Alaska in 2007 and prior to that I had surfed so many waves all over the world that I was already kind of getting desensitized, but I could still get the rush. When you get the rush, that’s when fear enters your mind and then your body freaks out and you get the endorphins release and dopamine. After 2007, at the glacier, when I rode a wave under a calving glacier, and I looked up and saw this 100-metre tall chunk of ice, about three kilometres long, looming above me. I was right under it, 50 feet away. If it had caved off at that moment, I would have got smashed or squashed on the bottom of the ice. The rush that I got at that moment was so overwhelming that it crushed my ability to be afraid of the ocean. All of a sudden, nothing was as scary as that experience.
How did the collaboration with Charriol come about?
I met Coralie, CEO of Charriol, and Dennis, Senior advisor at Blackstone at a film festival through a dear friend and we immediately hit it off. We went surfing and just became good friends right out of the gate. They came to Nazaré and we decided to find a way to work together. We don’t stand behind any products that we don’t believe in. We always look for companies that have the same core values as us, that are doing good things, or supporting our good projects, and preferably all of the above. With Dennis and Coralie, it was perfect synergy. Coralie has enough energy to fire up this whole world and Dennis is just a cool cat, classic, awesome person. So, It was meant to be.
What’s the next big thing on the horizon for you?
I can’t wait to get my hands on the surf watch that is coming out. I haven’t got one yet but I am super excited about getting one. And we are working on a scripted movie about my life, so Nicole can finally get her Oscar!
