IN November last year, Porsche and big-wave surfer Sebastian Steudtner entered into a long-term partnership. The athlete now officially holds the world record in big-wave surfing. His ride from 2020 was officially confirmed as having a height of 26.21 meters. At that time, NASA had reported that on that on Oct. 29, 2020, the world’s biggest waves ever were sighted in Nazaré. Steudtner caught one of them and, with some delay, his ride has now been awarded as a new world record both by the World Surf League (WSL) and by Guinness World Records. The previous record holder, the Brazilian Rodrigo Koxa, had ridden an 24.4 meters wave in the same spot in 2017. During a ceremony at the famous lighthouse of Nazaré on the Portuguese Atlantic coast, Steudtner was presented with the official certificate by a representative of Guinness World Records and by Jessy Miley-Dyer of the WSL. Steudtner, who moved to Hawaii at the age of 16 to start his career as a professional surfer — using completely new methods — has set himself the goal of taking surfing to a new level as a sport. This will involve working with Porsche’s technology subsidiary, Porsche Engineering, among others. Together, they are applying the knowledge gained from many years of experience in automotive engineering and transferring it to the development of higher-performance surfboards. Just a few days ago, various tests were carried out in a wind tunnel at the Porsche Development Center in Weissach to further optimise the aerodynamics of both board and surfer. “It’s an amazing feeling to finally hold the world record in my hands and I am proud of this achievement of my team and myself,” said Steudtner. “I have always stayed true to my childhood dream of becoming a surfer. To stand here today and have achieved everything in my sport is just crazy,” said Steudtner. (SD-Agencies) | 