What is a wipe-out in surfing?
Faire un wipe-out is equivalent to the following expressions in French:
“Tackle, take a box, chomp”… However, it most often refers to a fall at the very particular moment of catching a wave, that of the take-off, when the surfer stands up. A fragile moment that ends in a fall or a catch, depending on the level of the surfer and the difficulty of the waves.
The area where the wave first breaks is where the most energy is concentrated. It’s also where the surfer who wants to exploit the wave to its full potential will start. It goes without saying, then, that if he misses his start and falls to the bottom of the wave, he will once again experience a life-size version of the washing machine.
In medium-sized waves, these falls are of little consequence and the surfer quickly becomes accustomed to them, as a necessary part of the learning process. He emerges from the water and tries again, like a Labrador retriever snorts out of the water. If you’re at ease in the water, you may even find it amusing to be taken for a ride in all directions. The surfer, however, prefers to ride along the wave – that’s his goal after all.
It’s in strong waves that the wipe-out really comes into its own: the speed of the wave means that the surface of the water becomes hard on impact, and the power of the wave then plays on the surfer like a puppet before spitting him out a few metres further on. However, a surfer who remains calm emerges from the water after just a few seconds, without getting overly tired. The wipe-out can be a little jarring, but generally has no consequences, except for encounters with the bottom of the water on edge waves or certain outcropping reefs.
In non-standard “big surf” waves such as Nazaret, the wipe-out becomes an accidental event with potentially fatal consequences, as tons of water crash into the surfer.
So there are the little wipe-outs we enjoy by the fire in the evening, because they’re harmless; and the big wipe-outs of expert surfers, when they push their limits and come up against the raging elements.
Wipe-outs are generally not voluntary. Here are a few types of wipe-out:
A late take-off can result in a wipe-out, when the surfer falls behind the wave’s break, which has become too hollow, and buries the front of his board in the water when he reaches the bottom of the wave, causing an instant fall. An expert surfer will nevertheless be able to get through this critical phase with panache.
Sometimes, the surfer’s delay and the power of the wave are such that the lip of the wave propels him or her into the void, resulting in an even harder fall than with a late take-off. In this case, the surfer reaches the surface of the water at the same time as the lip of the wave, which concentrates all its power at this precise point.
A wipe-out also occurs when the surfer is hit by the lip of the wave while riding along it. Although accidents are fairly rare, wipe-outs are spectacular in big waves, as evidenced by the numerous videos and compilations of these water crashes!
Safety tips
As in other sports, there are ways of falling without hurting yourself: surfing is less accident-prone than skateboarding, because you obviously hurt yourself less by falling in the water than on concrete.
However, the wave crosses areas of the sandbar or reef at varying water heights. The surfer therefore never dives vertically, head down, to avoid hitting the bottom; his angle of penetration into the water is not too acute. In addition, the arms enter the water first, which protects the head, the cervical vertebrae and also the eardrums (in fact, a flat ear on the surface of the water at high speed can damage the eardrums).
The surfer avoids arriving at the bottom of the wave clinging to his board, which will prevent him from toppling over feet first. The fall will be less violent with the feet already on the board, minimizing the risk of running into it.
In the washing machine, curl up and relax, rather than contract. There’s no risk of drowning in standard-sized waves, as the time spent underwater is extremely short, and the buoyancy of the wetsuit and board mean that the surfer rises to the surface on his own. It goes without saying that beginners need to push their limits gradually, especially if they’re not in good physical condition. But only big-game surfing requires real apnea skills and athletic qualities.
