These Ferraris are built Ford tough!
Nicollo and Francisco Porcella, two Italian-born, Hawaiian raised brothers and big wave surfers should be dead. Over the past few years, they’ve relegated themselves to more beatings in monster surf than any man should be able to sustain.
The following video will give you a sense of what I’m talking about. Please excuse the nauseating soundtrack.
Surely you remember Niccolo’s historic Teahupo’o tumble, the one that garnered him the 2016 XXL Wipeout of the Year Award, but how bout that kite-surfing jump into the lip at Jaws? It was gruesome and horrific and wonderful all at the same time.
Then there’s the screw-foot brother, Francisco, who’s had equally terrific if slightly less dramatic whomps at Peahi, Nazaré, and Albee’s slab from a couple weeks ago. I actually spent some time with Franny last year in Fiji, as we happen to have the same local connection. Ended up learning a few things about he and his brother.
First of all, they come from a windsurfing background. You know those guys in the nineties who had giant fluorescent sails mounted to their boards, many of them incredibly adept at wave riding and aerial maneuvers? The Porcellas used to be really into that, were sponsored and the whole shebang, but more or less left it behind to test their paddling abilities in massive surf.
Franny greatly impressed me when he arrived in Fiji the morning of the 2016 Cloudbreak mega-swell, found a local boatman to take him out after missing the morning shuttle, jumped straight into a hairy, windy lineup after no sleep and a granola bar, then surfed six hours straight, catching more waves than anyone over the course of the day.
Fran and Nico aren’t the most talented big wave surfers, but they try harder than most — hence the clip above.