Surfing those monstrous swells found in Nazare, Portugal under the very best of circumstances is a daunting prospect โ now imagine tackling the damn thing legally blind, like Australiaโs Matthew Formston.
In the coming week, this three-time surf world champion / Paralympian / madman โ whose sight has been reduced to just 0% central vision + less than 5% peripheral vision thanks to macular dystrophy โ will make the pilgrimage to the famed Oeste region coastal town, where heโll rely solely on the judgement of his team and the instinct of his nerves to tame these notoriously sizable waves.
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โA surfer turns up at a headland and says, โNahโฆ thatโs not for me. I canโt do that,โโ the 44-year-old homegrown talent explained to The Sydney Morning Herald.
โIโm relying on my team to say weโre good to go because I canโt tell how big the wave is until I get to the bottom of it.โ
โPeople say: โThatโs not possible โ a blind person surfing a wave that big.โ I want to show the world that it is.โ
While Nazare has been known to serve up waves as high as 100 feet tall โ the current Guinness World Record for biggest wave ever surfed here hovering around 86-foot; set by Germanyโs Sebastian Steudtner circa 2020 โ Matt Formstonโs efforts will be capped for practical reasons.
โDay in day out, itโs about 30-to-80 feet. Iโm unlikely to be going out in surf over 50 feet. But Iโm going with an open mind. Everythingโs on the table.โ
Two years ago, Formston attempted to ride a wave at Lennox Headโs Boulder Beach that measured around 30-foot. Sadly, to not much success.
โI didnโt make it. I got rolled. I was underwater for a good while,โ he admitted.
โThere were 30 or so people on the headland and nobody could spot me. But there was no flotation in my wetsuit that day.โ
โIn Nazare, Iโll be wearing my Billabong inflation suit, which has CO2 canisters in it that can bring you to the surface. That changes the game significantly.โ
So whatโs it actually like to surf without the privilege of sight?
โMost surfers, when itโs pumping, stay out after dark,โ revealed Matt Formston.
โItโs like that. Thereโs a feeling of โlift.โ Iโve recently surfed with [former world champions] Layne Beachley and Joel Parkinson and gave them goggles that simulate my vision. They talk about this โlift.โ Itโs like flying basically.โ
โWalking through a carpark for me has more risks than surfing. Canโt see gutters, canโt see tow-balls, canโt see poles. Iโm forever rolling my ankle and smashing my shins into things. Getting hit in the balls by railings at shopping centres.โ
โOn a wave, if I make a mistake I fall into water. Itโs freedom. Absolute freedom.โ
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Matthew Formston will go down in history as among the first blind surfers to take on Nazare, though not exactly the first.
Back in late 2017, Brazilian Derek Rabelo towed into a solid, Hawaiian-scale 15-foot wave. Rabelo, who was only 23 years old at the time, was born with zero vision due to a case of congenital glaucoma. Of course, this is by no means a competition.
โI feel a responsibility in some way. A lot of people have a disability and go, โNoโฆ too hard,โ whereas Iโve proven a lot of times if you have a crack, youโll find a way,โ added Formston.
โApart from the fact my eyes donโt work, the rest of me is ready for it.โ
Godspeed, you crazy bastard.
Anyone keen to follow Matt Fomstonโs exploits will be keen to hear his documentary The Blind Sea โ which has followed him on his big-wave chasing journey from Indonesia and Fiji to Hawaii and the US west coast this past year โ is scheduled to air sometime in early 2023.
Keep an eye out for it.
