Huntington Beach Pier (November 21, 9:26 am) – SWELL’s self proclaimed “surf-happy microcosmonaut,” Billy Laity, set the new World Record by surfing 26 consecutive hours in far from favorable winter conditions.
Surpassing the previous record of 24 hours, Laity, surfed his way right into the Guinness Book of World Records. It was no small feat, considering the session outlasted one of the worst winter storms Southern California has offered up so far. This was no casual, sun soaked, idyllic day at the beach by any stretch of the imagination.
The 26 hour stretch taunted Billy with constant winds gusting between 20 and 40 mph, storm swell surging from all directions, a blinding and torrential downpour, water temperatures in the low sixties, and air temperatures in the low forties coupled with a near freezing level of wind chill. Despite the numerous obstacles, Billy broke the previous World Record (which was set in summertime North Carolina mind you) by a very fair margin. Catching a total of 147 waves and logging 26 consecutive hours in the water, this is believed to be a new World Record that should stand for a considerable amount of time, perhaps indefinitely.
“Some of those in our crew were somewhat sketching on this idea due to a bevy of pretty valid reasons,” Billy noted, “which included, but were not limited to, hypothermia, hydropsychosis, severe and unbearable crampage, the sudden loss of luxuries often taken for granted, such as being able, upon the setting of the sun, to take in a warm meal with the missus from the comfort of one’s humble abode.”
Where one would typically attribute such a feat to a strong will, perseverance, friends, family, etc, Billy can’t thank his sponsors enough for giving him access to all the gear technology the surfing industry has to offer. In addition to a strong support team, Billy was given the opportunity to put select gear and surf accessories carried by SWELL to the ultimate test.
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- Renee Parkhurst Photography
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- Brent Hilleman Photography
Bill and the entire team at SWELL would like to thank the following companies that sponsored this endeavor via the contribution of their product: Billabong, Matuse, Xcel, O’Neill, Rip Curl, Infinity Surfboards, Regular Surfboards, Dakine, Watermans Sunblock, Sex Wax, Cliff Bar, and the city of Huntington Beach.
Check out some more picture here on SWELL’s facebook fan page
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