The quest for the world's biggest wave

Adventurer and surfer Andrew Cotton has spent his life seeking out the remotest and most dangerous places on Earth in his quest to ride the world's biggest wave.

Earlier this year, alongside Matt Knight, a world class sailor and explorer who has sailed around the globe, and Hugo Vau, a champion surfer and free diver, Cotton set out to make a documentary for G-Shock watches on what it takes to explore the world's uncharted waters.

The resulting film - The Journey - was released earlier this month. Coinciding with its release, Portfolio caught up with Cotton to find out what it takes to surf waves the size of multistorey buildings.

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Describe, if you can, what it is like to surf down the face of a 50ft wave.

Hmm, how do I describe it. I don't know. I think that those sorts of "rides" are over in seconds, you know, averaging probably four to six seconds. At the same time, even though they're over so quickly, when you're actually in them and surfing them they seem to last for hours.

Definitely the best rides I've had have been over in seconds, but they've been the longest seconds of my life. Looking back on it, its like you're going at something like 40mph but it seems super slow-mo - you're seeing sort of lumps and droplets of water. You're almost in a state of meditation or something, almost so far removed from what people would think with the adrenaline or the sort of fast American-style movie idea of it.

In the book, Barbarian Days, surfer William Finnegan describes waves as living things, shaped by winds, currents, sand bars, reefs, storms and swells. How do you think of waves?

Every wave is unique, no two are the same. At the same beach or the same reef, they all have their own personalities, you know. I'm not trying to conquer waves; I'm just trying to flow with them briefly. Although some waves are as big as mountains, I don't see it like I'm trying to conquer the mountain. I'm just briefly flowing with it. Some days you have an amazing day and you get a good flow with the waves and other days, you can have a complete shocker. But yeah, it seems like each one is an individual.

A good surfer, Finnegan says, is at once meteorologist, hydraulic engineer, cartographer and artist. What qualities do you think it takes to be a good surfer?

I think with every surfer and especially a big-wave surfer, they do have that geeky side. A big part of my job has been being in the right place at the right time. You do have to read weather maps, work out wind directions, but also read the ocean as well, which is a unique skill to have. It's like you're a surfer but you also have the skills of a sailor. I think you learn all of it, but its just years and years of knowledge it's hard to describe. Things just happen and its all just natural to you. I don't know whether at any point I've actually been taught it or if it's just what I've naturally picked up. I guess it's what comes from spending 30 years in the water.

How does having the right equipment help you do what you do?

It is 100 per cent essential. The ocean is a really, really unpredictable place and the only thing you can control is your equipment. So I always make a point of controlling that because you can't control what the waves will do.

Which are the standout functions of the G-Shock Gulfmaster with Quad Sensor for you? Which are the ones you use most?

Without a doubt the compass. As a surfer, knowing the direction things are facing, what direction the wind is coming from, what direction the swell is coming from, is really important. More than you can realise, the compass helps me so much on its own. When it comes to my training, the depth gauge has been so interesting to use for diving and the training that I do.

I do a lot of breath practice. In my training, I'll do a swim session, which is usually sets of laps, and then within that I'll do a set of breath-testing. In the last couple of years, one thing I've been really doing is diving a lot of the spots before I surf them. The Gulfmaster has enabled me to test how deep certain rocks are, for example.

What have been the highlights of your career?

It's so hard to pick one thing. I can't pick one. Every day. Being able to say I've made a career out of surfing is a highlight. The passion I have for it is so huge. I haven't achieved my goals yet really, they are very much still up there. I feel like I haven't hit those goals yet.

What do you still want to achieve?

The biggest wave and that world record. I've come close and I've helped Garrett [McNamara] get his, but it's still there for me. I still want to achieve it. For me, that dream is not over, but I think it's quite important not to get too obsessed with it. I think it will just naturally happen.

If you weren't big-wave surfing, what would you be doing for kicks?

Well, I'm a plumber by trade so for a living that's definitely what I'd be doing. I'd be on building sites. I love cycling, so I'd be doing that maybe - sport has always been there for me, so if I wasn't surfing I'd still be doing a sport of some kind. I've never been very good at football or rugby or anything like that, like team sports, but I do enjoy getting out on the bike and smashing it out on some hills. Yeah, just being outside.

The G-Shock Gulfmaster GWN-Q1000-1A, £700, is available at www.g-shock.co.uk